Religious leaders and public officials in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan have urged locals not to celebrate Valentine’s Day, while opponents and defenders of the holiday came to violence in Pakistan.

At least one student was injured in the clashes in Pakistan. An RFE/RL correspondent reports the violence took place at the University of Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest.

In Uzbekistan, imams and mullahs called on faithful Muslims at Friday Prayers to refrain from celebrating Valentine’s Day on February 14, saying it was an alien holiday that has nothing to do with Islam or Uzbek traditions. In the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, the local education department urged schoolchildren to prepare for a school competition and the Motherland Defender’s Day holiday instead of celebrating Valentine’s Day.

In Belarus, a Roman Catholic priest, Andrey Rylko, called Valentine’s Day a “challenge” to real Christians, saying it had lost its original meaning and become a commercial enterprise.

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