Gujarat Bajrang Dal staged a protest in Central Vista garden in Gandhinagar against Valentine's Day celebrations and drove away couples sitting in the park on Tuesday. Police briefly detained some of the Bajrang Dal members. Bajrang dal Gandhinagar wing president Shaktisinh Zala said that the workers were detained by the Gandhinagar police of the area, and were released later on Tuesday evening. “Our protest was against the western culture, celebration of Valentine's Day. Our protest was against the indecent and vulgar behaviour of the couples in a public place. We have nothing against the individuals. We have always promoted Hindutva, and will keep doing that,” said Zala. A video of the incident has surfaced on social media, in which the Bajrang Dal workers are seen wielding sticks. Defending their actions in the video, Jwalit Mehta, president of Gujarat Bajrang Dal, said, “We had the sticks with us just to frighten the youth and stop them from doing anything wrong. It was not meant to beat anyone, nor did we do anything like that." “We are against the bad aspects in the western culture, which is destroying our culture. We do not have any problem with anything good in that culture like cricket. we accept that. We appeal to our youth to stay away from the bad aspects,” Mehta added. He further said that the parents of the youth are also aware about what happens in the name of Valentine's Day, so they keep their children in check, especially the teenagers, unlike the parents in the past. “This is a good thing. We are quite active on two occasions in a year, the first is on Navratri days and second, on Valentine's Day, in order to stop the instances of love-jihad. Because these are the times, when these cases happen the most,” added Mehta. According to PB Chauhan, the inspector at Sector 7 police station of Gandhinagar, “We detained five of the Bajrangdal workers who were there at the garden with sticks. A complaint was registered against under various sections of IPC and Gujarat Police Act for unlawful assembly. They were released later in the evening.”
