ICC Note:

Christians in Pakistan have recently hailed the Sindh government’s decision to declare the Hindu holiday Holi a public holiday, but went on to demand that Easter Monday be included as well. Easter is celebrated on a Sunday which is a weekly day off in Pakistan. Christian leaders have said that if Pakistan were to recognize Easter Monday as a holiday it would promote religious harmony in Pakistan, something the country has sorely lacked. 

3/22/2016 Pakistan (UCAN) – Minority religious leaders in Pakistan have hailed the country’s Sindh province for declaring a public holiday for the annual Hindu festival of Holi but Christian leaders said they are still waiting a holiday for Easter Monday.

The Sindh government March 19 announced that there would be a public holiday for Holi in the province. Hindus as well as Christians are a small minority in Pakistan, where more than 95 percent of its 180 million people are Muslims. The majority of Hindus are in Sindh province, while the majority of Christians reside in Punjab province.

“It is a historic decision for the country’s minorities particularly Hindus that Sindh has declared (Holi) a public holiday,” Ramesh Vankwani, chairman of the Pakistan Hindu Council told ucannews.com.

However, Michael Javed, a Christian leader and former lawmaker, while welcoming the Sindh government’s decision to make Holi a holiday pointed out that it has been a “longstanding demand” by Christians for a holiday on Easter Monday as Easter is always a holiday in Pakistan because Sunday is the weekly day off.

To avoid a sense of alienation of the Christian community, the Punjab province, where majority of the Christians live, as well as the federal government should make Easter Monday a public holiday, he said.

“Around 7 to 8 million Christians live in Punjab province. Declaring Easter Monday a holiday will be joyful and promote interfaith harmony,” he added.

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