Rawalpindi:The Commissioner Rawal-pindi Division Liaquat Ali Chatha along with senior officers joined the Christian community at Christ Church, to celebrate Christmas here on Monday.
The congregation welcomed Commissioner, Regional Police Officer, City Police Officer and Brig Amir and thanked them for sharing the festivity. The concerned officers wished Merry Christmas to the entire Christian community in Pakistan.
The commissioner expressed reverence for religious community and stressed upon the need for promoting greater interfaith harmony in society in order to follow Quaid's true vision of a united and progressive Pakistan.
He noted that “Islam teaches us the lesson of peace, friendship and encourages interfaith harmony which is the need of the hour”. He stressed upon the importance of having correct perspective, truth and knowledge based opinions about national issues rather than following rhetoric and propaganda, to address complex challenges and issues.
“Enemies of Pakistan are hell-bent towards creating fissures using religious, ethnic and political vulnerabilities. We have to stand together & united to rise as a resolute and strong nation.” Commissioner remarked.
He while paying glowing tribute to Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s great vision and leadership on his 147th birthday, quoted Quaid’s historical remarks made in his speech on 11 August 1947 while addressing the Constituent Assembly, quote “You are free. You are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan.”
At the end, the chief guest befittingly acknowledged the contributions and sacrifices made by the entire Christian community of Pakistan in all the fields and domains. On the other hand, District Administration, Rawalpindi provided foolproof security arrangements for Christian community here in all churches. Nobody was allowed to enter in churches without thorough checking on the occasion. The male officers were checking male participants while female officers were present to check females. The Christian community was strongly appreciated the role of security officers on the occasion.