Right wing activists protest Valentine's day in Indian-controlled Kashmir

The chairperson of hardline Muslim women separatist group, Dukhtaran-e- Millat (Daughters of Faith) Asiya Andrabi was Friday detained during her campaign to protest Valentine's Day in Indian- controlled Kashmir, police said. Andrabi along with her fully veiled activists was taken into custody on Residency Road in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. The group had gathered for anti- Valentine's Day celebration. "Ours is a Muslim society and Islam does not permit vulgarities like Valentine's Day celebration or exchange of greetings between unmarried boys and girls on any occasion," Andrabi told reporters. Police said she along with her supporters was taken into preventive custody. Dukhtaran-e-Millat is a puritanical Islamist women's group in the region. Andrabi attracted international attention in 1989, when hundreds of black-veiled women stormed streets of Srinagar city, to express outrage over posters of scantily clad Indian film stars that were plastered in the main city markets. The group played a vital role in closing down of cinema halls in the restive region. In past the activists used to burn Valentine's greeting cards and stage protests against its celebration. Meanwhile reports from Jammu, the region's winter capital said activists of right wing Hindu Bajrang Dal took to streets to oppose Valentine's Day celebrations. "Valentine's Day is an occasion which has trespass Indian culture and hence needs to be opposed," said a Bajrang Dal spokesman. "We have always opposed the celebrations of Valentine' s Day and lodged strong protests at the venues organizing such festivities." The Hindustan Shiv Sena (HSS) said the Valentine's celebrations were against their "culture and ethos" and such events promote "vulgarity." "We are bitterly oppose to the vulgarity involved in celebrating Valentine's Day and all this is against the culture of Sanatan Dharma," HSS president Dimpy Kohli said. Every year on February 14, across the world mostly in western countries flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. Valentine's Day has been found to be the second most popular card-sending occasion after Christmas.