THE OTHER SIDE OF VALENTINE'S DAY Hindu group hates holiday for love

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

India's Hindu hard-liners are showing no love for Valentine's Day.

A few dozen protesters briefly blocked a road in downtown New Delhi on Wednesday, burning Valentine's Day cards and chanting "Down with Valentine." In the nearby city of Lucknow, extremists threatened to beat up couples found celebrating their love.

"We are deadly against Valentine's Day," said Sapan Dutta, a regional leader of the hard-line Shiv Sena group. "We are for civilized love and affection."

The protests by groups like Shiv Sena, who say they are defending traditional Indian values from Western-style promiscuity, have become an annual media event.

But they appear to be fighting a losing battle, particularly in India's cities, where a booming economy has brought with it all the trappings of Western culture, including McDonald's, MTV and of course, Valentine's Day.

Shops stock Valentine's cards and chocolates, vendors boost prices of red roses, and restaurants offer romantic specials.

Many of India's English-language newspapers had front-page Valentine's Day stories in anticipation of the holiday Thursday.

The Times of India said security would be stepped up around New Delhi University's rose gardens to prevent young Romeos from plucking flowers, and the Hindustan Times cited doctors advising people not to abuse aphrodisiacs or drugs like Viagra.

Still, a handful of hard-liners threatened to disrupt celebrations.

Heh.