Valentine clashes!
At least three students were wounded yesterday in a clash at a university in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, following a dispute over Valentine's Day celebrations in the deeply Muslim country, police said.
Students from the left-leaning Pakhtun Students Federation were marking the international day of romance with red balloons and cake when they were attacked by students from the rival Islami Jamiat Tulba (IJT) group.
The IJT, the student wing of Pakistan's hardline Jamaat-e-Islami party, had been celebrating "Haya ("Modesty") Day" in response to Valentine's Day which they oppose as un-Islamic.
Valentine's Day is increasingly popular among younger Pakistanis, many of whom have taken up the custom of giving cards, chocolates and gifts to their sweethearts to celebrate the occasion. But Pakistan remains a deeply traditional Muslim society where many disapprove of Valentine's Day as a Western import.
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