People Kissing At CJP’s Protest In Jantar Mantar? Here’s The Fact Check.

Recently, a video went viral on social media, claiming it to be footage from CJP’s protest in Jantar Mantar. The video shows a woman kissing another woman, and after that, the same woman kisses a man in front of a crowd.

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However, upon investigation, we found that the claim was false. The viral video is old and unrelated to CJP’s protest. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check

We started our investigation by taking screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a YouTube channel where the viral video was uploaded on April 13, 2017. According to the caption, the video shows the students of JNU kissing each other.

This makes it clear that the viral video predates the CJP’s protest. It has been available on the internet long before the CJP was founded.

Taking this clue, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This led us to a Facebook page where we found a post on November 9, 2014, where we could see a portion of the viral clip. 

The caption of the post read, “A day after of “Kiss of Love” debuted in Delhi, a similar such event was held today at Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in New Delhi. Scores of youths, mostly students, gathered at the Ganga Dhaba at 4.30 pm and indulged in public display of affection protesting against moral policing.”

We found a report published in the Times of India on November 10, 2014, that contained an image similar to the screenshots from the viral video.

The report read, “The ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign reached Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday evening as over 200 students and many outsiders gathered at the Ganga Dhaba to make a statement against moral policing. However, there were fewer participants locking lips and more spectators cheering. Unlike Saturday, there was no disruption by right-wing groups, nor was any cop in sight.

Though most protesters were from JNU itself, students from Jamia Millia Islamia, Ambedkar University, National Law University and Delhi University also turned up…”

Other reports can be seen here and here.

It is worth mentioning that the Kiss of Love protest was a non-violent protest against moral policing. The movement began in response to an incident of vandalism of a cafe in Kozhikode by an ultra-conservative and right-wing vigilante group over reports of public display of affection in the cafe. The protest, organised through a Facebook page, called forth youth across Kerala to participate in the protest on 2 November 2014, at Marine Drive, Kochi, by kissing in public. After the initial protest in Kochi, similar protests were organised in other major cities of the country.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The viral video of people kissing in front of a crowd is not from the CJP’s protest in Jantar Mantar. This is an old protest, “Kiss of Love”, at JNU in November 2014.