23 men belonging to the Hindu Munnani party were detained in Coimbatore following an anti-Valentine’s Day protest.
Gathering near the Senthil Kumaran Theatre in Ramnagar, a group of men set on fire a number of Valentine’s Day posters. Raising slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “We will protect our culture”, the men made a bonfire of posters advertising various Valentine’s Day themed events.
“We will destroy those who ruin our culture in the name of Valentine’s Day,” they chanted.
Following the protest, 23 men were detained by personnel from the B3 police station.
Like many other Hindu political groups, the Hindu Munnani has often opposed Valentine’s Day as an obscene foreign aberration that is counter to Indian culture. Most famously, in 2014, Hindu Munnani members in Dharmapuri protested against the occasion by conducting a marriage between Pomeranian dogs.
"We are not against true and genuine love. At the same time, we will not allow people, especially youths who will fall in obscene activities in public in the name of Valentine's celebrations," district convener P Rajaji had said then.
Other groups such as the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have been even more forcefully against the occasion in other parts of the country, and have been accused of attacking couples seen in public on Valentine’s Day and threatening to forcibly marry them off.