Christian community across Pakistan, like other parts of the world, celebrated the grand festival of Christmas on Saturday with great zeal and enthusiasm. The Christian community celebrated this festival by organizing different activities ranging from official gatherings to cake cutting ceremonies. Special prayers were held in Churches across the country where the Christian community prayed for peace, progress and prosperity of Pakistan. The main attractions of the Christmas festival including the traditions like Christmas Tree, Santa Clause, Carols and Christmas gifts added charm to the festivity. All young and old took keen interest in decorating Christmas tree and buying Christmas gifts to show their love to their family and friends and celebrated the occasion through distributing gifts among children, singing hymns, prayers and arranging family gatherings. The main ritual of the Christmas celebration was the decoration of Christmas tree to welcome the arrival of Santa Claus also known as Father Christmas. The Christian communities decorated their residential colonies with lightings, displayed stalls carrying different attractions like Santa Claus outfit, toys, Christmas tree etc to attract the children. Greetings from political leadership of the country also poured in. Prime Minister Imran Khan has extended his greetings to the Christians as they celebrated Christmas on the day in Pakistan as well as across the globe. “Wishing all our Christian citizens a very Happy Christmas,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter. Earlier, in his message, the prime minister said, “The festivities of Christmas teach us universal love, brotherhood, tolerance and self-sacrifice which plays a pivotal role in moving any society on the path of development.” He said the sincere and invaluable services rendered by the Christian community in the fields of defence, education, health as well as economic development of the country had always been commendable. “Being equal citizens of the state, the Government will empower them to use their abilities for national development. Our policies are geared towards creating harmony and cohesion between people of all faiths,” he added. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that protecting the rights of minorities in Pakistan was the top most priority of the PTI government.