Valentine’s Day – A day celebrated as a mark of respect to St. Valentine, a day celebrated to celebrate Love. But in the past few years we have been witnessing certain section of the society condemn this celebration terming it as “Western Culture”. If Valentine’s Day is a Western Influence on “Indian Tradition/Culture,” then can’t we call Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and even New Year’s Day also as a Western Influence and condemn the same. What is needed in this case is a clear definition of Western Culture and Western Influence and clearly differentiate it from Indian Tradition/Culture.
What absolutely cannot be permitted and tolerated is violence in the name of condemnation. How can people who use violence as means of spreading the message be called “Protectors” of culture and tradition? Does Indian culture preach violence? Is our culture
so weak that it needs to be protected? Can any culture sustain over the long run when it permits violence for its own protection? If violence against such celebrations is allowed in the name of condemnation, then a day wouldn’t be far off when even Christianity and Islam are seen as a foreign influence on the supposedly “Indian Culture” and people who follow these religions would be attacked as well. We have already witnessed outrageous attacks on Churches in such cities as Bangalore and Mangalore.
I only see this as an attempt by the so called protectors to gain public and media attention in order gain political mileage. In this age of media outreach, one such publicity can draw the attention from various classes of the society no matter how varied their opinions would be. With previously well established non-secularist, pro-Hindu and if I can go on to say political parties with retrograde ideologies already having laid firm foundations in the country – it only goes on to serve the purpose for these new organizations that are still in their infancy stage and need the media attention to popularize them.
We have to ask ourselves a question – How are these organizations thriving in spite of the flak drawn by wide sections of the public?
The answer I feel lies in our weak legal system. “Moral Policing” is the term used by the media to address the actions of these organizations. Here comes the second question – Do we really need Moral Policing? Public Displays of Affection [PDA] is something that is seen as inappropriate, vulgar and crossing the lines of decency. Restricting people from such acts is acceptable, however, stopping them celebrating Valentine’s day or if it means going out along with their partners and beating them up and campaigning against what they call as Western Culture is unacceptable. The problem lies in the Police System. The police in India are by a large extent influenced and used by the politicians. The police have become toys in the hands of the politicians. Taking action against such organizations which do enjoy political backing is seen as inviting “unwanted” trouble. The Judicial system also needs to be blamed in this issue. A system which grants bail to these perpetrators and allows them to roam around scot-free, a system which takes years to acquit a criminal does not raise fear in the minds of criminals. What is needed is a judicial system which can take immediate and quick action against everyone involved in such acts – both directly and indirectly.
What also needs to be done is a complete revamp of the police department. The public lack faith in the police department. The police are by large seen as only being reactive than being pro-active. When people have been repeating these acts every year over and over again, steps must be taken to prevent such activities from taking place. The Law Must Prevail. Fear of political backlash should not keep the men in uniform from performing their duty. Public support in favor of the police can go a long way in boosting the morale and confidence of the police.
But the root cause for such unlawful activities actually lies in the political backing and also the
support gained by a handful of people from the society. Politicians actually breed such organizations for their own benefits. As long as the leaders of the country are not clean, you can’t expect the society to be clean of such rogue elements.
What absolutely cannot be permitted and tolerated is violence in the name of condemnation. How can people who use violence as means of spreading the message be called “Protectors” of culture and tradition? Does Indian culture preach violence? Is our culture
so weak that it needs to be protected? Can any culture sustain over the long run when it permits violence for its own protection? If violence against such celebrations is allowed in the name of condemnation, then a day wouldn’t be far off when even Christianity and Islam are seen as a foreign influence on the supposedly “Indian Culture” and people who follow these religions would be attacked as well. We have already witnessed outrageous attacks on Churches in such cities as Bangalore and Mangalore.I only see this as an attempt by the so called protectors to gain public and media attention in order gain political mileage. In this age of media outreach, one such publicity can draw the attention from various classes of the society no matter how varied their opinions would be. With previously well established non-secularist, pro-Hindu and if I can go on to say political parties with retrograde ideologies already having laid firm foundations in the country – it only goes on to serve the purpose for these new organizations that are still in their infancy stage and need the media attention to popularize them.
We have to ask ourselves a question – How are these organizations thriving in spite of the flak drawn by wide sections of the public?
The answer I feel lies in our weak legal system. “Moral Policing” is the term used by the media to address the actions of these organizations. Here comes the second question – Do we really need Moral Policing? Public Displays of Affection [PDA] is something that is seen as inappropriate, vulgar and crossing the lines of decency. Restricting people from such acts is acceptable, however, stopping them celebrating Valentine’s day or if it means going out along with their partners and beating them up and campaigning against what they call as Western Culture is unacceptable. The problem lies in the Police System. The police in India are by a large extent influenced and used by the politicians. The police have become toys in the hands of the politicians. Taking action against such organizations which do enjoy political backing is seen as inviting “unwanted” trouble. The Judicial system also needs to be blamed in this issue. A system which grants bail to these perpetrators and allows them to roam around scot-free, a system which takes years to acquit a criminal does not raise fear in the minds of criminals. What is needed is a judicial system which can take immediate and quick action against everyone involved in such acts – both directly and indirectly.
What also needs to be done is a complete revamp of the police department. The public lack faith in the police department. The police are by large seen as only being reactive than being pro-active. When people have been repeating these acts every year over and over again, steps must be taken to prevent such activities from taking place. The Law Must Prevail. Fear of political backlash should not keep the men in uniform from performing their duty. Public support in favor of the police can go a long way in boosting the morale and confidence of the police.
But the root cause for such unlawful activities actually lies in the political backing and also the
support gained by a handful of people from the society. Politicians actually breed such organizations for their own benefits. As long as the leaders of the country are not clean, you can’t expect the society to be clean of such rogue elements. 
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