Bangalore: Movie actor-turned law-maker Hema Malini and popular crooner Usha Uthup condemned the opposition to Valentine's Day celebration by Sri Rama Sene, a Hindu radical outfit.
They voiced their critical opinion in Bangalore on Friday (February 06).
Hema Malini and Usha Uthup are presently in Bangalore to participate in the third International Women Conference organised by the Art of Living Foundation at its International Centre in the city between February 06 and 08.
The three-day conference is being attended by women from 60 countries and six continents. The topics discussed at the conference are women's empowerment and the present economic crisis.
Reportedly, chief of Sri Rama Sene (a right wing Hindu outfit), Pramod Muthalik has said that they would vehemently oppose Valentine's Day celebrations in the entire state of Karnataka.
Muthalik while addressing a news conference in Bangalore on Thursday (February 05) had said that the men and women who would meet on February 14 would be married off as per traditional rituals.
Muthalik and Sri Ram Sena activists were involved in the recent pub attack incident wherein miscreants barged into a lounge bar in Mangalore city, abused the owner and customers and beat up women as they tried to run for safety.
The radical outfit has directed educational institutions, restaurants and shops that sell greeting cards and gifts to boycott Valentine's Day celebrations.
"I think it is simply horrible. I was shocked to see what was happening on television. I don't know how these things are just growing. Our Minister should do something. Of course, Renuka Chowdhary is doing something. I think all of us should join together and do something about it," said Bollywood actor and MP Hema Malini.
Singer Usha Uthup defended the people celebrating Valentine's Day by saying it was their fundamental right to celebrate love in whichever manner they wished.
"What is the problem? Why do we need people to moral police us? Of course Valentine's Day was never a part of our culture. But if people want to enjoy it, it is their right to do so. Basically it is a fundamental right," noted the famed crooner Usha Uthup.
Hardliner groups have in the past made a bonfire of Valentine's Day cards and smashed shop windows to protest against the Valentine's Day by contending it as 'cultural corruption' from the west.
Yet this has not dampened the enthusiasm of youngsters who continue to throng stores to buy Valentine's Day gifts, cards and even wining and dining parties.
Various hard-line Hindu groups have acted as self-appointed custodians of Indian culture and values before, especially against what they brand as a polluting influence from the West.
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