At Pakistani universities, fear rules supreme on Valentine's Day
In the free-thinking 1970s, a rule endorsed by Karachi University’s (KU) then vice-chancellor, requiring girls and boys to sit three feet apart on campus, earned him plenty of scorn and ridicule. At the time, most students defied the decree openly and several chose to make a mockery of it by bringing a tailor’s yardstick to school in a dramatic attempt to measure distance.
When right-wing groups like the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) indulged in moral policing, a majority of the student body resisted and male and female students continued to mix openly.
Things are very different today. The KU campus – like many others across the country – is visibly more conservative. And the conservatism is more pronounced than ever on Valentine’s Day.
Header: A Pakistan Ministry of Tourism bus takes western travellers on a sight-seeing ride in Karachi (1974). The slogan on the bus reads, "Enjoy the love".