Hyderabad: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal are yet again on the ground for Valentine’s Day in Hyderabad to ensure that couples do not practice “foreign culture.”
Ahead of Valentine’s Day this year, the VHP and Bajrang Dal issued a statement renaming it ‘Veer Jawan Day’ while opposing the celebration of Valentine’s claiming that it was against their values.
The VHP and Bajrang Dal have also organised a memorial for Pulwama jawans, who lost their lives on February 14, 2019, at 18 different locations across the city.
The ring wing groups have requested hotel owners, event managers and youth not to promote it. They also held a protest in front of the general post office in Hyderabad against Valentine’s Day celebrations.
They have threatened to resort to violence if clubs, pubs and corporate hotels across Hyderabad do not cancel celebrations for Valentine’s Day.
The far Hindu-right wing groups in the past, have held protests in Hyderabad and other cities and threatened couples celebrating Valentine’s Day which has led to heightened security being implemented in some areas.
The groups in 2015, had floated the idea of counseling unmarried youth and arranging their marriages after consulting with their parents. Their opposition to Valentine’s Day is based on their belief that it goes against traditional Indian values.
The right-wing groups have been criticised for infringing on personal freedoms and have led to legal repercussions, such as detentions and arrests.
In 2019, 60 members of the Bajrang Dal were taken into custody for taking out a rally without permission and attempting to burn an effigy on Valentine’s Day in the city’s LB Nagar, Hyderabad. In 2015, the VHP and Bajrang Dal city secretary Shiva Ramulu had warned that they would hold protests across the city against the celebrations of Valentine’s Day.
