ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has extended greetings to the Hindu community on the occasion of Holi.
“Wishing all our Hindu community a very happy and peaceful Holi, the festival of colours,” the prime minister tweeted on Monday.
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.
The Hindu community also throws colours blended in water, powdered colours and splash colour-filled balloons in what is also the first major festival of Hindus in the year.
On Sunday, the Balochistan government announced a two-day holiday (March 9 and 10) for the Hindu community to celebrate Holi.
The ancient Hindu festival of Holi, which heralds the end of winter and the victory of good over evil, is marked with a national public holiday in India and sees revellers pour onto streets.
Celebrated mainly in India, Nepal and other countries with large Hindu populations, it falls on the last full moon of winter.
In India this year, the festival was marked with a national holiday on Tuesday with thousands taking to the streets despite coronavirus fears in the country.
At least 30 positive cases have been reported in India so far, which has led the Indian government to caution against mass gatherings.
India is the world’s second-most populous nation after China, where the virus first emerged late last year.
