Violence and Valentine

Finally it has happened at Bhopal. The ultimate dream of the secular Indian, the Muslim groups and the Hindu groups are together to protest against the “foreign culture” of Valentine’s Day. The main protesting party is the Hindu religious organization Bajrang Dal, being supported in certain areas of Bhopal by the Shiv Sena. A voluntary group of Muslims headed by Maulana Anis S Ahmad has also appealed to people not to celebrate western festivals, but to follow Indian culture. In the previous years also, there has been similar incidents involving young pairs and the Bajrang Dal activists. The punishment being meted out to the youngsters were blackening of their faces. However, this time the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) spokesman Ram Madhav announced yesterday at Bhopal that the activists would get the boys and girls married! Going a step further Bajrang Dal leader Rajendra Gupta added, "We will catch hold of couples meeting in public places, parks and restaurants and get them married. If they will not marry, the girl will have to tie a rakhi (a thread on the wrist establishing brother-sister relation). The couples will be more afraid of marriage than a scolding, beating or blackened faces," he said, adding that after the marriage the boys and girls would be handed over to their family members. Hopefully this is not a strategic move. At the street however, it can be heard that these activists are those who could not have any “setting” (Bhopali speak for a suitable female partner), and can be often seen loitering around the city famous girl’s college named Nutan College.

The opposition party of the state Congress' student wing National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has decided to oppose "any act of the Bajrangis". They have resorted to gandhigiri offering roses to Bajrang Dal activities to start with. However the next step is deputing girls trained in Judo and Karate at the parks and other lonely areas of the city, so that they can come to the rescue of any lover couples being harassed by the Bajrang Dal. Two women's groups, belonging to the Sawarna

Samaaj Party (SSP) and the Rashtriya Secular Manch (RSM), have decided to take on those threatening to oppose Valentine's Day celebrations in the state, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The SSP is threatening Bajrang Dal members with a mace (lord Hanuman's weapon), the RSM has decided to form baton-wielding groups of women to dissuade Bajrang Dal activists from disrupting lovers on Wednesday. The RSM ladies wing even performed ceremonious worship of batons.

Notwithstanding all this confusion, youngsters are thronging gift stores for cards and other gifts for their valentine. Most of them have decided on their strategy for the day too. Many have decided to go to movie, out of reach for both the stick and the mace, while some have decided to go out of Bhopal, to adjoining picnic spots. Some have even proponed and postponed the celebrations by a day. On these occasions the hijab of Bhopali girls do come very handy