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Lucknow varsity 'closed'
on Valentine's Day

Apprehending trouble by the Sangh Parivar's self-styled 'culture cops', the authorities ordered closure of Lucknow University on Valentine's Day.

Vice Chancellor D P Singh took the decision after talks with members of the faculty and the board . "It was unanimously decided to keep the university closed in view of the apprehension of violence and vulgarity on Valentine Day,'' said a senior member of the university board.

He explained, "Eve-teasing has been on the rise in and around the campus, and a day like Valentine's will give undesirable elements a chance to take undue liberty, which could spark off violence."

The authorities also took into account attempts by some Bajrang Dal activists to attack some greeting card stores in Lucknow's fashionable shopping centre, Hazratganj. The shops had to pull down shutters on Tuesday afternoon.

Volunteers of the Hindu Jagran Manch had ransacked greeting card shops in Kanpur on Saturday . They set on fire Valentine greeting cards and broke glass panes, warning shopkeepers to stop selling these cards, which according to Manch chief Suman Kumar "were only expressions of vulgarity and sex".

Even as the police claimed they had made "adequate security arrangements" for Wednesday, shopkeepers kept their fingers crossed .

In Kanpur, most of those who tasted the wrath of mobs had pulled away Valentine cards from their stands.

In Lucknow and Kanpur, the police will undertake round-the-clock patrolling near shopping centres, hotels and restaurants as, besides schools and colleges.

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