Daily Times

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar hosted a special ceremony on the occasion of Christmas and cut the Christmas cake along with Minister for Minorities Affairs and Human Rights Ijaz Alam and other members of the cabinet.

Talking on this occasion, the chief minister congratulated the Christian community on Christmas and added that such festivals promote religious harmony in the society. Socialisation promotes brotherhood in the society, he added. He said that religious minorities, including the Christian community, have played an important role in national development and their services are praiseworthy. Pakistan belongs to all of us and people of different faiths enjoy equal rights and complete religious freedom in the country, he added.

The chief minister reiterated that the PTI government is following the policy of providing equal opportunities to all the minorities. He pointed out that non-Muslim Pakistanis have proved their mettle and brought laurels home with their wonderful performance in sports, education and other sectors of life. The chief minister said that Punjab government has introduced minority’s empowerment package along with the provision of tens of millions of rupees for students’ scholarships on minority’s quota. December 25 is also important as it is the birthday of the founder of the nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, he added.

Provincial ministers Mian Mahmood ur Rasheed, Murad Raas, Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Dreshak, Mohsin Leghari, Hussain Jehanian Gardezi and others were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Buzdar said that Pakistan is facing different internal and external challenges. In a statement, he said that political forces should give priority to the national interest as Pakistan is going through a critical phase. It is the time to maintain internal unity and the importance of brotherhood and national unity has increased than before, he added. He emphasized that everyone should shun personal differences and give a message of unity to the world. All will have to move forward together for the sake of bright future of the country. We should think about Pakistan and live for it because we owe a lot to our motherland. National unity is imperative for the development of the country, he added.

Separately, Managing Director of Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal Aon Abbas called on Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar at his office on Wednesday.

Talking on this occasion, the chief minister said that facilitating the common man is the responsibility of the government, adding that insensitive rulers compounded the difficulties of the people in the past. On the contrary, the welfare of the common man is the main focus of the PTI government. He pointed out that welfare programs like shelter homes are the best example of public service and added that the scope of shelter homes project is being extended to other districts. He added that shelter homes project is a welfare initiative for the hapless strata who were, earlier, forced to sleep on roads because of the paucity of resources. Helping the needy is a priority agenda of the government and Prime Minister Imran Khan has been continuously working for the welfare of the general public, he added. Usman Buzdar maintained that helping the hapless is a useful mean of promoting brotherhood in the society. Along with it, necessities of the destitute people are being fulfilled through Ehsaas Programme. He expressed the satisfaction that Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal is doing an important job of helping the people in need and has become a source of strength for the impecunious strata. Aon Abbas apprised the chief minister about various initiatives of the Pakistan Bait-ul-Maal.