Ten activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its affiliate Bajrang Dal were detained today after they allegedly tried to chase away young couples who had gathered at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad today for Valentine’s Day.
However, the VHP claimed that it only asked couples to leave the spot, and did not violence to do that. “As announced by us (on Tuesday), the VHP and Bajrang Dal members today held protests at the riverfront,” said Hemendra Trivedi, the VHP’s media coordinator for North Gujarat. “We only asked couples to leave. We did not attack anyone.”
An official at the zone-1 police said they detained around 10 people from the spot.
“We have detained some people, and deployed adequate police force at the spot to prevent any untoward incident during the day,” Sabarmati Riverfront Police Station inspector SJ Baloch said.
In some videos recorded by passers-by purportedly of the incident, several people carrying saffron flags and wielding sticks could be seen threatening couples to leave the spot.
The activists were also seen chasing away some frightened couples, who either ran away to save themselves or drove off in a hurry on their two-wheelers.
The Bajrang Dal had also organised a protest in Hyderabad against Valentine’s Day celebrations. On Tuesday, the organisation had warned pubs and restaurants in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills not to organise events for Valentine’s Day.
The Bajrang Dal had also organised a rally in Nagpur on Tuesday. “If couples have the right to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we have the right to save our culture,” they had said. They also warned that they would marry off couples seen celebrating on Wednesday.
Even animals have been married off, in Chennai, an organisation called the Bharat Hindu Front conducted a “marriage ceremony” of a dog and a donkey on Wednesday in protest against the day.
Valentine’s day has indeed given a new meaning to us and these kind of protests are creating an unjust society as well as affecting the peace and quiet of people.