The Christian community is observing Good Friday today and will celebrate Easter on Sunday with great religious enthusiasm, reverence, and devotion. Tomorrow (Saturday) will mark Easter Eve, during which Christian families will engage in festive shopping.
In light of Good Friday, Easter, and Easter Eve, traders in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have announced that all major and minor shopping centres, malls, and markets will remain open until 2am on both Friday and Saturday nights.
To ensure complete safety and security during the religious events, the district administrations and police of both cities have finalised a foolproof Easter security plan. Police commandos will be deployed at all churches, where they will take charge of security from 7am on Easter Sunday. There will also be heightened security on Easter Eve. A total of 4,000 security personnel will be on duty across the twin cities.
In celebration of Easter, the Pakistan Horticulture Authority (PHA) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) have completed decoration and beautification of parks and lakes, installed new amusement rides, and improved parking facilities. Parks will remain open from 9am to 1am during Easter and the following day.
Special worship services will be held today in churches across Rawalpindi and Islamabad to mark Good Friday. Due to Easter Eve celebrations, Christian families will continue shopping late into the night on both Friday and Saturday.
Traffic arrangements have also been made, with major commercial areas such as Saddar and Commercial Market being designated one-way zones for better flow. Additional traffic police personnel have been deployed to manage the rush.
Shopkeepers have decorated their stores with colourful lights and introduced new collections of garments and shoes to attract customers.
In recognition of Easter, the federal and Punjab governments have disbursed April salaries and pensions in advance for all government employees.
Christian leaders Rashid Chauhan and Pastor Qaiser say meetings were held with police and district officials, and they are fully satisfied with the security arrangements. Walk-through gates have been installed at church entrances, with mandatory metal detector checks and CCTV surveillance. Church security personnel will also be on high alert, and beautification of churches has been completed.
During Easter services, special prayers will be offered for Pakistan's prosperity, peace, and the complete eradication of terrorism from the country.
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