Sangh Parivar outfit in UP now wants to ban New Year celebrations

LUCKNOW, DEC 27: Activists of the Hindu Jagran Manch, an outfit belonging to the Sangh Parivar in Uttar Pradesh, have now trained their gu...

LUCKNOW, DEC 27: Activists of the Hindu Jagran Manch, an outfit belonging to the Sangh Parivar in Uttar Pradesh, have now trained their guns on New Year revellers. The Manch has warned all those who intend to celebrate the New Year of dire consequences.

They had issued a similar “fatwa” on the eve of this year’s Valentine’s Day and blackened the faces of some couples in Kanpur who were celebrating the event in some hotels.

The “ban” by the Sangh Parivar members is bound to generate controversy in the state and elsewhere. Chief Minister Rajnath Singh’s order against beauty contests has already triggered a major controversy and evoked sharp reactions from the Opposition parties and social organisations.

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As was expected, the Sangh Parivar not only supported Singh’s statement but also demanded a similar ban on honeymoons and birthday cakes. Certain Muslim groups too had supported the ban on beauty contests. The Opposition parties of the state, including the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress, and some of the BJP allies, the Loktantrik Congress Party and the Jantantrik BSP had condemned the order and demanded its withdrawal at the earliest.

Principal Secretary Home (UP), Naresh Dayal told The Indian Express that the people were free to celebrate the New Year in their way. Stern action would be taken against all those coming in the way of the revellers, he said.Dayal said all the District Magistrates and the SPs have been instructed to prevent any untoward incident by the Manch activists.