LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said on Sunday that nation stands united under one flag. She said this in her special message on the occasion of the National Minorities Day.
CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif said, “I salute every brother and sister of Punjab belonging to the minorities. Quaid-i-Azam had declared all the citizens are 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 colorful flowers of a bouquet. Pakistan belongs to everyone and is equivalent to a land of heaven.” The chief minister said, “The minorities enjoy equal rights in Punjab according to the vision of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. All our brothers and sisters belonging to the minorities have been provided equal education and employment opportunities. I, while delineating Punjab’s roadmap during my maiden speech, declared the minorities as very dear to our hearts. Easter was celebrated along with the Christian community in the Maryam Abad church on the eve of Easter Day and 10,000 Christian minorities were awarded eidi.”
The CM said,” I 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 Sikh Marriage Act and work on Hindu Marriage Act and Christian Personal Laws is ongoing which will be submitted in the Assembly soon. The Punjab government for the first time allocated a record budget for the minority communities worth Rs3.66 billion and Rs4,000 million development budget has been allocated for the Minority Affairs department and Rs2,500 million Minorities Development Fund has been allocated as well. A special quota is being ensured for the minority communities in the government employment and educational institutions. I along with President PMLN Muhammad Nawaz Sharif went to the residence of a Christian sanitary worker to offer condolences over his sad demise. Numerous Christian officers and staff are diligently performing their official duties in all government offices including the Chief Minister’s Office.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif congratulated Fatima Saeed, a talented female student belonging to Multan for attaining the highest marks in the examination for IX across Punjab. The CM also felicitated other successful students on their 9th class examination. CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif urged every student to put in more hard work for attaining good result in their 10th class examination.