PESHAWAR: The christian community across the country, including Peshawar, started Christmas celebrations today. They offered special prayers for the progress and prosperity of the country at illuminated churches.
Christmas festivities began with the Midnight Services where worshipers offered prayers for peace and stability of the country. The community members are exchange gifts and among these gifts, Christmas cake has a special significance.
The festivity will continue until the New Year.
Read more: Christmas: All churches in KP declared sensitive
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Home and Tribal Affairs Department has declared all churches in the province sensitive a day before the celebrations on 24 December. The police was directed to ensure full-fledged security to avoid any untoward situation.
A special security plan has been issued by the office of CCPO Abbas Ahsan ahead of Christmas in Peshawar under which more than 2500 police personnel and officers will perform security duties. According to the plan, Bomb Disposal Unit and sniffer dog teams will also be deployed at all the churches. City Patrol, Ladies Police and Ababeel Squad have also been assigned special responsibilities to monitor religious ceremonies through drone cameras, as well as all entrances and exits to the city. The police added that walk-through security gates and CCTV cameras have also been installed at all churches. The intelligence agencies personnel will continue monitoring churches.
December 25 is a public holiday in the country but this holiday is given on the occasion of the birth of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Christian community in Pakistan is a very small part of the entire population. Of Pakistan’s 220 million population, over 2 million belong to the Christian community. Most of them belong to middle and low-income class. The two major festivals of the Christian community in Pakistan are Christmas and Easter.