NEW DELHI: Valentine’s Day is known the world over as a day of love. It’s an occasion marked with flowers, presents and courtship, as the winged Cupid brings lovers together. In India, however, the day of love attracts a lot of hate.

Every year, as February 14th approaches and heart-shaped balloons fill the streets (quite literally; check out the vendors at traffic lights), a small minority grows more and more aggressive and increasingly belligerent. Right wing political groups have long opposed Valentine’s Day as a perversion of Western culture. A couple of years ago, the Hindu Mahasabha threatened to marry off singles who were celebrating the holiday. Even more worryingly, some groups have led acts of violence in protest of the occasion. Members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have also been known to throw rotten tomatoes at couples, and have harassed and assaulted couples in public. Some have raided card shops and burnt V-day paraphernalia.

So vehement is the opposition, that religious leader Asaram Bapu said that 14 February should be observed as "Parents Worship Day". He said instead of protesting against Valentine's Day and causing law and order problems, youth should be given an alternative.

Perhaps it was this theme that resulted in a series of billboards displaying a message urging young couples NOT to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The anti Valentine’s Day advertisements have sprung up across 35 metro stations and feature two contrasting images.

One of the ads shows two children worshipping their parents, contrasted with the image of a couple holding each other’s ears as police watch over in the background. The latter image seems to suggest that the couple have been punished for public displays of affection.

The ads, it seems, were not well received, with commuters taking to social media to complain.



In an article penned for ScoopWhoop, commuter Gaurav Arora wrote: “What in the world were you thinking DMRC, when you allowed such an ad to be put in one of your most crowded stations? Correct me if I am wrong, DMRC, a client buys ad space from you, you take the money and run their ads for a stipulated time period at desired vantage points. Right? Right, so next time, why not let ISIS put their recruitment ads at your subways stations because I am sure they can pay you more than a handful”

Following criticism, Delhi Metro has reportedly promised to look into the matter. "The ad was displayed by a private contractor as all the ad space on the Metro premises are allotted to specialised agencies which, in turn, allot them to advertisers. The matter is being examined and taken up with the contractor for necessary action," Anuj Dayal, chief spokesman of Delhi Metro said in a statement, according to The Times of India.

The ads are attributed to an organisation called Bal Sanskar Kendra, a functionary of which told the Indian Express that they had not received any directive to pull down the ads. "We are not aware of any directive to pull down the advertisements. We have already paid Delhi Metro for this and have put up posters and hoardings across 50 Metro stations, mostly on the busy Yellow and Blue Line for awareness among commuters. We believe the day should be observed as Matri Pitri Pujan Diwas (worship your parents day) and not Valentine's Day," DN Singh said.

Of course, this is not the first incident of anti-Valentine’s messages being displayed in public spaces. Amongst other organisations, the Bajrang Dal put up billboards warning couples not to hold hands.

Interestingly, this year -- leading up to Valentine’s Day -- there’s a spring internship application for the Bajrang Dal that is going viral. It’s of course a spoof, and proves that against hate, the most effective weapon is always humour.

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