Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that all brothers and sisters belonging to the minorities have been provided with equal education and employment opportunities. In her message on National Minorities Day, she said the minorities enjoy equal rights in Pakistan according to the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. “We stand united under one flag,” she mentioned. CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif added, “I salute every brother and sister of Punjab belonging to the minorities. Quaid-e-Azam had declared all the citizens free to visit their worship places. Equality, tolerance and patience aptly define democracy. Every citizen holds an equal status irrespective of their religion, caste and creed. All the citizens are beautiful and colourful flowers of a bouquet. Pakistan belongs to everyone and is equivalent to a land of heaven.” “I while delineating Punjab’s road map during my maiden speech declared the minorities as very dear to our hearts,” she said and added that Easter was celebrated along with the Christian community in the Maryam Abad church on the eve of Easter Day and 10,000 Christians were awarded eidi.” The CM said that she visited Kartarpur and harvested wheat on the eve of Vaisakhi and took the langar of Sangat. “Punjab holds a unique distinction of being the first province across the globe to enforce registration of the Sikh Marriage Act and work on Hindu Marriage Act and Christian Personal Laws is ongoing which will be submitted in the assembly soon.” She noted that the Punjab government for the first time allocated a record budget for the minority communities worth Rs 3.66 billion.