SAINT Valentine's Day: A Challenge for the Indian LDR

The Morning of St Valentine' by John Callcott Horsley (1817 - 1903)

Secular ritual or Religious festival?

Every year, after destroying notions of personal liberty all year long while simultaneously extending the Government's intrusion into people's lives as far as permitted by the current political arrangement, the secular people suddenly become upholders of individual freedom for one full day - on February 14th. Each year, we also see a wave of massive denial about the religious nature of this festival. This does not hold up to any amount of scrutiny. A good start would be the Wiki page or the Valentine's day home page on History channel.

The whole imagery of this festival is steeped in religious fervor and has often been represented in art and sculpture as such. Web sites of religious institutions bring out specials for this day. It is included in religious sermons and used in sanctimony against a certain religion. We also see many long winded articles about how secular this festival is:

Valentine's Day: An Inside Scoop

by Lavina Noronha - Mangalore

Feb 14, 2009

Valentine's Day (or Saint Valentine's Day as it was formerly known) is celebrated worldwide on February 14th. Although this is one of the most popular holidays in the modern world, the real significance of this day is shrouded in mystery. [link]

Well, mystery or not, exactly what part of SAINT is secular? Of course, the St. gets conveniently dropped and over time Valentine's Day becomes V-Day. 

Given this backdrop, it is essential to view the fringe Hindutva and other not so fringe religious groups' opposition to St.  Valentine's Day separately from their general campaign against some of the other issues of personal freedom. 

Religious Freedom and The Indian State:

The Indian State is at best a work in progress to achieve Liberal Democratic Republic (LDR) status as far as religious freedom is concerned. Others might say it is a confusing and unfixable tangle. For instance, take a look at what we can call a "moderate" viewpoint:

All religions are not the same; but all fundamentalists are. They share an aversion for modernity and a hatred of gender equality. It is entirely logical that the Ram Sene should find an ally in the Jamaat-e-Islami; their ethos is not dissimilar, no matter how different the imagery their rhetoric might contain. The same mindset persuades some maulanas to issue a fatwa condoning divorce through triple talaaq even when the husband is drunk. The very clerics who will damn you to eternal hellfire for touching alcohol are ready to rationalise any diktat that amounts to subjugation of women. Eminent Islamic scholars have repeatedly proved that instant triple talaaq is bad in Islamic law, and such variations even worse. Islam institutionalised the rights of women; such distortions are at variance to its liberating spirit. But the issue is not law: this is conservative, male domination over women. [link][emphasis added]

Ergo, the state is still subordinate to religion - it is just great luck for humanity that according to that particular "moderate", coincidentally the state is not at odds with the faith. Well, just try putting it to a referendum. 

This is where the Indian state and its notion of secularism never quite took off. So essentially we live in an uncomfortable equilibrium of multiple theocracies and see violent confrontation where their edges collide. The trouble accentuates where the state tries to correct perceived market failures even within this equilibrium. Attempts to fix the religious aspects has only resulted in an increase in secular indignation. 

St. Valentine's Day's violent assault on Religious Freedom and Social Justice:

Once we accept that Valentine's Day is indeed a religious festival, it is easy to see that aside from wasting valuable resources of the state, it is raising serious ethical questions about religious freedom. 

For one thing, very vocal and often crude statements from Renuka Chowdhury, Cabinet Minister in the UPA Government is clearly way out of line and can be seen as actively promoting a religious festival. This is at odds with secular traditions of the state. 

Individual conduct has not been very honest, to say the least. Be it Nisha Susan or Jo or schmoe, the common refrain seems to be:

- I have never personally celebrated Valentine's day

- it is not a Christian holiday

- but we must all celebrate it as a secular tradition 

- any opposition to it is an assault on personal liberty

The attempt of the Pink Chaddi throwing campaign to club this with the larger issue of personal freedom was no doubt political in nature, aided and abetted in no small measure by the secular party's machinations who needed a diversion from their pitiful failure in all areas of Governance. The sole focus on groups belonging to a certain religion smacked of gross hypocrisy, not to mention a general almost institutionalized hatred for that religion.

The implications of institutionalizing this religious festival are grave, for example:

• It may undercut other festivals such as Holi and associated fringe benefits such as being allowed to leave office early
• Those who do not celebrate may be unfairly branded fundamentalist, backward etc. and persecuted
• May create an Iftaar like situation and lead to misuse of tax payers money - all our politicians are obligated to throw lavish Iftaar parties, not to mention participate in various other religious festivities. 
• Massive wastage of state resources in providing security in addition to gross violation of human rights by preventive detention of possible troublemakers
• White collar workplaces have started celebrating this festival with great enthusiasm. What about those who feel it is against their religious traditions? Of course we just don't mean Hindus. 

Solutions for the Indian Liberal Democratic Republic (LDR):

Any proposed solution to the St. Valentine's Day related issues must meet the following standards of the LDR:

- it must reduce Government involvement

- it must reduce use of state resources

- it must not infringe on religious freedom

- it must not infringe on democratic rights of protests and activism 

We propose that the clergy must come out of their denial and immediately declare it as a religious holiday. Following this, the Governments across the world (where relevant) and also in India must accept it as a recognized religious festival. In addition, the Government must stop actively promoting a religious festival.

This will fix almost all problems of St. Valentine's Day. The various religious groups will stay away from spoiling it, just like they stay away from - say Christmas. If they don't, the Government can then book violent protesters and vandals under rigorous religious atrocities laws.

People from other religions can still participate in it just like they participate in their friend's Christmas, Holi or Iftaar parties. Parents of underage children will be able to restrict their freedom according to taste and in line with accepted norms of parental control. 

We believe this simple change in mindset will completely throw Valentine's Day out of the agenda of religious fringe groups. The commercial aspects will continue as will general participation. 

Of course this will not fix the larger issue of violation of individual rights such as assault on pub going women, harassing inter-caste or inter-religious couples etc., issues collectively known as "moral policing".