Patna:
A group of men, armed with sticks and rods, were seen entering a park in Bihar’s capital city Patna with a message for young couples celebrating Valentine’s Day: “Don’t celebrate it”.
The men belonging to a fringe group – Hindu Shiv Bhavani Seva – went to various parks in the city, shouting, “Stop spreading obscenity in public places” slogan.
In visuals, the men were seen telling young men and women in a park not to celebrate Valentine’s Day. “You all should go home and remember Pulwama heroes,” they said, adding, “Valentine’s Day is a gift of Western culture. We will not let it continue under any circumstance.”
Forty jawans were killed in the line of action when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a CRPF convoy at Lethpora-Pulwama on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on February 14, 2019.
The fringe group said that they were not against love but against the “obscenity being spread in the name of love”.
In a similar incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, two outfits – the Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Sufi Foundation – denounced Valentine’s Day as a celebration of Western culture that they believe has no place in India.
The Bajrang Dal leaders have formed 12 teams to patrol the city, with 20 additional teams covering the surrounding districts. The Bharatiya Sufi Foundation also opposed Valentine’s Day celebration, saying it “leads children astray”.
