Love lost with ban in Muslim countries

ST Valentine’s Day may seem like a bit of harmless fun to most of us but in many Muslim countries celebrations are strictly forbidden.

Pakistan’s media regulator this week reminded TV and radio stations that broadcasts relating to Valentine’s are forbidden after the Islamabad High Court ruled it was “un-islamic”.

Even stricter is Saudi Arabia where religious police outlawed the sale of all Valentine’s goods and the celebration of the day in 2008.

Iran banned activity on the basis it is a “decadent Western custom” in 2011.