Valentine's Day victim of Sangh wrath in UP

Valentine's Day victim of Sangh wrath in UP
AMIT SHARMA

LUCKNOW, FEB 11: With Valentine's Day just around the corner, the Sangh Parivar has begun flexing its muscles once again to ``inculcate the feeling of swadeshi'' in what they termed ``western culture-oriented minds''.

One such demonstration of culture policing was witnessed in Kanpur on Saturday when a mob of Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch activists stormed some shops and damaged property because Valentine's Day cards were being sold there.

The police, the shop owners alleged, remained mute spectators while theactivists ransacked the stores and misbehaved with them. ``We will not allow western culture to invade our social values. We had announced in advance that sale of Valentine's Day cards will not be allowed. Now violators will have to face consequences,'' Arvind Singh, media incharge of the Bajrang Dal's Kanpur unit told The Indian Express.

Communally-sensitive Kanpur has turned into a headquarters of the Parivar's ``conscience keepers'', with all the protests against ``western'' revelry emanating from here -- beginning from the imposition of a dress code for schoolgirls last year. As per the dress code, which is strictly followed in many educational institutions, no girl is allowed to wear skirts to school or jeans to college. Also, they are not supposed to be seen with male friends during school hours.

So terrorised are the schools here that they have requested that plainclothes police personnel be deputed to ensure that no girl talks to boys. This, perhaps, is a precautionary measure on their to save their students from falling prey to the wrath of the Parivar's ``conscience-keepers''.

``Enforcement of law and order is the responsibility of the government and it should ensure that such incidents don't happen. But enforcing what you think is right on such occasions as Valentine's Day or New Year's eve, is objectionable by any yardstick,'' said a senior BJP functionary on condition of anonymity.

``What else can you expect from a CM who has banned holding of beauty pageants in the state. This incident in Kanpur only reflects on the gradually unfolding Sangh Parivar agenda,'' said Ram Sharan Das, state chief of the Samajwadi Party.