‘Allama Iqbal gave the idea of a separate homeland’

Pakistani expatriates paid tributes to the poet, philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal at a function organized to commemorate his 136th birth anniversary.
Organized by Majlis Pakistan at the weekend, the commemoration meeting was attended by a large number of expatriate Pakistanis coming from all walks of life.
Khayyam Akbar, deputy chief of the Pakistan Embassy, said that through his writings, Allama Iqbal endeavored to awaken “the dejected and enslaved Muslims of the early 20th century.”
“Iqbal’s gift to the Muslims of the then British India was the idea of a separate homeland for them,” Akbar said. It was Iqbal, he said, who had motivated Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to come on board and focus his struggle toward the creation of modern Pakistan.
Asif Qureshi, president of Majlis Pakistan, presided over the function, and Hafiz Abdul Waheed, general secretary, moderated the program and briefed the gathering about the purpose of the event. He also outlined a brief profile of Iqbal’s life and achievements. The event was structured to suit the occasion that consisted of speeches and poetry recitations by a host of speakers.
Faisal Alvi of Maktaba Darussalam read out an impressive write-up describing the thoughts, philosophy and teachings of Allama.
A young student Ahsan recited a few stanzas from a poem in praise of Allama Iqbal.