Right wing groups want hotels in Mangaluru to be closed before midnight on December 31st.
After targeting Valentine 's Day for years, self-appointed moral police in Mangaluru now seem to have a problem with New Year's Eve celebrations. Right wing groups, including the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, want hotels in the city to be closed before midnight on the 31st as they believe these parties "encourage drugs and sex". They have also approached the police with this demand.
Karnataka's Mangaluru district is no stranger to moral policing - images of the attack by the Sri Ram Sene on women in a pub are still vivid memories.
However, Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said people have no authority to make such a decision.
"The Bajrang Dal and other people have no authority to say this. Every year they say like this. They have no right," he said.
A show by actress Sunny Leone on New Year's Eve was earlier called off in Bengaluru after protests by Kannada Rakshana Vedike Yuva Sene which said Sunny's presence would be an assault on what they considered to be "Indian culture".
"We all know Sunny Leone's history. We are protesting to protect young people," the president of the group had told NDTV.
The Bengaluru police insisted that they were only denying permission because they felt law and order might become an issue.
Sunny Leone herself had tweeted that she would not be coming for the event as police had said they could not guarantee her safety of the safety of those attending.
Last year, reports of mass molestation in the city's Mahatma Gandhi Road area had surfaced and police are taking extra care this year. But Sunny's event seemed to be the only event not given permission.
It really does seem to be New Year ...old attitudes.