LUCKNOW: Unwarranted moral policing continued to harass people on Valentine's Day as a group of women claiming to be from a "royal family" attempted to stop couples from entering Bada Imambara.
Heated exchanges took place between visitors and the self-proclaimed guardians of culture as seven female members of 'Begumat royal family of Avadh' created a ruckus in the Nawabi monument on Thursday.
Holding banners announcing an 'Anti-Valentine's Day campaign', they entered Imambada lawns around 11.30am, led by their "president" Farhana
Maliki
.
While some of the women stopped couples from holding hands, others went on to ask men to remove their hands from the shoulders of their partners. Strangely though, the women handed a
flower
to each of their "offenders". With banners saying 'Valentine's Day is not in Indian culture', they even targeted couples walking together and directed them to "maintain distance". Unhappy with being snubbed, the "royal family" women approached the guards on duty, seeking help.
However, the guards deployed, too, chose to ignore them.
The anti-Valentine's Day campaigners then headed to Bhool Bhulaiya stairs and Bawli of Imambada where they tried their luck with couples, only to be snubbed again.
The drama continued till 2.30pm before Maliki and her gang left the place, tired of unsuccessfully trying to have their way with couples, many of whom were enraged by then.
Before leaving, Maliki said, "Valentine's Day is not in Indian tradition. This place is meant to offer prayers and not for lovers."
Rahul Shukla, who was with his wife Ankita, said, "Today is our wedding anniversary. The situation here is shocking. Couples were being harassed by a group of women. We must give our support to people who are in love."
"The so-called anti-Valentine's Day campaigners were violent. They asked us to leave. When we confronted them, they had no answer," said Rahil Ansari.
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