Pakistani court issues nationwide ban on Valentine's Day
By Sophia Saifi, CNN
Updated 9:14 AM ET, Mon February 13, 2017
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Valentine's Day around the world – A shopkeeper prepares bouquets at a flower market in Gaza City.
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Valentine's Day around the world – A boy holds a balloon as he attends a wedding at Gretna Green in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Gretna Green has been hosting weddings since 1754 and is a popular destination for Valentine's Day weddings.
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Valentine's Day around the world – Roses are displayed on Valentine's Day at a flower market in Sydney.
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Valentine's Day around the world – A couple stands in front of a heart-shaped backdrop for a self-portrait at a park in Beijing.
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Valentine's Day around the world – Residents of Taiwan release a heart-shaped sky lantern.
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Valentine's Day around the world – A couple stands on the Galle Face beach in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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Valentine's Day around the world – A vendor sells heart-shaped Valentine's Day balloons in Lahore, Pakistan.
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Valentine's Day around the world – Brides line up with their husbands-to-be during a group Valentine's Day wedding at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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Valentine's Day around the world – A couple kisses on Valentine's Day before the soccer match between Gremio of Brazil and Huachipato of Chile for the Libertadores Cup, in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
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Valentine's Day around the world – A couple looks at each other at Republic Square in Mexico City.
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Valentine's Day around the world – Hundreds of couples wait in line for a mass Valentine's Day wedding in Manila, Philippines.
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Valentine's Day around the world – A giant Valentine's Day poster hangs on a construction site near a mosque in Beirut, Lebanon.
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Valentine's Day around the world – A shopkeeper prepares bouquets at a flower market in Gaza City.
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Photos:
Valentine's Day around the world – A boy holds a balloon as he attends a wedding at Gretna Green in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Gretna Green has been hosting weddings since 1754 and is a popular destination for Valentine's Day weddings.
Hide Caption
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Valentine's Day around the world – Roses are displayed on Valentine's Day at a flower market in Sydney.
Hide Caption
9 of 12
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Valentine's Day around the world – A couple stands in front of a heart-shaped backdrop for a self-portrait at a park in Beijing.
Hide Caption
10 of 12
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Valentine's Day around the world – Residents of Taiwan release a heart-shaped sky lantern.
Hide Caption
11 of 12
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Valentine's Day around the world – A couple stands on the Galle Face beach in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Hide Caption
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Valentine's Day around the world – A vendor sells heart-shaped Valentine's Day balloons in Lahore, Pakistan.
Hide Caption
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Photos:
Valentine's Day around the world – Brides line up with their husbands-to-be during a group Valentine's Day wedding at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Hide Caption
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Photos:
Valentine's Day around the world – A couple kisses on Valentine's Day before the soccer match between Gremio of Brazil and Huachipato of Chile for the Libertadores Cup, in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Hide Caption
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Valentine's Day around the world – A couple looks at each other at Republic Square in Mexico City.
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Valentine's Day around the world – Hundreds of couples wait in line for a mass Valentine's Day wedding in Manila, Philippines.
Hide Caption
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Valentine's Day around the world – A giant Valentine's Day poster hangs on a construction site near a mosque in Beirut, Lebanon.
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Story highlights
- Valentine's Day leaves many divided in Pakistan
- Businesses worry that the ban may affect trade
Islamabad (CNN)The Islamabad High Court in Pakistan's capital issued an order Monday that banned the celebration of Valentine's Day across the country 'with immediate effect.'
The order prohibits the display of adverts on electronic and print media that reference Valentine's Day, bans the sale of associated merchandise and states that the day cannot be celebrated in "any public space or government building."
Sultan Zaib in front of his garlands of roses.
The court has requested Pakistan's Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to monitor these platforms and share any information that shows that the ban has been compromised.
The court's order came after a petition was submitted by a citizen called Abdul Waheed -- who claimed that ongoing promotions of Valentine's Day were "against the teachings of Islam and should be banned immediately."
Valentine's Day backlash
In Pakistan, Valentine's Day is seen by some as amoral and an appropriation of Western culture.
Resistance against it is not completely unusual. Religious groups like the Islamic political party jamat e Islami have often protested against marking Valentine's Day in the country and hold rallies annually against the celebration on February 14.
In 2016, the local government in the city of Peshawar in the country's northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhua also banned celebrations.
The country's president Mamnoon Hussain, made a statement in February 2016, asking Pakistan's not to celebrate the day since it was "not a part of Muslim tradition, but of the West."
The Islamabad High Court's decision has also divided social media users, with some tweeting for the ban and others vehemently against it.
#ValentinesDay is a vulgarity day, be realistic , do not see life with your rose-tinted glasses , it would only lead you to misery & regret.
A chance to promote business
Though Valentine's day tends not to be celebrated widely across the country, in recent years, various companies have used the event to promote their products.
Mohammad Naveed who runs a roadside flower shop tells CNN he's invested close to $2000 on buying flower supplies for February 14.
In the first week of February, vendors start selling heart-shaped balloons and the price of red roses increases.
In Islamabad's markets Monday, florists standing amid large heart-shaped garlands of roses and bouquets of daffodils and jasmine were worried by the effects of the ban.
"We spend four to five days making these, I've got forty of them ready to be sold for tomorrow," Sultan Zaib, told CNN.
Mohammad Naveed, who runs a roadside flower shop, told CNN that he had invested close to the equivalent of $2000 on buying blooms for Valentine's Day.
Florists source flowers from abroad and from the nearby fields of Punjab. Usually they earn about $80 for a day's sales, but the amount increases tenfold on Valentine's day. "If they ban us from selling these tomorrow then it will be a disaster, we simply cannot afford this," said Naveed.
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