SAINT Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year in many countries around the world.
In Bangladesh, Valentine's Day celebrations started in the 1990s, but it has not encountered
any resistance so far from any front. Meanwhile, it has gained huge popularity among the young generation. What are the dynamics of Valentine's Day celebrations in Bangladesh?
Thousands of couples attend different kinds of programmes to celebrate Valentine's Day, especially in the Dhaka University (DU) campus where they are able to express their feelings of love to their partners in an atmosphere of fun, frolic and festivities. Famous outlets like Archie's and Hallmark sell cards and gifts items on discount on the day. To mark the day, many hotels, cafes and restaurants offer different types of attractive gifts for couples to make it as memorable as possible for them.
However, there are many conservatives and people with a different perspective who do not like the celebration of Valentine's Day in Bangladesh. But the day does have a positive significance in the lives of the general population, and there is nothing indecent about it.
Love encompasses joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, and pride. When a couple is involved in a relationship it does not mean that they will get sidetracked or misguided from the good way of leading life. It is possible for two people to learn bad things and spoil their lives even if they are involved in a relationship but, at the same time, it is also true that these couples might have good influence on each other and might start excelling in their lives because of that.
Valentine's Day is a day for couples who have or already had come under the good influence of their partner and are wholeheartedly willing to carry on with their relationship with utmost purity forever. Love often changes the life of many, in good or bad ways. But if the love is true and pure, and if it is strong enough to overcome any sort of obstacle and hurdle, then Valentine's Day welcomes them to celebrate the day to show respect towards their love.
The date, February 14, holds a much more significant meaning for Bangladesh. Student and cultural organisations of Dhaka observe it as the day marking the first instance of protest against Ershad's autocratic regime.
On February 14, 1983, the deposed military dictator Ershad's government brutally cracked down on students protesting against its new education policy. The movement, led by Chatra Sangram Parishad, demanded withdrawal of the education policy, release of political prisoners and resumption of fundamental democratic rights. A few students lost their lives on that day. Students' organizations hold rallies on Dhaka University campus to mark the day.
The student movement of the 1990s is a crucial part of our post-independence history. The present democratic environment is a fruit of those sacrifices. And thus this day is especially significant since it salutes and shows respect to those without whom the present democratic environment may not have been achieved.
SAINT Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year in many countries around the world.
In Bangladesh, Valentine's Day celebrations started in the 1990s, but it has not encountered
any resistance so far from any front. Meanwhile, it has gained huge popularity among the young generation. What are the dynamics of Valentine's Day celebrations in Bangladesh?
Thousands of couples attend different kinds of programmes to celebrate Valentine's Day, especially in the Dhaka University (DU) campus where they are able to express their feelings of love to their partners in an atmosphere of fun, frolic and festivities. Famous outlets like Archie's and Hallmark sell cards and gifts items on discount on the day. To mark the day, many hotels, cafes and restaurants offer different types of attractive gifts for couples to make it as memorable as possible for them.
However, there are many conservatives and people with a different perspective who do not like the celebration of Valentine's Day in Bangladesh. But the day does have a positive significance in the lives of the general population, and there is nothing indecent about it.
Love encompasses joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, and pride. When a couple is involved in a relationship it does not mean that they will get sidetracked or misguided from the good way of leading life. It is possible for two people to learn bad things and spoil their lives even if they are involved in a relationship but, at the same time, it is also true that these couples might have good influence on each other and might start excelling in their lives because of that.
Valentine's Day is a day for couples who have or already had come under the good influence of their partner and are wholeheartedly willing to carry on with their relationship with utmost purity forever. Love often changes the life of many, in good or bad ways. But if the love is true and pure, and if it is strong enough to overcome any sort of obstacle and hurdle, then Valentine's Day welcomes them to celebrate the day to show respect towards their love.
The date, February 14, holds a much more significant meaning for Bangladesh. Student and cultural organisations of Dhaka observe it as the day marking the first instance of protest against Ershad's autocratic regime.
On February 14, 1983, the deposed military dictator Ershad's government brutally cracked down on students protesting against its new education policy. The movement, led by Chatra Sangram Parishad, demanded withdrawal of the education policy, release of political prisoners and resumption of fundamental democratic rights. A few students lost their lives on that day. Students' organizations hold rallies on Dhaka University campus to mark the day.
The student movement of the 1990s is a crucial part of our post-independence history. The present democratic environment is a fruit of those sacrifices. And thus this day is especially significant since it salutes and shows respect to those without whom the present democratic environment may not have been achieved.