
More
than 100 couples plan to hold a "kiss and hug" protest
outside the office of Calcutta's city mayor to press demands for
a special area for romantics in the eastern Indian city, one of
the organizers said on February 5.
The couples, who will hold their protest on March 26, are demanding
a special area where they can meet without harassment from nosy
police officers or inopportune hawkers.
"Our mayor does not seem to have any idea about love. He
says we don't need a separate love zone. So we have decided to
have couples hug and kiss in front in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation
where he works," Rupak Manush, president of Lovers' Organization
For Voluntary Exhibition (LOVE), told reporters.
Kissing in public is disapproved of in conservative India.
And even in Calcutta, seen as one of India's most socially-progressive
cities, attitudes are hard to change.
"There is no need for love zones for romantics. This is
a bogus demand. Let them protest," Subroto Mukherjee, mayor
of Calcutta, told reporters.
(Agencies)