[2][4] Valentine's Day serves annually as a flash point of the culture war in Pakistan[5] as it is a cause célèbre for religious hard-liners, affording conservatives a chance assert themselves as the caretakers of Islamic identity.
Lacking an understanding of their civil, legal, and political rights, women's opportunities for participation in society are limited and they are left vulnerable to exploitation, oppression, and abusive control by others without adequate recourse.
[18][19] According to Fatima S Attarwala Pakistani society accepts aged men to marry girls even fifty years young to them, but the Islamic Republic of Pakistan forbids the free expression of love.
[6][3] According to Cheema, those having financial means and access to private spaces can anyway find ways to continue celebrating Valentine's Day but those relatively disadvantaged middle or lower class get held up in the appeal of morality, culture, and tradition.
[27] In a well-publicized case from 2015, activist Sabeen Mahmud, known for staging protests in Karachi in favor of Valentine's Day, was murdered by a student who had been radicalized while attending the Institute of Business Administration.
[29] As per Daily Pakistan news report, Islamic International Medical College's code of conduct advisory notification caused interesting memes on the Pakistani social media.
[31] A fake circular in the name of Punjab University of Lahore was circulated on Pakistani social media asking girl students to observe 14 Feb as modesty day and wear black hand gloves and socks along with whole body covering black burqas, Vice Chancellor of Punjab University of Lahore clarified on social media that the circular was a fake one.
"[8][33] The following year, Abdul Waheed filed a case in the Islamabad High Court alleging that the celebration of Valentine's Day was spreading "immorality, nudity and indecency" in Pakistan.
[34] The court ruling, delivered by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, who had previously been an activist in Jamaat-e-Islami as well as a political candidate, barred the media from airing promotions of the celebration on television.
Their two-fold goals were to establish an Islamic state and to reform the religion towards a moralistic perfection, using independent madaris to train students in their value system.
[35] Tableegh-e-Jamaat was founded in 1927, as a grassroots movement and offshoot of DMM, aimed at empowering any Muslim to disseminate the teaching of the faith, as opposed to learning it in a madrasa.
[36] In Punjab, the DMM gained traction among urban workers and middle class through its literalist interpretation of Islamic scriptures, as taught in its educational curricula which was then widely exported throughout the country.
[7][33] Urban centers, which initially spurred the growth of such organizations, have also led to the downfall of traditionalism, in large part because of socioeconomic developments and the adoption of more modern lifestyles.
[37] In an article published on 14 February 2016 in Forbes, journalist Sonya Rehman wrote, "while the world celebrates Valentine's Day, several Pakistani women succumb to honor killings by their very own kin".
The video, along with other behaviors like appearing on news programs and talk shows to highlight the hypocrisy, posting revealing selfies with a religious cleric, and offering to strip for the national cricket team, eventually led her brother to murder her.
[8] Ahmed Qassem al-Ghamdi, a cleric and one-time chief of the religious police of Mecca proclaimed that Valentine's Day was not forbidden, as it was a positive celebration of a natural aspect of humans that had nothing to do with religion.
Othman Battikh, Grand Mufti of Tunisia, also attached little significant harm to the day, instead noting that celebrations which bring people together are positive unless morals are violated.
Other celebrants find alternate ways to partake in festivities, such as virtual dates, skyping with partners, or browsing online advertisements in search of privately available gifts or events.
[20][51] Except few orthodox minded, most fast food chains and restaurants tend to see by approximate 30 percent upward business on Valentine’s Day in Pakistan.
[58] Some other celebrity couples like; Momal Sheikh and Nader Nawaz, Shaniera and Wasim Akram, Zara Noor Abbas and Asad Siddiqui, Naimal Khawar and Hamza Ali Abbasi, Sarwat Gilani and Fahad Mirza, Aiman Khan, and Muneeb Butt, posted their pictures on social media on 2021 Valentine's Day.