Love Under Siege By Sri Ram Sene

Pulse

oi-Staff

By Staff

Monday, June 1, 2009, 16:53

Love threatened on Valentine's day. With Sri Ram Sene coming down heavily on the celebration of love on Valentine's day as not conforming to the Hindu culture, would withered roses and drooping spirits be the outcome?

Pramod Mutalik, the Sene chief has announced that this time the Sene members would supposedly not spell violence violently the way the check on the Mangalore pub issue was conducted, but resort to more milder methods! The modus operandi would be to get any couple married off who are engaged in the outward display of love on Valentine's Day. Priests are to accompany the Sene groups and the couples are to be whisked off to a nearby temple and married off apart from getting the wedding legalised in the nearest marriage registrar. If a boy and girl are spotted together as sibblings, they would be made to exchange a Rakhi. The Sene chief said that the Valentine's Day celebration is merely an inclusion from the Christian concepts and not pertaining to the Hindu culture. The organization has also sent chill down the spine of parents, who do not consent their offsprings being married off to keep a guard over them from stepping out on Valentine's Day. In the case of minor couples being captured dating they would be handed over to the police.

Pramod Mutalik claims that as a citizen of a country, it was his democratic right to put an end to anything obscene. Minister of Women and Child Development, Renuka Chowdhury made a sarcastic remark of the Sene leader's newly imposed regulations that he was incapable of understanding love as he was unmarried. The Sene chief retorted that the minister confined love to one single aspect rather than looking at it with a broader and larger perspective. He also stated that it was improper for a Minister holding a responsible position and a woman to talk thus.

The youth on the other hand look at Valentine's day with varied perceptions. The ones with love lurking in their minds despise the Sene's intrusion. The others who felt Valentine's Day was not a celebration pertaining to the Indian culture said that they had better things to concentrate and few others said that they considered it as trivial and were more worried of their future. Majority of the youth, however differing in their opinions of the celebration of the Valentine's Day, stand together in sending out fumes of despisal against the Sene clan regarding the treatment of women from the Mangalore issue to their intrusion in curbing the Valentine's Day celebration. They are of the view that love is universal and celebrating it was no wrong. Exchanging flowers or goodies on Valentine's Day would not be a threat to the culture of the country which introduced Kamasutra to the world. A good number of them seem to be defiant against the Sene's call of caution and are ready to participate in the celebration even though they do not have the slightest inclination.

With Valentine's Day round the corner, one is yet to see how far the celebration of love would counter act the Sene's caution.