Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj is adding his two-paisa's worth to the celebrate-Valentine's-Day-or-not debate by marrying off a pair of donkeys
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REGISTER MARRIAGE:u00a0 Vatal gets donkeys married off to prove 'love is everywhere'u00a0u00a0u00a0 pic/Vinod Kumar T |
Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj is adding his two-paisa's worth to the celebrate-Valentine's-Day-or-not debate by marrying off a pair of donkeys.
The two animals were married at the Legislators' Home yesterday to encourage people to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Vatal felicitated the newly-weds by touching their feet and kissing them. "I bow to their love. Even animals love each other, just the way we humans do. Love is everywhere and there is nothing wrong in celebrating Valentine's Day," he said.
The ceremony
The bride, Rati, and the groom, Manmath, were decked up and brought on a platform to Legislature Home. Vatal draped Rati with a green silk saree and placed a white panche on Manmath. He smeared turmeric and vermillion on their foreheads and placed a colourful necklace around their necks. Garlands were exchanged on their behalf.
When it was time to send the couple off, a goods van was brought in and Manmath got into it. But Rati like a true Indian bride was reluctant to go. She started walking backwards and had to be forcibly pushed in to take her place by her husband's side.
Vatal also condemned Sri Rama Sene's threat to get couples married off if they are found together on Valentine's Day. "Tying a taali around the neck of a girl is sacred. A couple meets many times, gets to know each other, the families meet and then they decide to get married. Some moral cop cannot simply get any one married," he said.
Mutalik will not hamper V-DaySri Rama Sene founder Pramod Mutalik has abandoned all plans of playing the moral cop in Bangalore on Valentine's Day.
"We had said that we would catch couples celebrating Valentine's Day and get them married in a temple. Now, we will not be doing any such thing in Bangalore. We will go ahead with our plans in Mangalore, Belgaum and other cities in the state," Mutalik told MiD DAY.
He said there were evil powers in Bangalore which wanted to tarnish the Sene's image. "The Left organisations and other bad organisations have planned to create a ruckus in the city on Valentine's and put the blame on Sri Rama Sene. Political parties are also taking the law into their hands and then blaming the Sene," he said.
