Dubai: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has sent his good wishes to the Hindu community on the occasion of their festival of Holi.
“Wishing our Hindu community a very happy and peaceful Holi, the festival of colours,” Imran said on his official twitter handle on Wednesday.
Holi marks the end of winter and the start of spring. This year, the Hindu community across the globe is celebrating the day on March 20.
Leaders and celebrities in Muslim dominated Pakistan this year have gone an extra mile to express good wishes and solidarity with the Hindu minority in Pakistan.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also took to twitter to wish happy Holi to the community.
“Happy Holi to all my Hindu brothers and sisters. On the happy occasion of Holi, let us spread the wonderful message of peace and happiness,” he tweeted.
Pakistani Hindu Council
The Pakistan Hindu Council has announced that it will dedicate the Holi to Pakistan National Day, which falls on March 23.
Dr Ramesh Kumar told the official news agency of Pakistan APP that the festival of colours rejuvenates the spirit of fun, freedom, love, respect and happiness to blend myths with religion to promote harmony.
Felicitating the Hindu community on the festival, he said it welcomes spring, brings joy, festivity and happiness for all sections of society and promotes celebration among all communities.
In Pakistan, the Hindu community celebrates the festival with a play of colours and also burns logs of wood to symbolise the victory of good over evil and observe Holi Pooja.
Minister’s sacking
Imran’s government has given special attention to protect the rights of minorities in Pakistan.
Imran recently sacked Information Minister of Punjab Fayyazul Choan for a ‘hate speech’ targeting Hindus
Though he apologised and explained that his remark was geared towards the Hindu community in India, it was not enough to save his skin.
Hindu Population in Pakistan
Though there are no exact official numbers available, the Pakistan Hindu Council says there are more than 8 million Hindus currently living in Pakistan.
They constitute about 4 per cent of the population of 220 million. They live primarily in the urban areas of the province of Sindh in the lower Indus valley and over half are concentrated in the south-east district of Tharparkar which borders India.
For the most part Hindus in Pakistan are well educated and active in commerce, trade and the civil service.
According to the Council, approximately 94 per cent of Hindus live in Sindh Province, and more than 4 per cent live in Punjab Province of
Pakistan. A small portion of this population is settled in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
