SIALKOT: Two Japanese students of ‘Iqbaliyat’ gave a fine performance of singing the poetry of Allama Iqbal during a special ceremony held at the auditorium of the University of Gujrat’s Sialkot campus on Thursday.

Ms Erika Kagava sang “Lab pey aati hey dua ban key tamanna meri” and Tenshin Tamura recited “Terey ishaq ki inteha chahta houn, meri saadgi dekh kiya chahta houn” in their melodious voices which impressed the audience comprising senior teachers, students, journalists and educationists. The auditorium echoed with the slogan of ‘Pak-Japan Friendship Zindabad’ by the participants.

The Japanese students paid homage to Allama Iqbal and said they were delighted to be in Sialkot, the poet’s birthplace. They said people in Japan had great respect for the poet-philosopher and they sought inspiration from his thought and works.

Welcoming the participants, Prof Dr Anwaar Ahmed, UoG Sialkot campus director general, announced formal launch of “Imam Bibi Endowment Fund” for encouraging the deserving students to continue their studies.

Endowment fund named after national poet’s mother

The local campus also designed an elective course of Iqbal Studies for BS students here.

He said philanthropists and some top exporters had donated Rs1.7 million to the endowment fund, named after Imam Bibi, the mother of Allama Iqbal.

UoG Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Ziaul Qayyum said the teachings of Allama Iqbal are like a beacon of light to maintain tolerance, peace and stability in society. He said the youth of the nation should transform themselves into Iqbal’s ‘Mard-i-Momin’ and strive for self reliance and austerity.

“We must meet the challenges of our time for confronting militants and militancy. For this we need to imbibe the teachings of Allama Iqbal,” he said and added that “this is the best tribute we can pay to Allama Iqbal today.”

Prof Dr Tabbasum Kashmiri highlighted various aspects of the life of Allama Iqbal and said Iqbal had called the youth “shaheen”.

Prof Dr Zahoor Sheikh said the nation owed freedom and independence to the vision of Iqbal and the best way to pay tributes to him was to understand his message and imbibe his teachings. The need for understanding Iqbal’s concept of the message of Islam and the need for forward movement in human thought was never as great as it’s today, he said.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2015

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