Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reached Karachi on Tuesday on a two-day visit and attended an event to celebrate the Holi festival.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while addressing a gathering held to mark the Hindu festival of colours, said that forced conversion of one’s religion was a crime in Islam.
Greeted the country’s Hindu community on the joyous occasion of Holi, Prime Minister Sharif said that forced religious conversion was a crime in Islam.
All holy prophets forbade the use of violence for religious conversion, he maintained, adding that Pakistan came into being to stop religious confrontation.
The prime minister said the constitution of Pakistan guarantees equal rights for all communities living in the country irrespective of their religious beliefs or practices.
The people of Pakistan, he said, never accepted a politics of hatred and discrimination. “It’s not our job to decide on narg or sawarg,” he said.
“We will protect Hindu temples, churches and other places of worship in the country,” he added.
Later, he announced a grant of Rs50 crore for the welfare of the Hindu community.
The prime minister will later preside a high-level security meeting.
Nawaz Sharif, along with a delegation that includes Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and federal minister Kamran Michael, was welcomed by Sindh GovernorMohammad Zubair and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.
The premier will also be given a briefing regarding the security situation in the city and the steps being taken to improve it, a private news channel reported.
During his visit, the prime minister will hold a meeting with the local representatives of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz at the Governor House.
He is also expected to attend a meeting on various development projects undergoing in the metropolis. Nawaz will meet will delegations of political parties and attend a dinner with industrialists.
Earlier, the provincial apex committee meeting, scheduled to be held on Tuesday, was postponed due to the visit of the premier.