ICC Note:

Recently, the Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs in Pakistan’s Punjab province has committed his provincial government to providing security for Christians over the Christmas holiday. According the the minister, security will be provided at churches and other places of worship to ensure the holiday is a safe one. The minister further committed to providing security at Christmas bazaars around the country where many Christians will be gathering to celebrate the holiday. 

12/21/2016 Pakistan (The News International) – Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Khalil Tahir Sandhu has said the Punjab government will ensure security of churches and worship places throughout the province during midnight mass of December 24 and 25 on Christmas and intervening night between December 31 and January 1 (New Year night) to prevent any untoward incident.

In a meeting on Tuesday, the minister said the directive in this regard has been issued to all regional police officers, CPOs and DPOs in Punjab along with Capital City Police Officer Lahore by the chief minister’s office. Khalil Tahir said the Punjab government has also released Christmas grant worth Rs 30 million which will be disbursed among the deserving Christian families (Rs 5,000/- per family) throughout the province by respective District Coordination Officers according to the criteria devised in this regard.

The salaries of Christian government employees have been paid from December 20 so as to enable them to participate in the celebrations of forthcoming Christmas. It has also been decided to set up “Christmas Bazaars” in different locations of the province from December 22 so that Christian community can purchase commodities at comparatively cheaper rates.

Khalil Tahir directed the officers concerned to ensure foolproof security arrangements for Christmas Bazaars along with provision of related facilities to the consumers.

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