New Delhi: Bajrang Dal and the Sri Ram Sene will not be alone in opposing Valentine’s Day this year. The Hindu groups have got company from the other end of the spectrum - the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, an outfit which regards Islam as the authentic way of life for all human beings.
Jamaat’s student wing SIO will organise anti-Valentine’s Day in college campuses and other places in several states on February 14. Given the backlash against vigilante groups, leaders of the Students Islamic Organisation say their activities would be peaceful and they have no intention of moral policing.
SIO, which labels itself an ideological organisation working to prepare students and youth for reconstruction of the society under “divine guidance”, will also be organising brotherhood day and solidarity day in states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu to raise awareness against Valentine’s Day.
“Valentine’s Day promotes unethical male-female relations. The celebration of Valentine’s Day is nothing, but giving open license to the youth to indulge in immoral acts. We oppose it strongly. We believe that such activities will erode moral and family values,” SIO chief K K Suhail told The Indian Express.
He said that market forces were promoting Valentine’s Day to reap benefits. “Some state units will be organising solidarity and brotherhood days, wherein they will be raising issues like the Israel’s oppression of Palestinians in Gaza and strive to spread the message of universal brotherhood. We will basically try to raise awareness,” Suhail adds. In cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, the SIO plans to observe February 14 as anti-Valentine’s day.
Jamaat leaders said its opposition to the Valentine’s Day celebrations would be put in action by the SIO as such celebrations were prevalent among youngsters. “We are against such western invasion of our society as it affects family bonds and undermines India’s culture,” the outfit’s political secretary Mujtaba Farooq said.
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