We have hardly settled into the new year and another globally celebrated festival comes along. Valentine’s Day. While some people look forward to the day to celebrate love, others dread the very thought of it.
To a number of people, February 14 brings to the mind pleasant memories of past romances. For those who wish the day didn’t exist, Valentine’s is just another day filled with normal activities.
Matooke Republic has compiled a list of five Countries that would serve bliss to those that are irked by the thought of valentine’s day.
Malaysia
A few years back, 80 Muslims were arrested by the Islamic morality police for celebrating Valentine’s day.
They think Valentine’s Day encourages immoral activities.
Officers raided budget hotels in the central state of Selangor and capital, Kuala Lumpur, detaining unmarried Muslim couples who were sharing rooms.
The anti-Valentine’s Day campaign by the country’s Islamic authorities goes back to religious ruling issued in 2005.
However, many Malaysians still celebrate the day and other faiths are not affected by Valentine’s Day boycott in the country.
Additionally, not all Malaysian Muslims agreed with the campaign, with some saying Valentine’s Day is harmless.
Muslims make up nearly two-thirds of the 28 million population.
Iran
In recent years, Iranian authorities have aimed to forbid Valentine’s celebrations, calling the holiday a decadent Western culture and threatening shops and restaurants with prosecution if they sell Valentine’s Day gifts
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Despite this, numerous restaurants in Tehran have reportedly been fully booked and many shops have been seen selling teddy bears and chocolates. Due to the fact that they are defying the law, establishments use lookouts to see if inspectors are on Valentine’s Day patrol.
India
Due to its independent revolution from the British empire in 1947, the Indian government refused to advocate Western values and culture.
In 2015, Party leader Chandra Prakash Kaushik told The Times of India: “We are not against love, but if a couple is in love then they must get married if they are not certain, they should not belittle love by openly going around together,”
Pakistan
Pakistan has been subject to numerous riots surrounding the celebration of Valentine’s Day. In 2014, two Universities in Peshawar and Pakistan Clashed with each other’s beliefs over the ideology of Valentine’s Day in the eyes of Islamic Law.
Students threw rocks at one another, which eventually lead to gunshots being fired from both sides, injuring three students.
On February 7th 2018, the Islamabad High court placed a ban on valentine’s day, claiming the day to be a cultural import from the West and “against the teachings of Islam”.
Saudi Arabia
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is located in Southwest Asia and spans the majority of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Muslim country. Mecca, the holiest city of Islam, is located in the Sirat Mountains of west Saudi Arabia. The capital is Riyadh.
Foreign Christian workers, essential to Saudi Arabia’s booming economy, are allowed into the country, but not to practice their religion. Any celebration of Valentine’s Day or sale of items related to the festivity, like red roses, are forbidden. Officials of the commission for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice, better known as the religious police, virtually prowl the streets on Valentine’s Day, going from shop to shop and confiscating anything they deem to relate to Valentine’s Day, arresting and punishing everybody who infringes on the law. That applies to locals and foreigners.
