Hindu Activists Hang Valentine's Effigy Warning Indians Against Celebrating 'Day of Love'

Some Hindu groups want 14 February to be dedicated to those Indian soldiers who died in the line of duty. Forty Indian soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing in the Pulwama district of Kashmir on 14 February 2019.

A group of Hindu activists has hanged an effigy of St. Valentine and burnt greeting cards in Agra - home to the Taj Mahal in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in a bid to threaten couples who plan to celebrate the "Day of Love".

Chanting "Jai Shri Ram" (Victory to Lord Rama), dozens of saffron-clad Hindu nationalists called for an absolute ban on Valentine's Day celebrations as they believe it spreads obscenity in society and violates Hindu India's cultural ethos.

"We captured this person named Valentine (indicating an effigy attired in jeans and a t-shirt) from the street last night. We hanged this man to death", one of the activists said after staging a protest in Agra.

In UP's Agra, members of a right-wing group hang effigy of "valentine" to mark their protest against Valentine's Day celebrations. pic.twitter.com/ogRLrSFmBv

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) February 13, 2022

In the tech city of Hyderabad (in the state of Karnataka), Hindu workers gathered in a marketplace and burnt an effigy and Valentine's Day greeting cards. Hindu groups claim that Valentine's Day is a product of a "rotten culture", which encourages public displays of affection.

"Our workers will raids parks across the country and if they find any couple, they will perform their wedding rituals then and there", an activist said.

Hindu activists have also issued a similar warning in Delhi, Patna, and Bengaluru.

Valentine's Day has attracted a lot of attraction in the last decade, but many Indians still consider public displays of affection a social taboo.