‘No Valentine’s Day please, we are Indians’

If Maharashtra has Shiv Sena, Lucknow has Jagnish Gandhi, founder director of the City Montessori Schools which has 14 branches in the city....

If Maharashtra has Shiv Sena, Lucknow has Jagnish Gandhi, founder director of the City Montessori Schools which has 14 branches in the city. In a signed letter to his principals, Jagnish has emphasised the ‘‘need to prevent’’ students from ‘‘following this foreign culture’’ of Valentine’s Day, ‘‘which has harmful effects on our spiritual culture’’.

Advising a teachers’ meeting on the issue, the letter says students should be apprised of the ‘‘bad effects of Valentine’s Day’’ and told ‘‘to resist the temptation of Valentine’s Day celebrations’’.

‘‘There have been cases of heartbreaks, rapes, murders and heinous crimes among children due to the fad of Valentine’s Day,’’ it says.

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Speaking to Express, he added: ‘‘Our students do what we tell them, and we want them to act like brothers and sisters. In our tradition, we have the concept of Raksha Bandhan, not Valentine’s Day. So, I have circulated this letter asking principals to explain to the students as well as parents that this day gives rise to wrong thoughts. Therefore, they should oppose it.’’

But both parents and other school authorities are not too happy with teh suggestion. ‘‘This way the school is creating more doubts in the mind of students. Earlier, they used to give flowers to teachers and chocolates to their friends on Valentine’s Day. Now they have started asking how the day’s celebration leads to rape and murder,’’ said a mother of a Class V student.

The principals of other schools echoed her views. ‘‘Students should be told to express love to the people they care for. The day can be celebrated like any other festival, where people give cards, sweets to their loved ones,’’ said Rajive Gupta, principal of the Lucknow Public Collegiate.

Though the EC’s media invitation did not specify the subject, officials said the briefing would pertain to the SIR schedule. (File)

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