The rain has always been a source of romantic inspiration for artists and art lovers alike. Countless movies have portrayed the scene where the hero and the heroine share a tender moment under the pouring skies. In that one moment, they forget about the scrutinising society, the piercing stares and the rumbling whispers. For them, that instance is about just them and their love. The kiss they share is the very symbol of eternal love.
Much like this couple here:
This snap, however, is not from a movie or a TV show. It is a photograph taken by Bangladeshi photojournalist Jibon Ahmed in front of Dhaka University’s Teachers and Students’ Centre.
But unlike the big screen, it was not met with applause.
Rather, the self-proclaimed social media moral police lost no time in slamming Jibon and his photograph for spreading so-called “obscenity”.
দিন দিন প্রেমিক প্রমিকারা সাহসী হয়ে যাচ্ছে! আগে হত চিপাচাপায়! এখন হয় প্রকাশ্যে! তবে সেই দিন বেশি দূরে নয় যেদিন তারা প্রকাশ্যে জৈবিক কাজ সম্পন্ন করবেন!#Kissing#Open_kissing_in_tsc#TSC#dhakauniversity pic.twitter.com/uXZzFkBFJP
— Baddish 😷😷 (@tariqul_du) July 23, 2018
An enraged netizen wrote: “Lovers are getting more audacious by the day. Earlier these things were done in secret. Now they are doing it in broad daylight. The day is not far when they will be making love in public.”
News 18 reports that social media users criticised the image claiming it would “encouraged harassment of women and rape culture and that it would lead women to unnaturally explore their sexuality and thus leave home.”
The issue did not end there though. According to Bangladeshi news website, The Daily Kaler Kantho, a day after posting the image online, Jibon was allegedly attacked by some of his fellow photographers at the same spot as the picture.
Speaking to the news website, a colleague of Jibon, Maksudul Haque said:
“On Tuesday, Jibon Ahmed came under attack at the same place from where he took the viral kissing picture of an unknown pair by some of his fellow photographers. They attacked Jibon Ahmed, alleging that he tainted the profession by capturing such photo.”
Furthermore, if social media sources are to be believed, following the backlash, Jibon has been fired from his job as a photojournalist for news platform Purbapashchimb.
Jibon Ahmed, who published public kiss scenes through social media, is dismissed from his job. This well-known…
Posted by Sharif Khiam Ahmed Eon on Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Unlike the social media moral police, some did come forward in support of the photographer and spoke out against the atrocity of the attacks:
This picture taken from TSC, DU today by Jibon Ahmed and this is real Bangladesh. Islami fundamentalism will be destroy from our country by such kind of love n practice….Love u Bangladesh… pic.twitter.com/15zUkfaeGR
— Nuruzzaman Labu (@labu8080) July 23, 2018
Shocking to see the outrage against this photograph and physical assault on the photographer. We should kiss everywhere and we should kiss often. Let’s fight back. One kiss at a time! #kiss #Bangladesh #viral #TSC #moralpolice #photography #jibonahmed https://t.co/1U3rfmYG39
— Shehzeen Choudhury (@ShehzeenSays) July 25, 2018
One Facebook user, Fahima Durrat, wrote about how people who have no qualms watching porn stars on screen, get so worked up over a public display of affection between two consenting adults.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10213899405493286&set=a.10209771774185083.1073741842.1053282196&type=3&theater
Following the attack on Jibon, memes popped up on the internet, perfectly capturing the irony of the mob culture:
হায় বাঙালি হায় 🎶
Posted by Khati Bangla Mimiz on Tuesday, July 24, 2018
And for those concerned about the image breaching the couple’s privacy, Jibon makes it clear that they were aware of the photograph being taken and did not object to it. Moreover, he had contacted them after the image went viral and they had reiterated that they were okay with it.
This is a classic case of moral policing gone too far. What is it about seeing two consenting adults express their love for each other in real life that triggers such extreme reactions? How is watching item dances in movies and passing obscene rape jokes perfectly fine, but not this? Where are all these “well-wishers of the society” when people are lynched by mobs for insane reasons? Or when countless rape cases are reported daily? This is hypocrisy of the highest manner.