The Hindu : Front Page : Saffron, radical groups protest against Valentine’s Day

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Friday, Feb 15, 2008
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Saffron, radical groups protest against Valentine’s Day

A rotten imported culture, says Sena leader Bal Thackeray

Bal Thackeray

New Delhi: Even as Valentine’s Day was celebrated across the country, there were protests in several places by saffron and radical groups, who said it was an “alien culture.”

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray termed the occasion “a rotten imported culture thriving on the neo-rich with easy money to squander.” He asked the Sainiks to oppose the celebrations, which were “encouraged by commercial considerations.”

There were protests by the Sena, the Bajrang Dal, the Akhil Bhartiya Maratha Mahasangh and the Students Islamic Organisation, among others, in Kolkata, Delhi, Indore, Mumbai and Coimbatore.

In Srinagar, radical women’s group Dukhtaran-e-Millat conducted “peaceful raids” on restaurants and shops and asked lovers to leave those places.

44 activists arrested

About 44 saffron activists were arrested in Indore for staging protests .

The Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh said the celebrations amounted to “aping the western culture” and tarnished the Maharashtrian ethos by spoiling the younger generation.

Asking parents to protect their children from the evils of a “decadent culture,” the Sainiks in Kolkata’s Jorasanko area burnt Valentine’s Day cards.

The Sena organised a protest march on the Delhi University campus.

The Sainiks asked the government to put a ban on the celebrations to “save the future generation from degeneration and the country from disintegration.” Bajrang Dal activists wentaround the city “advising” the youth not to celebrate Valentine’s Day.— PTI

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