Valentine’s Day: Pakistan district bans celebrations

Most people in Pakistan celebrate Valentine’s day, usually observed by a limited number of people in major urban centres, at enclosed places due to fear of attacks by Islamists.

In Pakistan, Valentine’s Day is popular in many cities.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Kohat district has imposed ban on any celebration related to Valentine’s Day, notification issued by the Head (Nazim) of Kohat District government.

According to some electronic media reports, the interior ministry had directed the Islamabad Capital Administration (ICT) to not allow individuals and organisations to hold Valentine’s Day celebrations in the city.
However, ICT officials said they have not received any such orders.

A conservative Urdu language newspaper ran an industry-funded advertisement which called the day “a festival of obscenity”.

“There is no need to designate a special day where people give cards, chocolates and gifts to each other”, Maulana Niaz Mohammad was quoted by the “Express Tribune” as saying. Now that it’s becoming increasingly global, Pakistan’s commercial sector is trying to capitalize off of it.

It isn’t just religious conservatives who object to the holiday.

This won’t be the first year that February 14 has sparked outrage. Women wearing black robes assembled in protest of the holiday, holding up signs condemning the tradition.

Conservative religious groups fear Valentine’s Day could encourage obscene behaviour and see it as a festival of immorality, detriment to the tradition of the marriage and an assault on Muslim values.

He added, “Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day are some of the examples”.

She was killed in April 2015 in a drive-by shooting.