Youm-e-Iqbal Marked at Government Model Daud High School in Quetta’s Kalat District

Kalat: Youm-e-Iqbal was observed with national enthusiasm, respect and devotion in Kalat, as it was across the country. The district administration of Kalat and the Education Department organised events at various girls’ and boys’ schools, paying tribute to Allama Dr Muhammad Iqbal, the Poet of the East, for his national, literary and intellectual contributions.

The main ceremony in the series was held at Government Model Daud High School Kalat. It was attended by Deputy Commissioner Kalat Engineer Aisha Zehri, FC Colonel Naveed, District Officer Education Sana Ullah Sana, Principal of Model Daud High School Ghulam Mustafa Bangulzai, teachers and a large number of students.

The ceremony opened with recitation from the Holy Quran and a naat in praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Students presented national songs, tableaux, and speeches in Urdu and English on Allama Iqbal’s personality, poetry and the philosophy of Khudi. They highlighted Iqbal’s ideas and views and received warm applause from the audience.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Commissioner Engineer Aisha Zehri said Allama Iqbal was a great thinker, poet and philosopher of the subcontinent who, through his poetry, instilled in Muslims a sense of selfhood, self-confidence, awakening and the awareness of freedom. She said Iqbal’s message remains a guiding light for us today.

She said the younger generation, especially students, should study Iqbal’s ideas and make his message part of their practical lives. She added that education is the basic means through which a conscious, developed and strong society can be built.

She said Iqbal gave the young the image of the shaheen (falcon), teaching them high aspirations, self-confidence and continuous struggle. Students, she said, should make the pursuit of education, character-building and service to the country and nation their goal.

She said the purpose of observing Youm-e-Iqbal is to acquaint the new generation with the Poet of the East’s ideas, the philosophy of Khudi and national consciousness. She added that such events in educational institutions play an important role in bringing out students’ scholarly, literary and creative abilities.

At the close of the ceremony, tribute was paid to Allama Iqbal’s national, literary and intellectual services, and a resolve was expressed to continue such positive and educational activities to carry his message of Khudi, knowledge and action to the new generation.