President Dr Arif Alvi in a group photo with Federal Minister for Education, Mr Shafqat Mehmood, and foreign ambassadors at a ceremony relating to Iqbal Day, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on 10-11-2020.
Tazeen Akhtar
President of Pakistan, H.E Dr. Arif Alvi has said that Allama Iqbal envisioned Islamic Renaissance in a sense with no threat to any civilization of the world. Iqbal was not the oriental thinker only, he never confined himself to one region. Iqbal was every where from east to the west. His ideology about division of sub continent into two states proved to be correct with the passage of time as we are observing the state of Indian Muslims under the present Indian Government.
The President was addressing to a selected gathering of Ambassadors, Diplomats, Writers, Academia and Journalists at the Presidency in a conference ” The Vision of Iqbal” convened to commemorate Iqbal’s birth anniversary. It was meant for the Ambassadors, mainly of those countries where Iqbal visited or wrote about them.
Pakistan Academy of Letters visualized and arranged the conference in which Ambassadors of Germany H.E Bernhard Schlagheck, Italy H.E Andreas Ferrarese, Spain H.E Manuel Duren Gimenes-Rico, Bangla Desh H.E Nurul Islam and Kyrgyz Republic H.E Erik Beishembiev graced the conference with their presence and delivered speeches on Iqbal and their respective countries’ history with Iqbal as well. Diplomats from Ukraine, Turkey, Iran and other countries also attended the conference.
Chairman Academy of Letters Dr. Yusuf Khushak welcomed the guests and presented note of thanks to the President, Minister, Secretary and the Ambassadors for their support and participation in the conference.
Federal Minister Education Mr. Shafqat Mahmood in his address shed light on Iqbal’s message for youth. He admired the efforts of Dr Yusuf Khushak in hosting this conference and said that other departments should also do the same.
Senator Waleed Iqbal, grandson of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Dr. Ayub Nasir (Poet), Prof. Dr. Shahid Iqbal Kamran also addressed the conference and highlighted various aspects of Allama Iqbal’s poetry.
The president said that despite the propaganda of enemies, some brave leaders in the Muslim world including Prime Minister Imran Khan stood firm on Muslims’ Renaissance through the ideals of peace, harmony, unity and coexistence as per the vision of great thinker and poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
Recalling the historic 1930 address of Allama Muhammad Iqbal in Allahabad, he said the current situation of minorities’ exploitation in India were reflective of what Allama Iqbal had viewed about the two-nation theory and the creation of a separate homeland for Muslims of the subcontinent.
He recounted various political, intellectual and philosophical achievements of Allama Iqbal including his efforts for the creation of Pakistan.
The president said that Allama Muhammad Iqbal, like the founder of nation Quaid-e-Azam, was initially supportive of a united India but later after realizing the psychology of Hindus, who wanted their dominance, gave the idea of a separate Muslim state and started political efforts to achieve the objective.
Minister for National Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood while speaking on the occasion said that Allama Muhammad Iqbal besides other things also addressed the youth and highlighted the importance of education.Present government was working hard for the promotion of education and for the first time introduced a national curriculum in the country.
