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Will Modi sarkar ban these 'Western' practices?

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
Customers look for gifts at a shop ahead of Valentine's Day celebrations in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

As the BJP government comes into power, would some of these practices slowly but surely be banned?

After months of speculation and at the end of the most exciting elections of our times, the Bharatiya Janata Party swept the Lok Sabha polls.

This is for the first time since Rajiv Gandhi's historic landslide victory in 1984 that any party has won enough seats to govern the country without the support of any other political party.

The BJP and its right-wing allies have, from time to time, protested (sometimes violently) against the creeping 'Western' influences in India.

As Modi sarkar finally takes charge, we cannot help but wonder which of these 'Western' practices would be in danger:

1. Valentine's Day

Though Valentine's Day, which is celebrated around the world on February 14, is relatively new in India, it has been slammed by some hardliner Hindus for eroding traditional Indian culture.

2. Fashion shows

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
Lakme Fashion Week is a bi-annual event featuring works of several young and established designers.

A model walks the runway at the Summer-Resort edition of Lakme Fashion Week. Will events like these be tolerated any more?

 

3. Dating

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
A couple seeks shelter under an umbrella from an unexpected shower.

Will sneaking a private moment with your beloved in public become even more difficult now?

4. Gay relationships

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
People participate in the 2011 Queer Pride March in New Delhi.

Good luck if you're gay because the BJP supports the Supreme Court order that upheld Section 377, which bans sex 'against the order of nature', thereby criminalising homosexuality.

5. Live-in relationships

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
Sushant Singh Rajput and Parineeti Chopra choose to live in rather than get married in the film Shuddh Desi Romance.

Shaina NC, among other BJP leaders, has opposed live-in relationships, terming it anti-Hindu. So, as romantic as the idea of living-in might be, know that you have been cautioned.

 

6. Friendship Day

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
Friends enjoy a game of soccer as the sun sets in the background. Image used here for representational purposes only.

You would think that no one would have a problem with something as innocuous as Friendship Day, right? Apparently not.

The folks at Bajrang Dal had protested violently against celebrating Friendship Day in Raipur, Chhattisgarh some years ago.

No Friendship Day, please. We're Indians!

7. Women wearing jeans and t-shirts

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
A young girl stands outside a store in New Delhi selling traditional Indian outfits.

Time for a wardrobe change? According to BJP leader Babulal Gaur, Indian women wearing jeans and t-shirts and drinking liquor isn't good for India.

8. Unmarried women using mobile phones

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
An Indian woman speaks on her mobile phone in front of a retail garment shop in Mumbai. Image used here for representational purposes only.

BJP's Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh Raghunandan Sharma's solution to control crimes against women is to prevent the unmarried ones from using mobile phones... and wearing jeans!

9. Pub culture

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
A young girl has a drink while standing next to the bar at the Ren by China Garden nightclub in Mumbai.

Bye-bye, clubbing?

While BJP's Babulal Gaur expressed his displeasure with the idea of 'women dancing with men', the right-wing Hindu group Sri Ram Sene didn't see anything wrong in attacking women in Mangalore pubs.

10. Premarital sex

May 20, 2014 18:03 IST
A couple brings in the New Year with a passionate kiss. Image used here for representational purposes only.

If you thought you could get away with 'hanky-panky' before marriage, beware! Indian scriptures ban premarital sex, says BJP's Rajya Sabha MP and former chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court, Rama Jois.

That Kama Sutra was also an Indian text may have slipped Justice Jois's attention.