Activists' arrest jolts campaign against moral policing in Kerala

Trivandrum - Many dubbed the activists, who participated in the KoL protest, as agents of the online sex racket.

The arrest of 'Kiss of Love' (KoL) organiser Rahul Pashupalan in the online sex racket case has dealt a big blow to various ongoing campaigns against moral policing, gender discrimination and food taboos in Kerala.
Facebook pages and Twitter accounts of activists involved in these campaigns are being flooded with abusive messages since Rahul and his wife were apprehended by police by posing as affluent NRI clients, who require minor children for sex.
Many dubbed the activists, who participated in the KoL protest, as agents of the online sex racket. A Bharatiya Janata Party supporter even demanded action against leaders of the Congress and Left parties who supported KoL.
The arrest has made the going tough for students who are currently leading a campaign against gender segregation in college campuses. The campaign triggered by restrictions imposed by Farooq College in Calicut and Maharajas College in Ernakulam on students sitting together in classrooms and the college courtyards has lost steam following the police action.
Social activists supporting the protest fear that the incident may encourage more colleges to join the league. The college authorities have already got a big boost from the open backing of the restrictions from Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb, who reiterated his stand following the arrest of the KoL organiser.
The Ernakulam district unit of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the ruling Congress, said that the arrest had proved right their stance that the KoL had the support of sex-drug mafia. The KSU unit had opposed the KoL in contrast to the stand taken by the state leadership.
The Hindutva activists, who had clashed with the KoL activists at several places in the state, viewed the KoL as a cover for the immoral activities. They said that Rahul and his wife had hijacked the movement for furthering their criminal activities.
State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that the online sex racket busted by the police on Wednesday had a large network. He said that the police would find out if the campaign against moral policing was used as a cover for their immoral operation.
The police investigation has already revealed that Rahul had used the digital India programme of the federal government as a cover for his immoral business. He had lured girls by placing advertisements in the media as agent of the digital India programme with the support of Linish Mathew, a native of Kottayam.
Linish Mathew, who runs a business in Bengaluru, used to recruit minor girls and bring them to Kerala, where their videos were taken as part of the programme. Rahul later pushed them into flesh trade by threatening to publish the videos on the internet.
Meanwhile, several activists who were involved in the KoL campaign have sought to distance themselves from Rahul and his company. An activist, who did not want to be identified, said they had not involved him in several recent programmes, including the first anniversary of the KoL on November 2, as they had suspected about his activities.
The activist said some girls who participated in the KoL protests had alleged attempts from Rahul and his wife to harass them.
Farmis Hashim, who mooted the idea for a kiss festival against moral policing, said that the arrest of Rahul will not affect the campaign.
The politics put forward by KoL is still relevant. Hashim pointed out that Rahul was not a leader of the movement. He said that it was an open-source strike without any leaders.
Noted wrier Sara Joseph conceded that the arrest of Rahul would demoralise the activists involved in various campaigns against the attack on the fundamental rights of the people. She, however, hoped that it would not drain the energy the movement offered to the cultural sphere.

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