Valentine's Day: Hindutva groups patrol; ask couples to remember Pulwama
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Representational image (APN photo).
Patna: In yet another instance of moral policing by right-wing Hindutva fringe groups, a group of armed me went around here in Bihar armed with sticks and roads, blaring slogans demanding stoppage to Valentine’s Day celebrations.
The male members of a fringe group, Hindu Shiv Bhavani Seva, roamed parks in the city shouting "Stop spreading obscenity in public places" slogan, NDTV reported.
Visuals surfaced on social media and showed these men telling young men and women in parks that they should go home and remember Pulwama heroes. They claimed that Valentine’s Day is a gift of Western culture, and they will not let it happen under any circumstance.
However, they claimed they are not against love but "obscenity being spread in the name of love".
In similar incidents in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, Bajrang Dal and Bharatiya Sufi Foundation denounced Valentine's Day as a celebration of Western culture that they believe has no place in India, according to NDTV.
As per reports, Bajrang Dal leaders formed 12 teams to patrol the city, with 20 additional teams covering the surrounding districts.
Incidents of moral policing by Hindutva right-wing groups have also surfaced in north India, with Bajrang Dal members launching a widespread campaign to harass unmarried couples in public parks across Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad.
A series of videos that emerged on social media on Thursday, February 13, show the group wielding wooden batons while threatening couples as saffron-clad men confront young individuals by inspecting their identity documents and ordering them to leave, The Siasat Daily.