In the last 20 years, or probably more, the Hindutva ecosystem as a part of its cultural politics has unleashed a variety of attacks on the celebration of February 14 as Valentine’s Day. From unleashing brutal physical violence on couples in public spaces to public shaming to running social media campaigns, to suggesting alternatives like Matra-Pitra pujan diwas (the latest being Cow Hug Day), the Hindu right groups have deployed every means possible to dislodge the popular observance of Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day, they argue, is a ‘Western’ concept and goes against the ethos of Hindu culture.
Even puritan Islamist organisations are not left behind when it comes to opposing Valentine’s Day, which they too oppose by calling a ‘Western’ concept. Their alternative is to celebrate February 14 as ‘chastity’ or ‘modesty’ day.
This moral police gang, cutting across differences of religion, comes together on this particular day to impose their sense of morality on the public with complete disregard for individual choices and rights, either through direct physical assault or creating a sense of guilt among those who want to observe February 14 as a day for expressing their love.
One of the most popular campaigns against Valentine’s Day has included memes making the (factually incorrect) claim that since Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged on February 14, we should not celebrate this day at all.
How would Bhagat Singh, whose name is being used by the right-wing ecosystem to justify moral policing, react to this?
First thing first – Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were not hanged on February 14 but on March 23, 1931. Secondly, these revolutionaries were not against the idea of romantic love. Bhagat Singh, in one of his letters to Sukhdev, asserted that love is but a natural feeling, which has the potential to elevate the character of human beings. What these revolutionaries debated over was the realistic possibility for a revolutionary to fall in love and pursue it under colonial conditions, to which the answer was both yes and no. In fact, despite being an atheist and criticising the idea of re-birth, Bhagat Singh once expressed the desire to be born again only to pursue a romantic relationship! However, the most important dimension of Bhagat Singh’s commentary on love was about its possibility in a society deeply entrenched in feudal morality.
Is love possible in a society where human beings are not recognised as individuals but as a part of a social group? Or in a society in which ‘honour’ of the social group becomes a hindrance in the pursuit of romantic relationships, and differences of caste and religion can lead to violence and murder? Or in a society in which character assassination of women for interacting with the opposite sex is the norm? Bhagat Singh says no – love is not possible in a society that suffers from feudal prejudices.
During a discussion with his friend and comrade Rajaram Shastri (also the librarian of Dwarka Das library) on the topics of love and marriage, Bhagat Singh says:
“Love of the highest quality is only possible in a society that is free; where young men and women can live freely without any fingers pointing at them. But, we are born in a society devoid of that freedom. Our society is not the kind where young men and women are free to fall in love”. (“उच्च कोटि के प्रेम को करने के लिए समाज में स्वतंत्रता का वातावरण चाहिए जहाँ युवक-युवतियाँ प्रेममय जीवन बिता सके और कोई उनके ओर उँगली न उठा सके| हम गुलामों के वातावरण में पैदा हुए हैं| हमारा समाज ऐसा नहीं है जहाँ युवक-युवती वास्तविक प्रेम करने के लिए स्वतंत्र हों…”)
This short comment has a contemporary tone; it perfectly captures the hindrances to pursuing free love. When right-wing groups, the moral police gang, protest against Valentine’s Day or run campaigns against inter-faith marriages, they are actually imposing a limit on our freedom to choose our partner; they are imposing a limit on how, when and where to express our love by invading into our personal and private spaces. In short, they are creating un-freedoms for pursuing love.
But Bhagat Singh’s comment is not just limited to the regressive conditions created by right-wing groups. It is also a commentary on the existing nature of our society, which denies the basic freedom of association and the right to choose our partner by imposing a deeply patriarchal and casteist moral code and social structure, and maintains it through the threats of both physical and symbolic violence.
If Bhagat Singh had been alive today, he would certainly have stood up against this moral police gang, which shamelessly drags his name down to further its regressive agenda.
Harshvardhan is a research scholar.
Edited by Jahnavi Sen.