Pakistan president condemns St Valentine's Day

[Looper]

Pakistan's president has denounced St Valentine's Day, saying the festival has no connection with Pakistani culture and should be avoided.

President Mamnoon Hussain told students that it was a Western tradition and conflicted with Muslim culture



His remarks came after a district in north-western Pakistan banned Valentine's Day celebrations.

Valentine's Day is popular in many cities in Pakistan, but religious groups have denounced it as decadent.

Image copyright Kohat District Government Earlier this week, the local government in Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told police officers to stop shops from selling Valentine's Day cards and items.

Kohat district is run by a religious political party and borders Pakistan's conservative tribal areas.

Meanwhile, the Peshawar local council also passed a resolution to ban celebrations of what it called a "useless" day.

Kohat district administrator Maulana Niaz Muhammad told the BBC Urdu: "Valentine's Day has no legal grounds, and secondly it is against our religion, therefore it was banned."

Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Protesters in Karachi hold banners with slogans such as 'No love, no Valentine' While giving cards and flowers was not in itself a bad thing, linking this to a specific day was not appropriate, Mr Muhammad said. He added that he felt such practices could encourage obscene behaviour.

However, officials in both places later said the bans had been discarded or ignored for being unpopular.



Earlier this week, there were unconfirmed media reports that Valentine's Day gifts had been banned in the capital Islamabad - although this was subsequently denied by the government.

No love lost over St Valentine's Day

Image copyright AFP The issue of St Valentine's Day is a polarising one in Pakistan, a country where it has only become widely marked in recent years, writes the BBC World Service's South Asia editor Charles Haviland.

In the run-up to this year's festival, one conservative newspaper described it as a "festival of obscenity", asking if Pakistanis would next start celebrating the Hindu Diwali or the Christian Christmas.

In past years, conservative social groups, who view the day as a festival of immorality detrimental to traditional marriage, have declared the day to be "shameless".



Renowned civil society activist Sabeen Mahmud once set up a demonstration with slogans including "Karachi says Yes to Love". (Last April, she was killed in a drive-by shooting, although not necessarily for that particular issue.)

In neighbouring India, Valentine's Day also garners opposition, usually from Hindu conservatives who say it is alien to Indian culture and - as argued by Pakistani Muslims - contrary to traditions such as arranged marriages.

Pakistan president condemns St Valentine's Day - BBC News

[harrybarracuda]

Miserable wankers, aren't they?

[chassamui]

..... and the locals told them to get stuff and ignored their decree. Business is business especially in India.

[BaitongBoy]

Oh well...Have a nice day, anyway...

[rickschoppers]

I guess we could just condemn Ramadan.

[harrybarracuda]

I guess we could just condemn Ramadan.

I do, you can't even get a beer in the lounge at Doha airport.

[rickschoppers]

^

[BaitongBoy]

But they're allowed to "reproduce?"...Without foreplay, I assume?...(Sorry)...

[Bettyboo]

you can't even get a beer in the lounge at Doha airport

I fukin hate that; I had my most miserable stopover ever at that horrible airport - including a substantial argument with some Pakistani wanker, rude as fuk he was, working in the business lounge telling my why my culture was terrible and I shouldn't drink beer... He probably went for a holiday in Pattaya the next week, whores galore, drinking non-stop...

[Cujo]

..... and the locals told them to get stuff and ignored their decree. Business is business especially in India.

Yes but what about Pakistan?

[rickschoppers]

Pakistan is primarily muslim the last I looked while India is primarily Hindu. Did I get that right everyone?

[Black Heart]

Ramadan should be banned then, in the UK.

[thaimeme]

Savages.
How dare they reject Western consumptive holidays.

Why can't they just reform and mirror superior civilisations?

[Dapper]

Miserable wankers, aren't they?

For once I agree with you you utter [at][at][at][at]

[Black Heart]

Nice try, Jeff.

Why do Muslims publicly demand no bacon advertisements and easter egg hunts?

You're a lost hypocrite.

[Dapper]

Ramadan should be banned then, in the UK.

That's like saying that apple pie should be banned just because there are a few retarded fucked up americans.

[thaimeme]

Nice try, Jeff.

Why do Muslims publicly demand no bacon advertisements and easter egg hunts?

You're a lost hypocrite.

The inability to recognize deeper twisted sarcasm is lost on yourself.

Nice try, though.

Buffoon.

[Kurgen]

wtf would send a Valentine to a Paki anyway?

[AntRobertson]

Pakistan's president has denounced St Valentine's Day, saying the festival has no connection with Pakistani culture and should be avoided.

He has a point to be fair. Valentines Day is shit.

Somehow a dude being beaten with clubs, beheaded, buried and then disinterred has become all about fecking chocolates and roses.

[Cujo]

Nice try, Jeff.

Why do Muslims publicly demand no bacon advertisements and easter egg hunts?

But do they?

[Hans Mann]

wtf would send a Valentine to a Paki anyway?

I would, if they promised never to give me a blow job.

[Bobcock]

I condemn Valentines Day..... different reasons but it is crap.... was it invented by Hallmark Cards?

We certainly refuse to go out to dinner on that day.....

[chassamui]

Yes but what about Pakistan?

It is the sixth-most populous country with a population exceeding 199 million people.[13] It is the 36th largest country in the world in terms of area with an area covering 881,913 km2 (340,509 sq mi). Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast respectively. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and also shares a maritime border with Oman.

[wasabi]

Pakistanis living in the U.K. celebrate Valentine's Day in Rotherham, they took the underage Pommie girls to a romantic romp in a flat above a kebab house, and gave the girls special valentines kebabs afterwards. ( Wrapped in Pink paper makes all the difference to taste)
The girls where also treated to rides around Rotherham in Pakistani chauffeured taxis.

[harrybarracuda]

you can't even get a beer in the lounge at Doha airport

I fukin hate that; I had my most miserable stopover ever at that horrible airport - including a substantial argument with some Pakistani wanker, rude as fuk he was, working in the business lounge telling my why my culture was terrible and I shouldn't drink beer... He probably went for a holiday in Pattaya the next week, whores galore, drinking non-stop...

In the old lounge I was basically ordering tonic ice and lemon from the bar and then topping it up in the smoking room with my duty free.

By the time they tumbled, I was merrily pissed and going for my flight anyway.