ISLAMABAD : The Christian community in Pakistan is celebrating Easter on Sunday with religious zeal and fervour.
Strict security arrangements were put in place at churches around the country.
Huge number of people including children and elders thronged to the churches in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and other cities where special prayers were offered for the country.
In his felicitating message to Christian community on the occasion, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that all minorities in Pakistan are enjoying equal rights and the government has taken concrete measures for their welfare.
He said that Easter is the name of spending time with deserving people and sharing joys by thinking above ourselves.
The Chief Minister asserted that Christian community is playing its due role for country’s progress.
Shahbaz Sharif pronounced that the constitution of Pakistan has provided guarantee for the equal rights and complete protection to all minorities.
The Easter Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, at the end of a 40-day fasting period, also known as Lent.
Prayers to mark the event began last Sunday, also known as Palm Sunday, followed by Good Friday and then Easter Sunday. The stretch is a holy week for Christians around the world.
One of the main attractions of this festival is the gift of Easter Eggs, made of chocolates, given especially to children.
Celebrations are also underway in other countries where religious leaders have urged to spread love and peace in their message.
Egyptian Coptic Christians observed Easter Mass under tight security with the ancient minority still reeling from twin church bombings that killed dozens just days before.
Two Daesh group suicide bombers had struck two churches north of Cairo last Sunday, killing 45 people in the worst attack on Copts in recent memory.
