Residents of Chechnya cautiously react to celebration of Valentine's Day

In Chechnya, Valentine's Day passed without any public actions, but some young people used the holiday as a reason to present gifts to their girlfriends.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2016, residents of Dagestan and Chechnya reported their refusal to celebrate Valentine's Day. They believe such holidays contradict the principles of Islam and the cultural traditions of their republics.

On February 14, no advertising of the celebration of Valentine's Day was noticed in the streets of the cities and villages of Chechnya.

However, some young people congratulated each other on Valentine's Day through social networks, guys bought small gifts for their girlfriends and gave them postcards or flowers, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

A number of residents of Chechnya interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" called the celebration of Valentine's Day unacceptable.

"All those days of Valentine and so on are pagan holidays, and we, being Muslims, being Chechens, cannot have anything in common with them. I don't understand those people who consider this day to be a holiday and celebrate something," said, in particular, Sakhab, a resident of the Grozny.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 15, 2019 at 05:35 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.