AJK celebrates 144th Birth Anniversary of Allama Iqbal with traditional zeal and fervor

ALTAF HAMID RAO,

MIRPUR (AJK),   (Parliament Times) : Azad Jammu & Kashmir Tuesday celebrated 144th birth anniversary of the author of the idea of creation of Pakistan poet philosopher Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal with the renewal of the pledge on behalf of the people of entire Jammu & Kashmir state to work shoulder to shoulder Pakistani brethren to make the country a true forward-looking Muslim state in line with thoughts of the great poet philosopher and to continue struggle for the achievement of their legitimate right to self determination.

The world-fame poet of the east was born on November 9th in 1877 in a middle-class family in Kashmiri Mohalla, an ancient densely-populated locality of Sialkot city.

The day dawned with special prayers in the mosques for the solidarity, integrity and prosperity of Pakistan and for the freedom of all the Muslim homelands including occupied Jammu & Kashmir and Palestine .

Various cultural, political and social organizations held meetings and seminars in various parts of the liberated territory to highlight the services rendered by the great visionary of 20th century.

People from various parts of AJK including Mirpur visited the ‘Mazaar e – Iqbal’ in Lahore a short while ago Friday afternoon and laid a wreath to pay homage to Poet of the East. They also offered Fateha and prayed for prosperity and solidarity of the country.

In Mirpur, the birth anniversary of the poet philosopher was celebrated with zeal and fervor. The day was marked with a special ceremony hosted here Sarurday morning in Mirpur (AJK) Main Campus of International Islamic University Islamabad School with its Principal Mrs. Ayesha Imran Mirza in the chair. It was attended among others by the school students, parents the Director Administration Attique ul Amin Khan, Senior Mistress Maria Atique and the academic and other staff members of the school.

The school children presented tableaus depicting Iqbal’s message to the young generation of Pakistan through his high caliber poetry with advise to the youth to emerge as the quality future architects of the live nation.

Addressing the ceremony, speakers including the seasoned academician and school’s principal Mrs. Ayesha Imran Mirza, class ~6 student Miss Yumna Attique Khan and others said that the best way to pay rich tribute to the poet philosopher is to follow and act upon the message he delivered through his poetry of high intellect and pen to our young and coming generations to raise to the sky high for emerging Pakistan as the sovereign, progressive, prosperous and developed nation.

A similar ceremony was also held under the auspices of the AJK Union of Journalists to pay tribute to the vision of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal in addition to highlighting his life and services for an ideological Muslim state in this part of the world. Renowned senior Kashmiri journalist and central President JKUJ Hafiz Maqsood Mirza presided over the ceremony which was largely attended by the city elite besides various segments of the civil society including the intellect class who paid glorious tributes to the poet philosopher who gave a high vision of the emergence of separate homeland of the Muslims of the Sub-continent – the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The AJK state print and electronic media also brought out special supplements on this occasion. Several organizations, delegations and citizens paid rich tributes and offered Fateh for the departed soul of Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal in the ceremonies.