Jashan-e-Khudi night at Alhamra

LAHORE : The Lahore Arts Council organised a grand celebration night to pay homage to great philosopher and poet Dr Allama Iqbal at Alhamra Arts Centre, the Mall on Friday night. The celebrations were a joint effort of Alhamra, Bazm-e-Iqbal and the Youth Affairs Department Punjab.

Secretary Information and Culture Raja Jahangir Anwar, Secretary Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani and DG Sports Punjab Javed Chohan were the guests of honour at Youm-e-Khudi celebrations.

Executive Director Alhamra Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi, Director Youth Affairs Syed Omair Hassan and other officials were also present on this occasion. The Executive Director Lahore Arts Council Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi received and welcomed the guests of honour at Youm-e-Khudi celebrations. Addressing the ceremony, Raja Jahangir Anwar said that Allama Iqbal was a great Muslim thinker whose poetry, philosophy, teachings, and ideology testify to the present and future of Muslims. Anwar said that there is no doubt that Iqbal has linked his poetry with the Quran in such a way that every line goes down in the heart and mind of everyone. He further said that Iqbal used his poetry to awaken the people from their slumber and think of the future. The Punjab government is celebrating this year as the Year of Iqbal and in this regard, the Department of Information & Culture will organise different programmes to pay tribute to Iqbal. “We will hold more such programmes throughout the year at tehsil level to spread the revolutionary message of Iqbal”.

The Secretary of Information and Culture commended the Executive Director Lahore Arts Council Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi and his entire team and said that Alhamra has upheld the tradition of acquainting youth with Iqbal. Raja Jahangir and Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi released the song ‘Hum Khudi Ki Awazain’ by pressing the button.

Addressing the ceremony, Secretary Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani said that the poetry and thoughts of Allama Iqbal have been a great source of inspiration for the entire Pakistan nation. “Iqbal Day is a sacred day for us. I’m quite happy that the Youth Affairs and Sports Department Punjab and Alhamra Arts Council are jointly observing Iqbal Day to promote the philosophy of Khudi”.

Fuad Hashim Rabbani said that the great verse of Iqbal ‘Khudi ko ker buland itna ke her taqdeer se pehlay, Khuda banday se khud poochhay bta teri raza kia hai’ was for the youth of the nation. “It is quite heartening that Pakistan’s 63 percent population is consisted of youth. Youth Affairs Department Punjab is formulating a compact programme for the talented youth of the province. E-Rozgaar Programme is also part of this move and thousands of youths are benefiting from this great programme”. Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi said, “All these celebrations are our tribute to Iqbal's intellectual movement”. Alhamra will continue to hold such events in the future to make the younger generation aware of Iqbal's philosophy and thought, he added.

Adeel Hashmi, a renowned actor, presented Iqbal's poetry Shikwa, Jawab-e-Shikwa in his unique style at the celebration night and received huge appreciation. Singers Hina Nasrullah and Sara Raza Khan presented Iqbal’s poetry. Qawwal Nadeem Jameel and group and the students of Alhamra Academy of Performing Arts also performed remarkably at the event. The event was hosted by Riaz Ahmed Khan wonderfully. Several talented painters highlighted Iqbal’s life, poetry and philosophy of Khudi through their impressive in the paintings. Iram Rajput was the winner of Youm-e-Khudi painting competition. She was awarded a cash prize of Rs 30,000, runner-up Sidra Inam got Rs 20,000 while the third position holder Javeria Mobeen received a cash prize of Rs 10,000 from Secretary Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani who distributed prizes among the top position holders.