PESHAWAR: A renowned sandal maker in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, Chacha Noor-ud-Din, will be gifting two of his famous hand-crafted leather sandals to the Saudi crown prince in Islamabad during his two-day visit.
Indigenous to the Pashtuns of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the traditional sandal known as the Peshawari Chappal became iconic in recent years as Prime Minister Imran Khan’s footwear of choice, and one he has worn at all state and formal gatherings after coming to power last year.
An emotional Noor-ud-Din told Arab News that the crown prince was coming from the land of his beloved Prophet (PBUH).
“I want to lay my heart and the whole universe at the prince’s feet,” he said.
Noor-ud-Din set up his business in Peshawar’s bustling old Namak Mandi market in 1976, and despite deteriorating sales in the past, has resurfaced as one of the province’s most popular shoe-makers with his custom-made, double-sole sandals coveted by national and international celebrities, as well as local parliamentarians, bureaucrats and army officers.
With the approval of Pakistan’s information ministry, Noor-ud-Din says he is now heading for the capital before the crown prince’s arrival on Sunday, with one black and one camel colored pair in the prince’s size, size 12, as confirmed by the government.
“I wish to knot the chappal in Muhammad Bin Salman’s feet myself, but I am aware of tough security and a busy schedule,” he said, after polishing the shoes one last time and placing them in their box.
“I hope he will accept this small indigenous gift from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
Famous Pakistani cobbler crafts shoes for crown prince
Famous Pakistani cobbler crafts shoes for crown prince
- Famous Peshawari cobbler to gift two sandals to Saudi prince in Islamabad
- “I want to lay the whole universe at prince’s feet,” — Noor-ud-Din
Pakistan says ensuring interfaith harmony key priority as nation marks Christmas
- Pakistan is home to over 3 million Christians, making it the third-largest religion in the country
- PM Sharif economic well-being, equal opportunities for all in message to nation on Christmas
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday identified ensuring interfaith harmony and freedom of rights for all citizens, especially minorities, as his government’s key priorities as the nation marks Christmas today.
Millions of Christians worldwide celebrate Dec. 25 as the birth of Jesus Christ, marking the day with religious and cultural festivities. The Christian community in Pakistan marks the religious festival every year by distributing gifts, decorating Christmas trees, singing carols and inviting each other to lavish feasts.
Christianity is the third-largest religion in Pakistan, with results from the 2023 census recording over three million Christians, or 1.3 percent of the total population in the country.
However, Christians have faced institutionalized discrimination in Pakistan, including being targeted for blasphemy accusations, suffering abductions and forced conversions to Islam. Christians have also complained frequently of being reserved for jobs considered by the masses of low status, such as sewage workers or brick kiln workers.
“It remains a key priority of the Government of Pakistan to ensure interfaith harmony, protection of rights and freedoms, economic well-being, and equal opportunities for professional growth for all citizens without discrimination of religion, race, or ethnicity,” Sharif said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The Pakistani premier said Christmas was not only a religious festival but also a “universal message of love, peace, tolerance, and goodwill” for all humanity.
Sharif noted the Christian community’s contributions to Pakistan’s socio-economic development were immense.
“Their significant services in the fields of education, health care, and other walks of life have greatly contributed to the promotion of social harmony,” the Pakistani prime minister said.
Despite the government’s assurances of protection to minorities, the Christian community has endured episodes of violence over the past couple of years.
In May 2024, at least 10 members of a minority Christian community were rescued by police after a Muslim crowd attacked their settlement over a blasphemy accusation in eastern Pakistan.
In August 2023, an enraged mob attacked the Christian community in the eastern city of Jaranwala after accusing two Christian residents of desecrating the Qur’an, setting Churches and homes of Christians on fire.
In 2017, two suicide bombers stormed a packed church in southwestern Pakistan just days before Christmas, killing at least nine people and wounding up to 56.
An Easter Day attack in a public park in 2016 killed more than 70 people in the eastern city of Lahore. In 2015, suicide attacks on two churches in Lahore killed at least 16 people, while a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a 130-year-old Anglican church in the northwestern city of Peshawar after Sunday Mass in 2013.
The Peshawar blast killed at least 78 people in the deadliest attack on Christians in the predominantly Muslim country.
