A prompt wedding will be forced upon couples found celebrating Valentine’s Day in Ramgarh. A Jharkhand district unit of the Bajrang Dal has even formed ‘10 raiding teams’ to catch such couples.
Bajrang Dal in a meeting on Friday evening at the district’s Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) office announced that it will have ready mandaps to marry off couples caught in parks and other public areas celebrating February 14.
Irony is that the state VHP has decided neither to protest nor go after couples celebrating the day this year.
“This is an independent decision of the Ramgarh Bajrang Dal. Though we morally oppose vulgar shows on Valentine Day, this year we would not take to streets to protest holding of the day, said senior functionary Jharkhand VHP Mritunjay Singh.
The Ramgarh’s unit decision also comes when the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena on Thursday announced that it will not harass couples.
Cost of marriage to be borne by Bajrang Dal
Deepak Mishra, coordinator of the Bajrang Dal in Ramgarh, said that they have installed a stage for the Mandap and also hired a priest to conduct the marriage at their office.
Mishra added that the items for Hawan Kund (auspicious fire) and other things associated with solemnisation of marriage are kept ready. “The cost of the marriage will be borne by us”, he said.
How the ‘raiding teams’ would work
Ramgarh Bajrang Dal members said that each team will comprise of 10 workers. These team will keep vigil at all the important points in the town including noted Puri park, hotel and restaurants, cinema halls and college areas.
“If anyone is caught red handed, we will bring the couple to scheduled place and perform the marriage,” said Mishra.
Members unanimously agreed in the meeting that Valentine’s Day was an obscene celebration and was being promoted by the westerners to break ethics of Indian culture.
“It is an obscene festival of western society. Under a conspiracy, this bad culture is being fueled in India. Our culture is thousands of years old and it a pious culture of entire world. We don’t support western obscene culture,” said Chhotu Verma, an active member of Bajrang Dal.