Amid unabated cold wave, Christmas - birthday of Jesus Christ - was celebrated with religious fervour in Kashmir on Sunday with a group of Muslims visiting a Catholic Church in Srinagar to share the joyous occasion with their Christian brothers.
Reports said the Muslims distributed sweets, exchanged greetings with the Christian brethren and also wore Santa hats to share the joy and celebrate the festival.
Maulana Abdullah, who was leading the groups, said they came to the Church to celebrate the festival with their Christian brethren and to spread the message of communal harmony, brotherhood and peace.
“This is a small community here and they feel isolated on such occasions. So, we took this opportunity and came here to celebrate the festival with our Christian brethren,” he said and added that some vested interests were spreading fake narratives across the globe that minorities were not safe in Kashmir, which is not true.
Elsewhere churches across Srinagar, Gulmarg, Baramulla and Anantnag were decorated with lights, balloons and ribbons to celebrate Christmas. Reports said churches across the Valley were decorated with Christmas trees, buntings and lights.
The chilly weather didn’t stop people, especially small kids from attending the churches for special prayer meetings. They were seen wearing new winter clothes on the occasion.
“Christmas is a message of love, joy and happiness. Celebrating Christmas in Kashmir is a special occasion as people from across the world visit here during winter and come to churches and celebrate Christmas,” said Father Brito of All Saints Catholic Church, MA Road in Srinagar.
“Our Muslim brothers have always stood by us and Christmas is an occasion which gives us an opportunity to share that joy, happiness and brotherhood with each other,” he said.
According to Census-2011, out of the total 35,631 Christian population of Jammu and Kashmir, the Valley has 11,857 Christian members.
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