There are countries in other parts of the globe which are not celebrating February 14 as Valentine’s Day because of morality issues.
The world has been accustomed in celebrating Valentine’s Day every February 14, however, not all the countries in the globe follows this custom.
In countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India and Malaysia, the celebration for the day of hearts and lovers is banned.
Based on the article published in bbc.co.uk, people in the aforementioned countries will be punished once they will be caught celebrating the event.
In Indonesia, even though most of the citizens there are celebrating the Valentine’s Day but the officials and the Muslim clerics had a contradicting view about it.
There were also protests conducted against the promotion of casual sex and drinking of alcohol.
The province of Aceh strongly implements the ban of the celebration, even the selling of gifts.
In Malaysia, the Islamic morality police were arresting people who are celebrating the yearly occasion because for them it just encourages immoral activities.
On the other hand, there are still Malaysians and other nationalities who were not minding the Valentine’s Day ban.
In Pakistan, there was a commotion happened between the liberal students who were celebrating the day of the hearts against those who believed that it was anti-Islamic.
Three students were injured during that incident and stones were being thrown to the police.
In Iran, Valentine’s Day is called ‘decedent Western custom’. Despite stores were being threatened to be punished once they sell gifts and items concerning the event, people were still buying it.
In Saudi Arabia, the selling of gift items were done in secret because it was prohibited by the kingdom’s religious police and there was a separate place for women and men in restaurants.
There was one incident when a man was sentenced with 39 years in prison, as well as 4,500 lashes between them because he was found dancing with six women unrelated to him and he was caught with alcohol and roses during Valentine’s Day.
In India, the political parties also disagreed in the February 14 celebration because Western values are unwelcome in the said country.
During the said date, religious leaders were on standby to officiate the wedding of couples who were spotted roaming around during the Valentine’s Day, based on the article.
(photo courtesy of BBC, India.com)