Celebrate Valentine’s Day for unity

LAHORE

Arrangements to celebrate Valentine’s Day by youths have gained momentum with scores of men, women and youngsters are ambushing the stores and flower shops.

This year’s Valentine’s Day has so many shades of gray in the remembrance of the loved ones martyred by the enemies of humanity and peace.

This year’s Valentine’s Day has a special significance for the hearts which are full of love for peace and humanity. It is indeed a day to one’s love for their loved ones, but, unfortunately, we have been celebrating Valentine’s Day in the way as the West does. No one dislikes peace, tranquillity, brotherhood and peace in his life and society and likewise Pakistani society is not in favour of promoting hate and division among their fellow Pakistanis.

Despite the fact that there is a general and predominant opposition of celebrating the Valentine’s Day from certain quarters with a peculiar mindset, the majority of the people celebrate it with great zeal and fervour without even knowing its history and utility in our society. The young lot throng shopping malls, gift & flower shops with anything ‘Red’ on the top of their agenda. Everyone wants a ‘Red Thing’, may it be red flowers specially red roses, red balloons, red sweaters, red Valentine’s Day hearts and so on. The household life is also having a taste of ‘Red’ with husbands and wives, especially the newly-married, are buying Valentine’s Day presents for their sweethearts to express their love with flowers, gifts and a special treat in the city restaurants. The prominent hangouts of the youngsters like M.M.Alam Road, Fortress Stadium, Defence Mall and other shining places in town are all braced for the mega event and most of them have received bookings for the Valentine’s Day.

All said and done, it is against the fundamental rights of the human beings to take away their freedom, but, it would be more appropriate to keep the centuries old rich social values and traditions of our society which emphasise on promoting love as a nation, by forgetting minor differences, bias, discrimination and above all, malice against any one. We should celebrate Valentine’s Day in the Pakistani style, by creating a much needed environment of love, peace, unity and tranquillity should be promoted through flowers for our neighbours, a few soft words of kindness to the agonised souls and heavy hearts, we should share the sorrows, pains and sufferings of those who need it the most and can be easily found everywhere around us.