Pakistan court bans Valentine's Day celebrations

Love may be in the air but not this Valentine's Day in Pakistan as The Islamabad High Court ruled yesterday (Monday) that all public celebrations of Valentine's day are prohibited with 'immediate effect'.

Ana Blazic Pavlovic

The ban impacts a wide range of businesses including government offices, private businesses and media sources.

Print and electronic media have been ordered to cease all Valentine's Day promotions ‘immediately' with the threat that breaches will be reported to the police by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.

The move follows a petition by Abdul Waheed who argued that Valentine's Day promotions were ‘against Islamic teachings and should be banned immediately’.

It is understood that any arrests will be on discretion of the police and, at this stage, there has been no police enforcement.

Last year President Mamnoon Hussain urged Pakistanis to turn their backs on Valentine's Day celebrations stating that they were not a part of Muslim tradition but adopted from the West. Vigilantes later gathered to burn Valentine's Day cards, which in their eyes, was a symbol of assimilation of Western ideas into Pakistani society.

Source: Jurist

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