Indian students foil Valentine's marriage plans
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NEW DELHI: A right-wing Hindu group that has vowed to marry off unwed Indian couples indulging in public displays of affection may get more than it bargained for this Valentine's Day.
Hundreds of Delhi university students are planning to descend on the offices of the Akhil Bhart Hindu Mahasabha on Saturday and demand a mass wedding, in what they say is a protest against the “politics of oppression”.
Some Hindu hardliners view Valentine's Day as a Western import that goes against Indian culture, and have in the past threatened to forcibly marry couples found together.
The Akhil Bhart Hindu Mahasabha, or All-India Hindu Assembly, said it would dispatch teams to parks and shopping malls across the Indian capital on Saturday to target canoodling couples.
“Since the Hindu Mahasabha has come up with this wonderfully generous plan... we felt that the least we could do is to make the execution of their plan easier,” the organiser of the student protest Vidhyalakshmi Kumari posted on Facebook.
“We have asked all lovers to gather outside the Mahasabha's office for the most epic mass marriage ceremony Delhi will ever see.”
Valentine's Day protests have turned violent in the past, with reports of hardliners destroying cards and posters at shopping malls and blackening the faces of young unmarried couples out in public.
In 2009 Hindu radicals in the southern state of Karnataka barged into a corporate Valentine's Day party and ransacked the venue, injuring two people.
But Chander Prakash Kaushik, head of the Akhil Bhart Hindu Mahasabh, said its volunteers wanted to “make them understand with love”.
“Our volunteers will try and tell the couples that celebrating Valentine's Day is not part of our Hindu culture,” he told AFP.
“If they truly love each other, we will ask them to come to our office where we will solemnise their marriage before the holy fire. I don't see there is anything wrong with this.”
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Comments (29) Closed
Feb 14, 2015 02:22pm
had it done in pakistan, you would be calling them taliban, extremist, attack on freedom of speech, blah blah blah
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Feb 14, 2015 02:27pm
Every day should be 'Valentine's Day'. It is usual for the western culture to have a 'day' for things like Father's Day, Mother's Day etc. Then they can forget these people guilt-free for the rest of the year.
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Feb 14, 2015 02:29pm
At least they are proud of their local Hindu heritage as compared to us who have thrown our own same ancestral roots in the garbage bin.
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Feb 14, 2015 02:47pm
"Valentine's Day protests"
First time i read this time of protests. Endia going well.
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Feb 14, 2015 02:47pm
What is the view of V'day in Pak??
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Feb 14, 2015 02:59pm
@Kashmiri34 Manchaly are enjoying. Religious followers are apposing it.
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Feb 14, 2015 03:11pm
I had seen name of Bajrang dal, in all news articles related to Hindu hard line. All analysts on you tube use name of Bajrang dal. They use this name upto fear of capturing nuclear bombs too. But Strangest is to not see in this article. Man, Bajrand dal is known to Indians because of V day only. Otherwise mostly they are an unknown alien identity. We used to laugh when analysts use Bajrang dal's name in every small or big issue. But this is extreme, please name them in this article. This is their proprietary protest.
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Feb 14, 2015 03:18pm
@shamain yesterday there was blast which killed 22 people, today polio workers were attacked 1 killed, 1 injured and 6 reportedly went missing! But you are more concerned about Valentine's day in your neighbouring country.
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Feb 14, 2015 03:20pm
@shamain Thanks from an endian.its better to be semi literate than celebrate western cultural imperialism.i envy pakistan
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Feb 14, 2015 03:24pm
Wow..good for girls.. And so very good for poor boys..
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Feb 14, 2015 03:28pm
@Kashmiri34 ,love and affection should be shown every day regardless of what type of day,
V day is day for business to role around in the dough(money).. As Pakistan was build on Islam and its belief , love and affection to women should be respected every day as women are they back bone of the family ,of that falls then the rest fall.
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Feb 14, 2015 04:06pm
These are fringe elements and attention seekers, no one in India cares these people. All you can see is all the hotel venues and clubs are pre-booked, it is hard to get any more tickets that explains who cares these stupid people.
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Feb 14, 2015 04:14pm
I had seen name of Bajrang dal, in all news articles related to Hindu hard line. All analysts on you tube use name of Bajrang dal. They use this name upto fear of capturing nuclear bombs. But Strangest is to not see in this article. Man, Bajrang dal is known to Indians because of V day only. Otherwise mostly they are an unknown alien identity. We used to laugh when analysts use Bajrang dal's name in every small or big issue. But this is extreme, please name them in this article. This is their proprietary protest.
