Of Valentine’s Day and that advert

This morning, I spotted this ultimate advert at the back page of a leading daily, to my horror!

Why don’t I share this amazing sense of morality with the person who decided to place this advertisement? I wish I had such wits, but unfortunately, whatever angle I look at it, I just can’t seem to find the exact element which makes this worthy of a quarter-page advertisement in a top newspaper!

Though, I am not an advocate or an opponent of Valentine’s Day as such, even then, I can’t help but spot this deliberate twisting of facts about St. Valentine and the day, in an obviously not so witty manner.

The story of origin of Valentine’s Day centres Emperor Claudius II deciding that unmarried men made better soldiers so he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, a Roman Saint (and not a Jew), defied this ridiculous decree by performing marriages for young lovers in secret. When this was found out, Valentine was put to death and thus, in his memory, lovers started to profess their love for each other on this day.

Please when will you get your facts right?

Besides, this argument that Valentine’s Day is spoiling the youth and culture of Pakistan, and is against religion, doesn't seem to sit well with me. The only things that spoil the youth, culture and name of Pakistan are our obnoxious practices of child marriages, honour killing, treating women as commodities, giving them in swaras, victimisations of raped women, one of the highest numbers of rape cases of minor girls, acid throwing, crippling sectarianism and extremism, intolerance and terrorism that’s eating this country to its cores.

Sorry to spoil it, but the narrators of this advert clearly didn’t do their jobs well. I hope I’m not the only one who finds this advert utterly misleading, and depressing at the same time!

Or did I simply miss my cue to find it otherwise?

Bushra
2302 hours
Friday 12 February 2016