Alvi, Imran extend Easter greetings to Christians

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said the true message of Easter is love, joy and happiness and Prime Minister Imran Khan felicitated the Christian community in their messages on the sacred occasion of Easter on Sunday.

President Alvi, in his message, conveyed his sincere wishes to the Christian community and said the Christians as well as other minorities are equal citizens of the state, and their rights have been fully safeguarded by the Constitution of Pakistan.

“The true message of Easter is love, joy and happiness,” he said. “It also reminds us of the teachings of Jesus Christ and his universal message of love, forgiveness, and brotherhood, which can bring harmony and peace to the world.”

The President also appreciated the contributions made by the Christian community in the social and economic development of Pakistan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a tweet, felicitated the Christians on Easter and appealed to them to stay at home. “Please stay safe and keep your families safe during the Covid-19 pandemic by praying and celebrating at home and by observing the national safety protocols,” the Prime Minister said. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also extended Easter greetings to the Christian community in Pakistan and the world over. In his message, the PPP chairman said this Easter was being celebrated while almost the entire world was in a lockdown to prevent coronavirus from ravaging the human population.

Bilawal appealed to the Christian community in Pakistan to pray from their homes so coronavirus could be eradicated from the world, and for peace and prosperity. He urged the people to observe and strictly follow the lockdown conditions announced by the government during performance of religious prayers to check the spread of the contagious virus.

Meanwile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfikar Bukhari visited Christian colonies in Islamabad and extended Easter greetings to them.

More than 1,000 essentials and medical supplies were distributed among the poor and needy families of multiple slums of the federal capital. Bukhari said he had decided to launch a distribution campaign at the slums of Islamabad where a large number of people had been facing financial difficulties due to a partial lockdown enforced in the city in wake of the coronavirus threat.

He said the representatives of the Christian community had been asked to provide the complete data of people living in the city’s shanty towns so that an uninterrupted supply of food could be ensured to them.