Couples keep their date with Valentine's Day

AGENCIES
Posted on 2009-02-15
NEW DELHI- A girl was dragged by her hair by a policeman while saffron brigade’s moral police tarred the faces of cuddling lovebirds and “married off” some of them but the day mainly belonged to the Cupid as young couples kept their date with the Valentine’s Day across the country on Saturday in high spirits.
In Karnataka, in focus since Sri Rama Rene activists attacked a pub in Mangalore sparked national outrage, the celebrations were marred by an attack by the same outfit on a party of young boys and girls at a BPO company in Belgaum town, injuring two persons even as parts of the state witnessed trouble-free V-day.
Barring the Belgaum incident, the Cupid reigned supreme in the annual battle against Rightwing groups, as lovers thronged malls, pubs, hotels and restaurants ushering the God of Love unfazed by threats by Rightwing Hindu outfits as police maintained a close vigil across the state.
Watched by local residents, a girl student of a college found with another male student in a room was pulled by her hair round and round by a sub-inspector, Mr Moola Ram in Haryana’s Jind district on Friday night following complaints from local residents about alleged immoral activities there.
Mr Ram and another constable who was also at the spot were suspended in connection with the assault on the girl, the Jind superintendent of police, Mr Satish Balan said.
Overzealous Bajrang Dal activists misbehaved with a brother and a sister who had gone to Vikram University in Indore mistaking them to be a couple.
Activists of Shiv Sena’s student front performed mock marriage of two couples and assaulted another in a park in Pune while a couple had their faces blackened in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Valentine’s Day celebrations in Karnataka were trouble-free with the police having arrested over 500 people, including the Srirama Sene chief, Pramod Muthalik, who had threatened to spoil the event.
Pubs, parks, restaurants which had faced threats from anti-V-Day brigade were provided tight security to ensure that visitors could participate in the celebrations without any interference or law and order problems.
However, most malls in Bangalore and Mangalore kept the celebration low key, refraining from lining up too many special events despite the Sene’s withdrawal of its threat of forcibly marrying off couples found making love to each other.
Leading hotels in Bangalore went ahead organising special candlelight dinners, wine and offering special programmes for the occasion.
Responding to Muthalik and his supporters’ bid to foil V-Day, women supporters of the day sent to his Hubli address a consignment of pink undergarments registering their strong objection to his moral policing act.
At M G Road, a commercial hub of Bangalore, supporters of Valentine’s Day, carrying placards heart-shaped cards, took out a rally and shouted slogans against moral policing.
Activists of Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena, frontal wing of Shiv Sena, performed mock marriages of two couples and manhandled a couple in Pune and in Sena activists blackened the faces of couples in Aurangabad.
Saffron activists burnt Valentine’s Day cards in parts of Maharasthra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.