PAKISTAN-PRE-CHRISTMAS RALLY

Headline

Pakistan's Christians hold pre-Christmas ‘peace rally’ in Karachi.

Intro

Hundreds of Pakistani Christians stage a pre-Christmas rally in Karachi to promote peace and inter-faith tolerance.

Story

 STORY: About three hundred members of Pakistani Christian community staged a pre-Christmas rally in the southern port city of Karachi to promote peace and inter-faith tolerance.

span data-ogsc="rgb(0, 0, 0)" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: inherit; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">The participants of rally in a convoy of vehicles, including camel-drawn carriages toured across the streets.

span data-ogsc="rgb(0, 0, 0)" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: inherit; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">Some participants were dressed as Santa Claus during the event which included prayers for peace and the prosperity of Pakistan.

span data-ogsc="rgb(0, 0, 0)" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: inherit; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">“We want to give message that Pakistani Christians love Pakistan. They pray for Pakistan’s progress, peace and prosperity. The objective of today’s rally is that peace should prevail in Pakistan and we all (communities) live in peace and harmony with each other,”said Pastor Sarfaraz William.

span data-ogsc="rgb(0, 0, 0)" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: inherit; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">Pakistan is a Muslim majority country.

span data-ogsc="rgb(0, 0, 0)" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: inherit; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">A Muslim crowd attacked a Christian community in Jaranwala in eastern Pakistan in August, vandalising several churches and setting scores of houses on fire after accusing two of its members of desecrating the Koran.

span data-ogsc="rgb(0, 0, 0)" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: inherit; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">The rights group called for the setting up and equipping of special police forces to protect religious minorities' sites of worship, as directed by a 2014 Supreme Court judgment.

span data-ogsc="rgb(0, 0, 0)" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: inherit; font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">Christians make up about 2% of Pakistan's 241-million population. Of these, approximately half are Roman Catholic and half Protestant.