Punjab Government Strengthens Muharram Peace Efforts as Auqaf Department’s Peace Delegations Complete Province-Wide Outreach
Under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's vision, religious scholars and community leaders mobilized across Punjab to promote sectarian harmony, unity, and peaceful observance of Muharram-ul-Haram.
Lahore (Zuaib Butt) In accordance with the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the Punjab Government has completed extensive security and administrative arrangements for Muharram-ul-Haram, while the Punjab Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department, under the leadership of Dr. Ehsan Bhutta, launched province-wide “Peace Delegations” through the Inter-Muslim Unity Committee Punjab to promote inter-sect harmony, religious tolerance, national unity and peaceful coexistence. The delegations, dispatched on June 1, 2026, from Khatam-un-Nabiyyin University, included leading religious scholars, mashaikh and representatives of all schools of thought and visited divisions and districts across Punjab, including Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Sargodha, where they met commissioners, police officials, district administrations, peace committees, shrine custodians, religious leaders and community representatives to review Muharram arrangements, address local concerns and encourage moderation, tolerance and unity. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Dr. Ehsan Bhutta said that under the guidance of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Provincial Minister for Auqaf Chaudhry Shafay Hussain and Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Akhtar Zaman, the department remains fully committed to promoting interfaith and inter-sect harmony and countering extremism. The three delegations were led by Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, Mufti Intikhab Ahmed Noori and Maulana Mukhtar Ahmad Nadeem and comprised more than 180 prominent ulema and religious scholars who urged clerics to promote peace and avoid sectarian rhetoric, while their efforts were later praised during a high-level Muharram security meeting chaired by Khawaja Suleman Rafiq at the Civil Secretariat Lahore on June 4, 2026, where officials described the initiative as a major step toward ensuring peace, security and inter-sect harmony during Muharram across Punjab.
