Valentine's Day Protests: VHP, Bajrang Dal Men Held

The Panjagutta police today arrested Bajrang Dal activists at the Panjagutta circle where the latter staged protests against Valentine's Day.

The protesters had raised slogans saying that Indians must respect the Indian culture and not ape foreign cultures. Panjagutta Inspector Mohan Kumar then arrested Hindi Nagar (Hyderabad) district assistant secretary Kiran Kumar and five others, and shifted them to the police station.

Similarly, the Ramgopalpet police arrested VHP and Bajrang Dal activists who were agitating against Valentine's Day at Secunderabad's Paradise circle on Sunday morning. The protesters raised slogans against celebrating Valentine's Day in India. They said that they were not against love, but against the "unethical" foreign culture.

The police also deployed a huge force on the Osmania University campus on the occasion of Valentine's Day on Sunday. The cops erected barricades at NCC Gate and Police Station Gate to prevent outsiders from entering the University campus. As part of precautionary measures, the police also arrested leaders of the SFI, AISF and PDSU, who had formed an Indian Lovers Union (ILU) and announced that they would celebrate Valentine's Day at Arts College on Sunday evening. Given that the Bajrang Dal and ABVP activists had declared that they would obstruct any Valentine's Day celebrations on the Campus, the police didn't allow any outsiders into the campus, including the media.