Former Saudi diplomat and columnist Dr Ali Al-Ghamdi has described Dr Allama Mohammad Iqbal as one of the main architects of the two-nation theory, which led to the creation of Pakistan.
“Some of his poems translated into Arabic are considered best poems in the world,” he said while speaking at the Iqbal Day event organised by the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) in Jeddah to mark the poet’s 76th death anniversary, a foreign news outfit reported on Saturday.
Al-Ghamdi expressed concern over the condition of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladeshi camps, who were living miserable life and urged the government to address the issue.
Al-Ghamdi gave a brief account of the meeting between a PRC delegation and Senator Raja Zafarul Haq, general secretary of the World Muslim Congress, who promised to submit PRC’s self-finance scheme of repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis to the government.
Rohail A Khan, social worker and chairman of Urdu Academy International, paid tribute to Iqbal.
Among the key guests at the event were Pakistan Journalists Forum (PJF) President Shahid Nayeem, journalist Syed Rashid Hussain, Pakistan Engineers Society Secretary General Azeez Ahmed and Syed Ghazanfar Hassan of Engineers Welfare Forum.
Some of the resolutions passed on the occasion included establishment of IqbalResearchUniversity to spread the message of Iqbal and inform the new generation about the objectives of creating Pakistan, the Pakistan government should approach the UN for plebiscite in Kashmir according to its resolution. India should pull out its forces from the valley and Kashmiri leadership should be included in all negotiations between India and Pakistan, the Pakistan government should create a new organization in case reactivation of Rabita Trust (frozen in October 2001) was not possible, PRC proposal of “settlement of stranded Pakistanis on self-finance basis,” should be implemented to overcome paucity of funds. Bangladesh should be included in the new organization to play its role in solving the issue, and The Organization of Islamic Cooperation should include in its agenda the issue of the settlement of stranded Pakistanis.
Syed Mohsin Alavi and Zamurrad Khan Saifi presented poetic tribute to Iqbal. Sher Afzal recited Iqbal’s popular “Khudi”.
