Valentine’s Day in India last weekend turned into a rallying point as much for forces of women’s liberty and progressiveness as for self-proclaimed defenders of Indian culture. Lost in the hullabaloo were young lovers.

The war cry for and against Valentine’s Day could be heard not just in metros like Mumbai and Delhi, where it is popular among youths, but also in smaller cities like Bhopal and Raipur, turning what was a non-event in these places into a talking point.

Young lovebirds seemed to keep a low profile, as reflected in the slack sales at gift and flower shops and at restaurants and popular hangouts.

Hardline groups say Valentine’s Day is a symbol of "cultural corruption."

Groups such as Shiv Sena say they are protecting Indian culture from Westernisation.

At least 20 activists of the Shiv Sena radical Hindu group were arrested in the Taj Mahal city of Agra after they roughed up some youngsters to protest celebration of Valentine’s Day.

Some couples faced attacks near Mariam’s tomb, a favourite haunt of lovers, close to Akbar’s tomb in Sikandra.

In Bhopal, a youth accompanying his sister was brutally beaten up by Bajrang Dal activists. In Gwalior, three dozen volunteers of Shiv Sena were arrested while they were looking for couples in the zoo.

While activists belonging to right wing Hindu outfits looked for lovers to beat, Youth Congress workers distributed roses in Indore. Leader Devendra Singh and his associates stood at the foot of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the heart of Indore and distributed roses to all passers-by.

Valaentine’s Day in India threw up some shocking cases of the moral brigade roughing up youths. Pramod Mutalik of Sri Ram Sene, whose activists had attacked women at a pub last month, were taken into preventive custody earlier in Karnataka. Twenty Bajrang Dal members were arrested in Chhattisgarh for terrorising young lovers.

Also, on a day deemed to be lover’s day, the Haryana Police suspended a sub-inspector who had beaten black and blue a young woman and her boyfriend in Jind town.

Sunita Das, a college goer, said she and her boyfriend spent the day with a few friends at her home, watching movies. "I really am in no mood of getting stuck in the middle of any battle between the moral and the anti-moral police!" she said.

Cupid was also feeling the heat of recession. Gift shops in the national capital of New Delhi had a deserted look and the mood in the season of love was sombre.

MBA student Rashima Tandon said: "Compared to last year this year is disappointing as the whole spirit of festivity is missing.

"The shops also have nothing new to offer. Most of it is unsold stock from last year. The decorations of the shops have also been frugal in most places. The shops bear a deserted look. The economic crisis has certainly affected Valentine’s Day."

BPO executive Anuj Dhingra told IANS: "As you know, recession has hit our sector. There is cost cutting going on in our company and manpower is being reduced.

"The axe is hanging over me. I am being extra careful about money. I am cutting my expenditure and it includes Valentine’s Day celebrations and gifts."

Some will however not let recession come in the way of love.