AGRA/MEERUT: With ten days to go for Valentine’s Day, Hindutva outfits active in western UP have warned that couples found celebrating the “foreign festival” in public will face a variety of punishments. While a prompt Arya Samaj wedding will be forced on Hindu couples, inter-faith partners will have to sit through a “shuddhikaran” (purification) ritual, the Hindu Mahasabha has said. What’s more, couples caught with roses in hands and those who sit in corners and hug each other at malls and parks will be prime targets.

Talking to TOI, the Mahasabha national president, Chandra Prakash Kaushik, said, “India is a country where all 365 days are days for love, why then must couples observe only February 14 as Valentine’s Day?”

This year, the couples who claim to be in love will have to pass our marriage test, Kaushik warned. “We are not against love, but if a couple is in love then they must get married. In case if the couples claim that they need time to think about marriage, we will tell them that if they are not certain, they should belittle love by openly going around together. We will also inform their parents,” added Kaushik.

The group, in news recently for both ‘ ghar wapsi ’ and the bid to install a Godse bust in Meerut, has reportedly established several teams in west UP and even the national capital to identify “guilty” couples.

Mahesh Chandana, a Mahasabha representative from Agra, said the organization welcomes inter-faith marriages since “all residents of India are Hindus”. “Hence, the weddings (of couples caught on Valentine’s Day) will be preceded by shuddhikaran ,” he said.

Interestingly, Bajrang Dal, another Hindu outfit known to take a similar stand on February 14 festivities, has decided to take a break this year. Bajrang Dal leader Ajju Chauhan who was in news when Agra’s Queen Victoria statues were vandalized, said the group “will not do anything on Valentine's Day” this year. “We have our Hindu Sammelan on February 15 and we are busy with that. Hence, no plans for V-day this year,” Chauhan crisply added.

The Mahasabha’s Meerut chapter, meanwhile, has said that it was more important to conduct ghar wapsi of secular Hindus. “The secular Hindus (who celebrate Valentine’s Day) should be converted to Hinduism completely so that they stop believing in the existence of any other religion,” said Pandit Ashok Sharma, a central working body member of the Mahasabha from Meerut.

Kaushik is reportedly visiting Meerut on Wednesday to finalize the plans. “He will visit Meerut on Wednesday and only then will we be able to talk at length about our February 14 plans. But ours is a democratic organization and everyone’s views have an equal value. According to me, instead of forcing the non-Hindu partner to convert to Hindu religion, the boy should convert even if he is a Muslim. Why should only girls sacrifice their religion?” said Bharat Rajput, the Meerut mahanagar president.

Reacting to the comments, SSP Agra Rajesh Modak D Rao said the police will be active and will ensure nothing untoward happens to anyone.

