Source: Times of India and Hindustan Times Reports
NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 13, 2001: A 100-strong mob ransacked a shop selling Valentine’s Day cards in east Delhi, smashing glass windows and burning the cards. The attack was one of many at various places in the country following a call by the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray not to celebrate “this shameless festival that is totally contrary to Indian culture.” In Lucknow, a handful of activists of the Hindu Jagaran Manch forced gift shops selling Valentine’s Day cards to shut down. In Kanpur, several shops selling Valentine’s day cards were destroyed. It was in Mumbai that the Shiv Sena activists had a field day, destroying several heart shaped arches and gateways built for the occasion by shops and hotels across Mumbai. They also had a go at ‘Madness,’ a popular disco in suburban Mumbai and the Hallmark’s outlet at the Crossroads mall. Police seemed to be looking the other way, though later made some token arrests. They don’t want any major law-and-order trouble on the eve of the Indian Navy’s first international fleet review beginning Thursday. In satellite townships of Kalyan, Dombivli and Thane several card shops closed their shutters, calling off their promotionals as a preventive measure.