Islamabad - The National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) in collaboration with the Federal Directorate of Education celebrated Christmas to promote culture of the Christian community.
Pur Fazal Kaleiseya Pakistan (Full of Grace Church) and St. Thomas Church were also part of the celebrations.
The special features included erection of Christmas tree, distribution of sweets by Santa Claus, an artisan at work exhibition, live folk musical and folk dance performances.
A ribbon cutting, cake cutting and opening ceremony was held in the surroundings of the Heritage Museum.
Executive Director Lok Virsa Dr Fouzia Saeed along with senior members of Board of Governors namely Farooq Qaiser and Taqi Akhundzada were present on the occasion.
The ceremony presented live milli naghmas “Sohni Dharti Allah Rakhe” and “Millat ka pasban Muhammad Ali Jinnah” by students of IMCG, G-10/4, IMCG F-7/2 & IMCG G-6/1-3. Two Christmas songs each were presented by the church choir of St. Thomas and Pur Fazal Kaleiseya Pakistan churches.
Young artists presented popular Pashto, Balochi and Sindh folk songs. Lok Virsa folk dance group presented famous Punjabi dance “Bhangra” on the occasion.
In her address, ED Lok Virsa Dr Fouzia Saeed said: “Lok Virsa as a policy projects cultural and traditions of all communities, including Christian community and provide them an opportunity to celebrate the same at the national level. The spirit behind it is to promote and strengthen national harmony and integration among the entire nation through a cultural perspective. The today’s Christmas mela was also a step forward in this direction”.
In his speech, Pastor Pervez Sohail, founding Chairman Pur Fazal Kalieseya Pakistan (Full of Grace Church) thanked Lok Virsa for taking part in the celebrations of Christian community by organising a beautiful show on the eve of Christmas. He also appreciated the role of present government in creating unity and solidarity.
Around one thousand people including Christian community members, youth, students and children attended the celebrations and commended the efforts of Lok Virsa in projecting and promoting cultural heritage of Pakistan in such a beautiful and effective manner.
our staff reporter