Bhopal: Parks remain deserted; Valentine’s Day passes off without hullabaloo

 Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): Unlike the other days, the city parks wore a deserted look on Valentine’s Day as lovebirds and other couples too avoided meeting at the gardens in wake of the warnings issued by rightwing outfits.

All the prominent gardens including Mayur Park, Chinar Park, Kamla Park, etc were desolate on the day. Even hotels and restaurants did not organize any special events to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Shiv Sainiks in Sagar and Sanskriti Bachao Manch members in Bhopal had given the warning to lovebirds against celebrating the day and displaying love in public. 

The members of Sanskriti Bachao Manch remained on their toes throughout the day discouraging people from celebrating Valentine’s Day. Sanskriti Bachao Manch constituted 12 squads, with 10 members each. The squads were seen riding bikes looking for couples celebrating the day.

A day ahead of Valentine's Day, the Sanskriti Bachao Manch had warned the people against celebrating the day in parks, hotels, or restaurants. On Tuesday, the members of the right wing group, chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ roamed around the city on bikes inspecting parks and hotels.

Sanskriti Manch had instead asked the people to observe the Pulwama attack anniversary on the day. They had called upon to pay true tributes to the martyrs of the Pulwama attack which took place on February 14, 2019. 

Chandrashekhar Tiwari, president of Sanskriti Bachao Manch, said that the Pulwama attack took place on Valentine's Day itself, so youths should boycott celebrations and remember the 40 CRPF personnel who were martyred on the day.

The Manch had also demanded the administration ensure that there was no obscenity and vulgarity anywhere on the day. Manch had also warned the hotel owners against organizing any such party on the day which was against Indian culture and tradition.