Pakistan Court Outlaws Valentine's Day

Ever wish Valentine's Day would just disappear? Does the site of canoodling couples make you want to sit at home and partake in the original Netflix and Chill: binge watching TV while you binge eat a tub of ice cream?

Pakistan has done just that. The Islamabad High Court issued a ruling on Monday that instituted an immediate city-wide ban on Valentine's Day, taking action on a petition that said the lovers' holiday was "against the teachings of Islam and should be banned immediately." The petition, filed by a man named Abdul Waheed, argued that the holiday was actually about "immorality, nudity and indecency."

It's fair to say that the ban was a long-time coming. President Mamnoon Hussain himself is no fan of the holiday. Last year, he urged Pakistanis to avoid celebrating a holiday he saw as a needless, and dangerous, Western import.

"Valentine's Day has no connection with our culture and it should be avoided," he told the publication Dawn, which covers the region.

It was enough to leave some questioning how, exactly, Pakistanis were supposed to avoid a holiday. Would the police ban love songs from the radio? Would they round up vendors selling heart-shaped balloons?

Well, questions answered. The High Court ordered a ban on the sale of Valentine's Day merchandise or any reference to the holiday online or in print media, or in any public space or government building.

Pakistan is not alone in its anti-Cupid sentiment. The holiday is seen as an immoral invention of the West in many Muslim-majority countries. In Indonesia, the holiday routinely attracts the attentions of conservative Islamic student organizations, who protest a holiday they claim is about "free sex."

This year, students in Surabaya held placards claiming that "Muslims don't celebrate," the holiday. Its association with "free sex" had left the conservative students feeling "afraid," they said.

In West Java, the local education authority issued a circular barring students from celebrating the holiday on or off campus. The authority said Valentine's Day was against the country's "religious, social and cultural norms."

The city of Sukabumi banned the display of Cupids and hearts at night clubs—threatening to raid clubs, bars, and dormitory apartments (kost) in a crackdown on "immoral behavior."

In other Indonesian cities, the country's public order agency regularly conducts raids of hotels and parks the night of Valentine's Day, detaining late-night lovers caught doing "the nasty thing."

So if you find yourself in the mood for love on 14 Feb. it might be best to keep your celebrations low key and behind locked doors.