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Feb 14, 2015 04:21pm
this show growing Hindu extremism and intolerance in India. Every one should have the right to live life the way they wish untill they don't harm others. We would be interested to see how the ruling BJP responds to the vandalism of these extremists. On the other hand a large faction of religious groups oppose celebrating Valentine's day but there is no presprecedent where they stopped forcibly. Secular and liberal face of Indian Society bcomes clearer on such occasions.
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Feb 14, 2015 04:41pm
cultural terrorism, nothingelse.
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Feb 14, 2015 05:13pm
Does this Chander Prakash Kaushik, head of the Akhil Bhart Hindu Mahasabh, has any idea what Indian and Hindu culture is? Human rights and freedom of thought and practice is the soul of Hindu thinking and philosophy.
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Feb 14, 2015 06:51pm
@Sajjad Khan I don't think so...i see Pakistani shows and find youth to be very rooted and respectful of their heritage
But culture which survived 1000s of years of ups and downs are slowly falling prey to internet
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Feb 14, 2015 06:55pm
@Pakistani its not vandalism, except when some people go a little overboard with display of affection in public.... As a college goer myself , even I was embarrassed once when I was out with my grandparents and there were these enthusiast couples around
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Feb 14, 2015 07:01pm
I do not agree with this extremist culture. What's wrong with it. If we carry on like this, India will bring divisions in itself and then break up. We already have so many different states with different cultures, and ways. Every one should tolerate each other and live in love and peace.
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Feb 14, 2015 07:08pm
hahaha...! I just enjoy how our new generation is taking these orthodox sections on troll.
Nobody takes these people (those who celebrate and those who oppose) seriously ! Majority of Indians agree on one thing, "sanu ki?"
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Feb 14, 2015 07:24pm
There are mad bigots everywhere who wish to enforce and assign their personal attitudes claiming it to be their culture or religion. How presumptuous to appoint themselves as spokesperson for a particular culture or religion? Haven't they learnt that culture and religion are dynamic and need to adopt & adapt to social value changes over time? What people wish to do becomes part of the culture, value system and religion.
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Feb 14, 2015 08:52pm
@usman because its true.
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Feb 14, 2015 11:10pm
@usman
Sorry Sir, but one thing is just right and that is: Right wing Hindu Group is right; Valentine's Day is Western import.
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Feb 15, 2015 01:19am
These hardliners, though a very small group, are such a disgrace. But the good thing is, they have become softer over the years. They do not even have the support of Hindus here.
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Feb 15, 2015 05:16am
I (and majority of Indians) know my culture very well and I don't need these types of volunteers to tell me THEIR culture.
BTW, there was no issue in Mumbai; I enjoyed my 'V' day with movie and dinner :)
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Feb 15, 2015 05:19am
@Riaz "Sorry Sir, but one thing is just right and that is: Right wing Hindu Group is right; Valentine's Day is Western import."
Yes, but so what??????
We Indians use/enjoy many imported things then why not enjoy one imported cultural day??
If anyone don't want to enjoy it then it's their wish and they have no right to impose it on anyone else.
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Feb 15, 2015 07:33am
@chintamani gokhale Are you kidding. Let me expand on your suggestion. Everyday should be Guru Poornima. There should not be just two weeks devoted to ancestor worship i.e. Pitru Paksha. It should be Pitru Varsha. Everyday is a new day. So every day is New Years Day. Why do we need Gudi Padva or Divali?Since virtually every Hindu ritual starts with prayers to Ganapati, why have a special celebrations for Ganapati in Bhadrapad? Why close factories during Dassera to observe Ayudh Pooja? After all we respect tools that give us our daily bread and take good care of it? Cheddi gang should respect that even within Hinduism there are multiple interpretations of what is auspicious, when is the auspicious time, which day to fast etc etc. Some Hindu's believe Ganesha is a bachelor while some others consider him bigamous! Some believe that Saraswati is the wife of Brahma while others see her as his daughter! There is no one correct way. If each one of us minded our own business without imposing our narrow-minded, parochial interpretations, it would be a much more space love and friendship.
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Feb 15, 2015 04:18pm
@Indian
Talk to Right Wing Hindu Group please.
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Feb 15, 2015 06:51pm
@Sridhar I meant that love for ones near and dear ones should be shown every day. It seems shallow to me to have to designate a day for such things.By the way,there is nothing religious about V Day,most of the things you mention are religious. I don't believe we should be celebrating Diwali or I'd or Christmas every Day!
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