Pemra warns media broadcasters from promoting Valentines Day

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Wednesday banned media organisations from broadcasting or promoting Valentines Day.

The media watchdog issued an advisory directing all broadcast media organisation to “desist from promoting Valentine’s Day” through their respective channels.

The directive was issued as an order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) passed on February 13, 2017 is still valid. The IHC had prohibited the celebration of Valentine’s Day in public spaces and government offices across the country with immediate effect.

The orders were given on a petition submitted by citizen Abdul Waheed, who maintained that promotions for Valentine’s Day are against Islamic teachings and should be banned immediately.

The court had also warned print and electronic media to stop all Valentine’s Day promotions immediately. It had also directed Pemra to ensure that all TV channels stopped the promotion of Valentines Day.

The judgement had directed “to ensure that nothing about the celebration of Valentine’s Day and its promotion is spread on the electronic and print media. No event shall be held at the official level and at any public place. The chairman Pemra is directed to ensure that all TV channels shall stop the promotion of Valentine’s Day.”

The respondents included the secretaries of the ministries of information and broadcasting, information technology, chairman Pemra, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the chief commissioner Islamabad.

It may be mentioned that in 2016, President Mamnoon Hussain had urged Pakistanis to forego celebrating Valentine’s Day, saying that it was not a part of Muslim tradition but Western culture.