This year Valentine’s Day witnessed a surge in attacks and moral policing by right-wing Hindutva outfits in North India and the highest number of attack reports emerged from Uttar Pradesh.
The Hindutva members including Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch raided public parks and harassed, assaulted as well as humiliated unmarried couples using “Bharatiya Sanskriti” (Indian culture) claims as their basis to justify their attacks.
These extremists direct most of their attacks toward interfaith couples while using ‘love jihad’ baseless accusations to support their claims. “Love jihad” is a conspiracy theory that accuses Muslim men of intentionally and strategically alluring and entrapping non-Muslim women with the intent to “convert them” to Islam and marry them as part of an “Islamisation project”.
Attacks during Valentine’s Day
A series of videos that surfaced on social media on Thursday, February 13 shows the group wielding wooden batons and threatening couples sitting in public parks. The men wearing saffron scarves were seen confronting the young couples by inspecting their identity documents.
Another video shows a saffron-clad man grabbing a book from a young woman, who can be heard pleading, “Uncle please give me the book back”.
Youth assaulted in Firozabad
Hindu Jagran Manch members launched a brutal assault on a Muslim youth after discovering him with a Hindu female friend on Valentine’s Day at a park in Firozabad Uttar Pradesh.
The extremist outfit members accused the young man of being a “Jihadi” and engaging in a “Love Jihad” then forcibly handed him over to the police.
A disturbing video of the assault that surfaced on social media on Sunday, February 16, shows the Muslim youth struggling to walk allegedly due to the severe beating by the extremist members.
The group members donning saffron scarves and carrying long wooden sticks are heard questioning the Muslim man asking, “Will you repeat this mistake”? to which the visibly distressed youth responds ” I won’t”. Then the assailants order him to hold his ears and apologise in front of the camera, which he does out of fear.
In another incident, members of the right-wing Hindu Dharma Sena caught a young couple who was celebrating Valentine’s Day in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur and made them do sit-ups. Suspecting it to be a case of love jihad, The extremist middle-aged men forced the youth to take off their pants to check his religion.
Bajrang Dal attacks couples in Hardoi
In a separate incident that occurred on the same day, Bajrangdal members assaulted a young couple in a public park in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi. A video of the incident shows saffron-clad men carrying long wooden sticks chasing the couple and beating the boy after catching them. Some of the assailants are seen demanding the phone numbers of their parents.
Subsequently, the Hindutva assailants then paraded the couple on the road while shouting” Jai Shri Ram” slogans.
Young woman harassed
In another incident that also unfolded in Uttar Pradesh, Bajrangdal members harassed a young woman in a public space, accusing her of being with a male friend. A video of the incident shows the woman confronting the assailants and insisting that the boy was her brother.
Despite her repeated explanations, the extremists continued to intimidate and harass her.
In Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar, a Hindutva group led by VHP leader Kapil Swami raided a Christian missionary school on February 11, alleging that the school was promoting Valentine’s Day by celebrating Chocolate Day.
The principal clarified that it was simply a regular play day for nursery and KG students and had no connection to Valentine’s Day.
In Bihar’s Patna, Hindu Shiv Bhavani Sena members, armed with sticks, warned couples against celebrating the day. They also chanted Hanuman Chalisa to oppose the day, calling it “Western influence and attack on Indian culture”.
