Islamabad, (Parliament Times): On the occasion of the retirement of Director General Information Raja Azhar Iqbal, a grand farewell ceremony was organized in his honor by Chief Executive of Daily Jammu and Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir Digital Aamir Mehboob at Grand Marquee Islamabad.
President Azad Jammu and Kashmir Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, former ministers of Azad Kashmir, advisers, current service and retired bureaucrats, officials of the National Press Club and Islamabad Press Club, and senior journalists from across the country participated in the ceremony.
This was the first time in the history of Azad Kashmir that an officer has received such recognition on retirement. People belonging to all schools of thought paid tribute to Raja Azhar Iqbal as Director General of Information for playing the role of a bridge between the journalism department and the government.
Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry said that Director General Information Raja Azhar Iqbal was retiring after outstanding service. He always worked with integrity and used his skills to promote the good name of the Azad Kashmir government and the issue of Kashmir through the media.
Raja Azhar Iqbal was a professional bureaucrat whose skills we still benefit from and will continue to happen. I have had a personal, journalistic, and governmental relationship with him. Today, the honorable and sincere manner in which the journalistic community is sending him off on retirement is unparalleled in the past. A civil servant has to retire one day but if his service is like that of Raja Azhar Iqbal, he will be remembered for a long time, he said.
Raja Azhar Iqbal is retiring at a time when the Kashmir issue is going through a critical phase. He has always brought the voice of the base camp to the world through the media with all his hard work and dedication. India called the G-20 conference and tried unsuccessfully to prove to the world that the Kashmir issue is over, he added.
I thank China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, and Turkey for boycotting the G-20 conference. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressed the assembly at the Tehreek Azadi Kashmir base camp on the occasion of the G-20 conference in Occupied Kashmir and expressed solidarity with the Kashmiris, for which the entire Kashmiri nation pays tribute to him. India organized the G-20 event to promote tourism in Occupied Kashmir and called for a large number of troops in addition to the existing nine lakh troops, It is evident that India has organized this event in a military cantonment, he said.
Chief Editor of Daily Jammu and Kashmir Aamir Mehboob said that the services of Raja Azhar Iqbal will be remembered for a long time. Solved the problems of the state newspapers and made them financially stable for which he was grateful to them on behalf of his entire team.
Today we are bidding farewell to him with a heavy heart, but our relationship with him will always remain the same. It is a great honor for a bureaucrat to be remembered with good words even after retirement. Raja Azhar Iqbal is retiring red-faced after brilliant services in a difficult time, he said.
Secretary Information Ansir Yaqoob Khan said that It was a great joy to see today that the media organizations were bidding farewell to a government servant on his retirement who has been provided with a state-of-the-art office space. Along with this, they have prepared an excellent professional team that was ready to deal with all kinds of challenges.
The duties of an Information Officer are very important and sensitive and it is a round-the-clock job. Raja Azhar Iqbal is retiring from the service today with a red face which we all are proud of, he said.
Addressing the event, Director General Information Raja Azhar Iqbal said that public relations was a difficult task but he was happy that Proud was retiring from the service. All my journalist brothers have as many roles as his official team was behind his success.
I am very grateful to the President of the State for joining this event and the words he has used for my services are very important to me. The President of the State has always guided me and appreciated my good work. I am also thankful to President Central Union of Journalists Afzal Butt and his entire team for their full cooperation with the Information Department. I was never made to feel that journalist brothers are separate from us. The information department and journalists have always been on the same platform. Journalists supported us and we also tried to work beyond our limits for the welfare of journalists. The building of Central Press Club has been completed in Muzaffarabad, the building of Press Club has been built in Bhimbar and more projects have also been started for journalists, he expressed.
I am also thankful to the Additional Chief Secretary of Development Dr. Syed Asif Hussain Shah for the development projects of the department and the construction of the state-of-the-art PID complex. Thanks to this we have also strengthened all our district offices and they would face the challenges of modern social and digital media. I tried to convey and guide the people in the right direction through media, in which I was successful with the support of my journalists’ community. I would like to thank Aamir Mehboob, Shahzad Rathore, Raja Kafeel, and all other friends for organizing this wonderful event in my honor today. I am grateful to them and I will be forever indebted to them for their love, he said.
President Central Union of Journalists Afzal Butt said that it was an honor for any government employee to retire with dignity. Raja Azhar Iqbal has had an excellent relationship with the state and national media and has treated the problems of journalists as his problems. At present, the media was facing challenges on various forums, Raja Azhar Iqbal’s retirement in such a critical situation was not a good omen for us.
Retirement is part of the service, the system has been running, but the more a person improves the system, the more his services are appreciated. Established an excellent working relationship with National Press Club which led to Azad Kashmir being placed in mainstream media. Due to their efforts, the news of Azad Kashmir governments could make their place in the national media in the best way. His services to journalism are unforgettable, he said.
Chairman of Press Foundation Syed Abrar Haider said that this act was enough to pay tribute to the service of Raja Azhar Iqbal, that even today, even at the time of his departure, people sincerely organized ceremonies for him. Doing it was no less than an honor.
Former Chairman Press Foundation Sardar Zulfiqar Ali said that very few bureaucrats had the honor that people remembered them in good words after their departure. Raja Azhar Iqbal made Press Foundation active, and the welfare of media workers and the legislation for journalists will always be remembered by the journalistic community.
Senior journalist Sultan Sikandar said,” I have an old relationship with Raja Azhar Iqbal. He used his pen to highlight the policies of the governments in the era when modern tools of journalism did not exist and it was a difficult task. In my entire journalistic career, I have never had any complaints with him. He has been an excellent professional and administrative officer,”.
Chief Editor of Parliament Times Javed
Iqbal while appreciating the services of Raja Azhar Iqbal said that he gave the state newspapers their due and put the state media on its feet. Raja Azhar Iqbal raised the voice of state newspapers not only in the state but also in national forums.
Former Chairman of Press Foundation Amjad Chaudhry said, “I have not seen a professional bureaucrat like Raja Azhar Iqbal in my journalistic career. His journalistic services will be remembered for a long time. He played an excellent role in the welfare of journalists and making Press Foundation active,”.
