Radical Hindus Protest Valentine’s Day in India

By Anastacia Mott Austin

In the Western world, Valentine’s Day is either a day to proclaim sweet nothings publicly, or to get into trouble if you forget about it.

Some hard-line Hindu groups in India, where public displays of affection are at the least frowned upon, have taken it upon themselves to stop the madness.

The Bajrang Dal Mahanagar group posted flyers telling people to avoid expressing affection in public, and warned organizations and stores against celebrating the Western holiday.

It might be funny if people weren’t getting hurt. At a rally for a student group where candy was being handed out, the Bajrang Dal mistook the participants for Valentine’s Day celebrants and began attacking them. Two people were seriously injured and taken to the hospital with stab wounds. Both groups claimed attacks by the other.

Not exactly what Cupid had in mind.

Another radical group, Shiv Sena, warned there would be attacks if roving spies found any couples showing affection.

"We are deadly against Valentine's Day," said Sapan Dutta, a representative for Shiv Sena. "We are for civilized love and affection."

Added another Shiv Sena member to reporters, "Our volunteers will check parks, hotels and restaurants and swoop upon young lovers found walking hand-in-hand."

In fact reports have come in that couples found doing just that were threatened with violence, or actually beaten if they did not stop. Men were forced to perform sit-ups, while women had to cover their ears and denounce Valentine’s Day.

About 50 student activists from the nationalist group Bharatiya Janata walked in protest, shouting "Death to Valentine’s Day!" The group also attacked a greeting-card store and burnt the cards.

Up until the last decade or so, Valentine’s Day was not widely celebrated in India, where Hindu culture prohibits public displays of affection, especially among unmarried couples, calling them "obscene."

But with the westernization of many developing nations, along with the ubiquitous McDonald’s and popular Western television shows, has come other commercial holidays such as Valentine’s Day.

Police had extra officers on duty, patrolling to make sure that no one got hurt. "We will not allow anyone to take the law into his own hands in the name of cultural policing," said police officer Brij Lal.

Many citizens expressed little fear at being targeted by extremist groups, and vowed to go about their day showing affection if they felt like it. Said Abhinav Sharma, a college student who spoke to Associated Press reporters, "What right do these people have to set the do's and don'ts for young lovers on Valentine's Day?"