Banning Valentine’s Day is Tough Love

There is no doubt that love flourished in this world long before Valentine’s Day was given romantic overtones by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century.

It is also true that all those sainted and selfless men named Valentine down the millennia had pretty difficult times even though there was nary a red heart or chocolate truffle associated with their labours.

So, the distinctly unromantic verdict of the Islamabad High Court banning all promotions of Valentine’s Day in the media on the grounds that it is not part of the Muslim tradition —an indisputable fact, of course, since the roots of the practice are in ancient Rome — is par for the course.

But decreeing that the government must stop its ‘celebration’ in Pakistan is a tall order as it has been noticed in these tech-savvy times that such ban orders are easier passed than implemented.

So, the Pakistan government may find it tough to act on this especially since there are other pressing matters that perhaps need more immediate concerted action than morality police fanning out in search of canoodling couples or intercepting now-contraband Valentine’s Day cards and gifts.

The Valentine’s Day alerts by authorities in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia about online scams cheating love-hungry people out of their life savings certainly seem a more worthwhile caveat.