A bit late but interesting nevertheless.
**Hindu Group Issues Valentine’s Warning **
LUCKNOW, India - Hindu nationalists who claim they are fighting against Western cultural influence have threatened to shave young lovers’ heads and beat them if they exchange Valentine’s Day (news - web sites) cards and gifts.
Valentine’s Day, which falls on Saturday, has in recent years gained popularity in India — a predominantly Hindu nation whose constitution guarantee freedom of religion.
“The faces of those not heeding our request will be blackened and their heads will be shaved,” Ved Prakash Sachchan, of the militant Hindu organization Bajrang Dal, said Thursday in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state.
“We will not allow any foreign festival which is a violation of Indian culture.”
On Wednesday, another Hindu hard-line group, the Shiv Sena, which is a part of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, waved bamboo sticks at a rally in Lucknow threatening to beat people who observe Valentine’s Day.
“We will not allow westernization of Indian culture as St. Valentine was a Christian and celebrating Valentine’s Day would be a violation of Indian culture,” Sachchan said.
In the past, Hindu nationalists have accosted young couples and vandalized shops selling Valentine cards and gifts in Indian cities, while police have stood by taking no action.
Traditional Indian society does not approve of public displays of affection between the sexes, including hand-holding, and police often interrupt couples strolling or sitting together in public.
Despite the threats, some people said they would not be dissuaded from celebrating Valentine’s Day.
“Such celebrations are not against Hinduism,” Gujarat University student Anish Patel Patel said. “I will definitely celebrate Valentine’s Day along with my girlfriends.”
