Valentines Day celebrated

Besides giving lovebirds a chance to express their love, the Valentines Day on Tuesday also brought happiness to the flower vendors of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Large crowds thronged the Islamabad flower markets, particularly in sectors F/6 and F/10. Taking advantage of the occasion, flower vendors also increased their rates. “Usually I sell one flower for Rs 10 but today I am selling the same for Rs 50.” “We increase the rates as no one wants to buy cheap flowers on this day,” said Hussain Razaq a flower vendor. In the capital city, many teenagers remained outdoors throughout the day to observe Valentines Day. However, when asked about the day’s history, the youngsters could not come up with answers.
“I always considered 14th February as an opportunity to express your feelings for a person you liked,” said Hamad Azam a private college student. Some students believed that family members, including parents should also their children’s valentines and that children should express for them. Saint Valentine’s Day, often simply called Valentine’s Day, is a holiday observed on February 14 honouring one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentines. It was first established by Pope Gelasius in 496 AD, but was later deleted from the General Roman Calender of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It is celebrated in hundreds of countries around the world, mostly in the West, although it remains a working day in all of them. The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionary, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”).
Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart shaped outlines, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. Most of the fast food restaurants remained jam packed with families as a lot of the people preferred to celebrate the day with their family members. Mobile phones and social networking sites such as Facebook were inundated with messages for and against celebrating Valentine’s Day, as both sides try to gain a wider audience.
Some also opposed the idea of celebrating the day. Talking with Pakistan Today, Azmat, a student of a government college said celebrating Valentine’s Day was against the norms of an Islamic society. He stated that Valentine’s Day celebrations started after Valentine was beheaded by a Roman emperor for going against his orders. He added that celebrating Valentine’s Day meant the people were celebrating Valentine’s death, which was neither logical nor ethical.