Why Should You Feel Scared on This Valentine's Day?

Celebrated on February 14, Valentine's Day is a special day on which lovers express their love for each other. On this day, people exchange mutual love notes in the form of “Valentines”. Every year, over one billion valentine's cards are sent worldwide, making it the second largest card-selling holiday after Christmas. This day is also marked by the exchange of flowers, confectionery and various other valentines day gifts between lovers.

Couples make great plans for this day. They want to make this day truly memorable. This is true for the people of not only Western countries, but also India. Today, Valentines Day is more of a universal festival. Back to my hometown, Kolkata, which is known as the “City of Joy” (more rightly, “City of Love”), Valentine's Day has always been very special. Couples there are free to express their love for each other, and that too, well in front of the beautiful Victoria Memorial. People there are hardly interested in bothering these love birds.

However, not every place in India is as liberal as Kolkata. In recent times, there have been many incidents in different corners of India which are enough to terrorize love-bound couples. A handful of troublemakers who claim themselves to be the so-called guardians of “Indian Culture” have been protesting against this day. They label this Day as a Christian celebration that erodes our cultural foundation. If someone can ask them, “Who has given them the authority to assume the role of a moral police?” Where are these people when a girl is gang raped? Is this not against our rich culture and heritage? What these people do when a woman tourist is molested by some sick Indian? Does such an act not defame our nation? In most cases, they do not have any answer. Their sole purpose is to gain some political mileage at the cost of the festive mood on the V-Day.

The recent horrendous pub attack at Mangalore is enough to speak about the awful situation in India which is no better than Taliban. The attack was carried out by Sri Ram Sena that is led by Pramod Muthalik. In his recent interview, he felt no remorse on the incident (some young girls and boys were publicly thrashed and molested; their crime being only that they were sitting in a pub). He has proudly announced that his Sena is all ready to stop the celebrations on this Valentine's Day and will continue to do so even in future. Now, with that being said, how many of you can really gather the courage to celebrate the day with your beloved?

Although, the Chief Minister of Karnataka has assured that no one will be allowed to take law in their hands, the pub attack followed by the nation-wide outcry against the incident has encouraged groups like Ram Sena to create nuisance on the V-Day as well. Shouldn't government ban such terrorist groups, when they are doing nothing except terrorizing young girls and boys? Shouldn't the task of moral policing be left to parents? Shouldn't our government deal with a tough hand with these goons? If the answer to all these questions is “Yes”, I can once again start believing that we are living in a democratic country where showing your love for someone is not a crime.