Imran Khan hands over cheques of Rs150,000 to each couple
PESHAWAR: The Chief Minister’s House on Tuesday gave a totally different look where the relatives of 45 couples were sitting under a colourful canopy in the lush green lawn.
Provincial ministers, members of the provincial assembly particularly women, district nazims and councillors, government officials and activists of Provincial Commission on the Status of Women received guests for the mega collective wedding ceremony.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who was the chief guest on the occasion, had provided funds from his own pocket for the mass weddings.A group of youth was seen dancing in front of the participants gathered over there to celebrate the wedding ceremony.
Clad in traditional dresses and wearing garlands, the couples were sitting at the right side of the makeshift hall to enjoy the celebrations.Both Imran Khan and Pervez Khattak avoided making political statements on the occasion and announced to arrange another marriage ceremony for 150 deserving couples. Imran Khan also handed over a cheque for Rs150,000 to each couple as “salami” and reiterated to follow the golden principles of a welfare Islamic State of Madina.
Chairperson of Provincial Women Commission Neelam Toru and her colleagues had selected 50 deserving couples from seven districts including Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera, Malakand, Swat and Abbottabad with the coordination of the culture and tourism department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Imran Khan lauded Pervez Khattak, Neelam Toru and Additional Chief Secretary Azam Khan for the noble work and recalled that the rulers of the first Islamic welfare State of Madina had always cared for the well-being of the poor.
That was the reason, he said, the Muslims remained a power for 700 years, but later they ignored their golden principles and Islamic injunctions and suffered decline.The PTI chairman observed that unfortunately the politicians make tall claims but they don’t care for the poor and humanity and that was the reason they could not succeed in their mission. “The politicians made claims, but don’t take practical steps to do what they preach,” he remarked.
Imran Khan said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suffered a lot in the last 10 years as thousands of people lost their lives.He recalled how he had been collecting funds in different countries for the construction of Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer Hospital and National University of Modern Languages (NUML).
He said he would continue his welfare activities with the assistance of his people who had trust in him. He prayed for the happy and prosperous life of the newly-wedded couples. He asked the people to arrange the marriages of the poor people to establish a good society.
“We have made the police a role model for other provinces and will improve health and education sectors as well,” he pledged.Appreciating the organizers, Pervez Khattak said they had established an example for others to help the poor parents to arrange the marriages of their children.
He announced to continue this noble mission and provide funds for the marriage of another 100 couples.He prayed for the better and prosperous future of these couples and appealed to philanthropists to help those who could not afford the expenses of marriages.Pervez Khattak vowed that the government would take all possible measures to give relief to poverty-the stricken and war-affected people of the province.