Mass wedding: Over 45 couples get hitched

Ceremonies were held in CM House

PESHAWAR:

The provincial government sponsored the wedding of 45 couples and arranged a collective ceremony on Tuesday at the Chief Minister House. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan was the chief guest on the occasion. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, other PTI members and over 500 people participated in the programme, organised by K-P Directorate of Culture.

While addressing the participants, the PTI chief said K-P was an example for other provinces in Pakistan. “We will continue to hold community weddings and sponsor marriages, for over 150 other couples in future,” he said.

While dividing the task, Imran said Khattak will sponsor weddings of over 100 couples while he would sponsor weddings of over 50 couples.

“K-P is one of the provinces most affected by terrorism and the PTI government is trying to bring real change.” He said his government would continue to support the poor people of his province and help utilise all funds available for the welfare of people.

Imran congratulated the newly married couples and prayed for their happiness. He also distributed a grant of Rs0.2 million among the couples.

While talking to the media, Special Assistant to CM for Information and Higher Education Mushtaq Ghani said the government has sponsored the wedding of 50 couples from low-income backgrounds. They belonged to Malakand, Mardan, Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Swat and Abbottabad. Many couples were adherents of religions other than Islam and belonged to different cultural backgrounds.

Though the couples had already been engaged, they could not afford wedding ceremonies because of financial constraints. The couples were pleased and thanked Imran and Khattak for arranging the event.

Walk down the memory lane

Earlier, Imran said he spent his life doing social work. He spent four years collecting money to construct Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre. “I collected Rs10 million in two and a half years. However, in the last phase, I collected Rs700 million by raising awareness about the project on television,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2016.