If Muthalik is against V-day Revelry, Renuka is against Muthalik’s V-day Warning?
If Sri Rama Sena Supremo Pramod Muthalik is against Valentine’s Day’s Revelry, Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhary is against Muthalik’s V-day Warning?
Mangaluru: Every year when Valentine’s Day gets closer, Sri Rama Sena chief Pramod Muthalik makes himself visible in the public giving a few warnings on Valentine’s Day celebration. And this year was no exception, where Muthalik during a Hindu Rashtra Jagruthi meeting here in Udupi on 10 February said, “Valentine’s Day is a culture followed by Christians. We do not need such western culture. We will approach deputy commissioners across the state and urge them not to allow Valentine’s Day celebration. Instead of lover’s day, we should honour our parents. We will not take law into our hands. If we see any such incident at parks and roads, we will inform police, and pressurize them to take action”.
Pramod Muthalik
Undeterred by the hue and cry over the Mangalore pub attack in 2009, Sri Rama Sena has said it will continue with its moral policing on February 14 and stop couples from celebrating Valentine’s Day. The right-wing group has also urged police to ban Valentine`s day celebrations across Karnataka. “Celebrating Valentine`s Day is a vulgar culture. We will not allow it. We will attack places where it is celebrated,” had said Sena`s state secretary Krishna Gandalekar. Reports of fresh threats on social media against ‘indecent dressing’ to young women in Mangaluru are also doing the rounds. Local goons are reported to have issued threats to young women to desist from wearing ‘noodle straps’ and ‘tight jeans’ or face action, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day on February 14.
Tit-for-tat, hitting out at Sri Ram Sena chief Muthalik, Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhary said that if he stops Valentine Day celebrations, she would take him on. On a sarcastic note, Renuka said, “Muthalik is not married, that’s why he doesn’t respect women. He should respect the other gender”. Renuka said she will land in Mangaluru if he threatens Valentine’s Day celebrations ‘so he should be careful.’ She further said that the issue better be dealt by the Karnataka Govt.
Minister Renuka Chowdhary
Ten years later after the Pub Attack that took at the Amnesia Pub on 6 February 2009, will there be a yet another “Pink Chaddi Campaign” (or Pink Underwear Campaign) a nonviolent protest movement which was launched by Consortium of Pub-Going, Loose and Forward Women in February 2009 in response to notable incidences of violent conservative and right-wing activism against perceived violations of Indian culture, when a group of women were attacked in a pub in Mangaluru. The campaign was a brainchild of Nisha Susan, an employee of Tehelka political magazine.
The campaign was conceived particularly in protest against a threat by Pramod Muthalik of the Sri Ram Sena an orthodox group. Muthalik had then threatened to marry off and take other action on any young couples found together on Valentine’s Day. On 6 February 2009 a group men attacked a group of women in Mangalore, India. The attack was an isolated incident and allegedly carried out by members of the Shri Rama Sene. Later that month, Muthalik announced an action plan to target couples found dating on 14 February, Valentine’s Day. He said “Our activists will go around with a priest, a turmeric stub and a mangalsutra on 14 February. If we come across couples being together in public and expressing their love, we will take them to the nearest temple and conduct their marriage.
In the midst of the tension, a protest was started by a group of young women, called the “Pink Chaddi” campaign, where they urged a peaceful protest, by sending pink underwear (“Chaddi” in Hindi) to Muthalik’s office on Valentine’s Day. As the protest grew, underwear started pouring in from locations all over India in solidarity for the “Love Sena”. Will that campaign return, let’s wait and see, until then a Happy Valentine’s Day wishes well in advance!