The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) wing of Jadavpur University on Monday organised a rally at the varsity campus, asserting love and personal choice as acts of resistance amid a series of reported incidents across the country in which couples have faced harassment and intimidation by right-wing groups such as Bajrang Dal. The march, titled Bhalobashar Michil (rally of love), was positioned by organisers as a public response to what they described as growing moral policing around relationships.
The rally, marked by rainbow flags, painted portraits and students with faces and bodies adorned in vibrant artwork, sought to publicly assert the right to love across boundaries of caste, religion, gender and sexuality. Organisers described it as a response to what they see as a growing climate of moral policing and hostility towards relationships that defy social norms.
Abhinaba Basu, an SFI member, said the initiative began in 2021 and has continued as a form of campus resistance. “We started this rally in 2021, with the aim of supporting the people whose choices in love were suppressed by the government all these years,” he said, adding that the march attempts to reclaim love as a political and social assertion in polarised times.
Echoing similar sentiments, Soha, who addressed the gathering, said it was important to speak about love publicly because “hate is also being portrayed publicly”, arguing that expressions of solidarity must be equally visible in social and political spaces. Satyaki described the march as a challenge to what he termed the “societally dictated binary of patriarchal depictions of relationships”, adding that it held up a mirror to exclusionary attitudes rooted in patriarchy, homophobia and transphobia. He said the rally questioned society’s authority over gender, sexuality and identity, particularly at a time when, according to him, non-conformist couples increasingly face surveillance, abuse and violence.
Another participants of the rally, Samya Dey underlined what he described as the intersectional character of the rally, stating that love and acceptance cannot be separated from questions of caste, religion and gender identity. “True love and acceptance mean breaking down barriers of discrimination across all lines,” he said, emphasising that there can be no hierarchy in human dignity.
The rally comes against the backdrop of repeated incidents in recent years in which couples have been confronted, harassed or attacked by right-wing groups claiming to defend social or religious values. Organisations such as the Bajrang Dal have frequently been named in media reports related to moral policing, particularly around Valentine’s Day, although authorities have at times denied formal involvement or described actions as those of individuals acting independently.
In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, couples celebrating Valentine’s Day were publicly confronted by self-styled vigilante groups who accused them of violating “Indian culture”, with videos circulating online showing young people being questioned and forced to leave public spaces. Similar incidents were reported in Nagpur, Maharashtra, where couples in parks and cafés were allegedly stopped, verbally abused and threatened. In Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, reports emerged of couples being intimidated in public areas, with allegations of interfaith relationships cited as justification.
Against this backdrop, organisers at Jadavpur University said ‘Bhalobashar Michil’ was intended as a peaceful assertion of solidarity with those who face surveillance, harassment or violence for choosing whom to love. The march concluded on campus without incident, with participants vowing to continue expressing solidarity and dissent through public celebrations of love.
