Buying the Valentine craze

Trader associations opposing foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail are nominally aligned with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its offshoots on the issue. But they have broken the annual RSS taboo on Valentine’s Day and chosen to celebrate the occasion. Nothing romantic in these outpourings, however. In this case, it’s taken the form of a countrywide declaration of love for the “Motherland”, which, the anti-FDI lobbyists insist, is being mortgaged to foreign business interests. The irony of using an entirely foreign festival to make their point appears to have escaped most traders and their associations.