PESHAWAR: Like other parts of the country, the members of Christian community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa celebrated their annual religious festival of Easter on Sunday by arranging special services and other festivities.

According to priests, Easter Sunday is one of the most festive events among Christians.

The members of the community from different age groups including men, women and children, living in various parts of the province, made special arrangements to celebrate the event.

In Peshawar, special services were held in different churches where the participants prayed for their salvation and progress of the country. On the occasion, special arrangements were made to provide security to the members of Christian community.

One of the main events was held at All Saints Church in Kohati where Vicar Shahzad Murad was the key speaker. The participants of the event prayed for peace, development, economic prosperity and unity among the followers of all religions.

They also took out a procession from the All Saints Church early in the morning at 4:30am, which followed its traditional route in the limits of historical Qissa Khawni Bazaar and returned to the church for breakfast. The second phase of Easter service started at the church at 11am for the people, who could not attend the early morning prayers.

The Easter events were also held in rest of the churches including St John’s Church, Catholic Church, United Church and other churches in different areas.

Zulfiqar Bhatti, a participant in the event, told this correspondent that the prayers were also held in churches in other districts like Charsadda, Mardan, Bannu, Swat, Nowshera and Khyber.

Meanwhile, Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Shah Fahad along with other officials visited St John’s Cathedral Church and congratulated all members of the community and Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz, who leading the mass service.

Unlike past, in most of the localities processions were held only in the limits of churches owing to the growing sense of insecurity among the people. Sources said that law enforcement had also asked people to avoid processions on roads.

Bishop Humphrey Sarfraz said that Easter was one of the important events, which was celebrated at the end of 40 days of fasting. He said that people exchanged gifts and arranged food parties on the occasion.

The priests prayed for harmony among the people of different religions in the larger interests of the country and humanity. They stressed the need for joining hands by the political leaders to overcome the growing problems like inflation, unemployment, terrorism and economic issues.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2023