War on ‘debauched atrocity’ of Valentine’s Day
INDONESIA: Hate Valentine’s Day? You could consider moving to Indonesia.
Several cities in the southeast Asian country have banned the celebration, pushing back against what critics there call a Western tradition – rooted in Christianity – that leads to behaviour that contravenes the mores of the Muslimmajority population.
Across the archipelago on Wednesday, raids and stern warnings from provincial leaders replaced candlelit dinners, Hallmark cards and heart-shaped candies. Police officers in Surabaya, Indonesia’s secondlargest city, detained about two dozen unmarried couples in a sweep intended to clamp down on Valentine’s Day celebrations, according to the Agence FrancePresse news agency.
In Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province, police were ordered ‘‘to raid schools in the hunt for passionate students unable to keep their hands off each other’’, AFP reported.
In Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, leaders maintained the ban on the romantic holiday, which they have imposed for the past several years, according to the Reuters news agency – but it was unclear whether police there had raided the city’s convenience stores and confiscated condoms, as they did last year, in an effort to prevent lovers from engaging in casual sex.
But in Aceh, the only Indonesian province to impose sharia, the ban on Valentine’s Day was visible for all to see.
Images of protest rallies from the province showed dozens of students holding signs that expressed sentiments such as ‘‘Save the Muslim from Valentine Day [because] Valentine is not my day’’.
Others wore headbands with a more direct message: ‘‘NO VALENTINE.’’
‘‘Valentine’s Day reflects a cul- ture which is not in line with Aceh’s and Islamic law,’’ provincial governor Irwandi Yusuf said.
Valentine’s Day does have roots in Christianity – University of Southern California history professor Lisa Bitel has charted the day’s puzzling evolution from celebrating ‘‘beheading to betrothing’’ in the name of the Catholic St Valentine – but Indonesia’s bans come as the Muslim-majority country has increasingly rejected Western culture. In recent months, lawmakers there have moved to outlaw gay and extramarital sex, prompted by religious Muslim conservatives.
– Washington Post