Zubair Qureshi
Quad-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted to turn Pakistan into a land of peace and prosperity and he was able to carve out a separate country on the map of the world because he had strong belief and knew very well how to realize his dream.
These views were expressed by Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik former Chairman of the Muqtadra Qaumi Zubaan, now the National Language Promotion Deparment (NLPD) while delivering his presidential Address at a one-day online international conference titled “Quaid-i-Azam: Shakhsiyyat and Khidmat” or Quaid-e-Azam: Personality & Service organized by the NLPD on the eve of Dec 25, the Quaid-i-Azam Day.
Eminent poet and former DG of the NLPD Iftikhar Arif was the chief guest on the occasion.
Prof Malik stated that Quaid-i-Azam made his living with extreme hand work and honesty. He dedicated a considerable portion of his hand-earned savings to educational institutions like Islamia College Peshawar, Sindh Madarsa-tul-Islam and Ali Garh and got it clearly mentioned in his will.
Chief Guest of the ceremony, Iftikhar Arif also paid rich tributes to the Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam M Ali Jinnah and the Poet of the East Allama Mohammad Iqbal also. It has become a fashion to criticize the leaders of Pakistan Movement like Iqbal and Quad-i-Azam which is quite unfortunate, said Arif.
Associating such behavior as anti-national sentiments, Iftikhar Arif stated the former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) did not part ways with Pakistan due to linguistic issues alone, but the conspiracies of rulers and politicians and social and economic injustice were also to blame. He said ever since the beginning of the Pakistan Movement, all leaders held their consensus that the national language of the new state of Pakistan should be Urdu.
Welcoming all the honourable guests, the newly-appointed Director General (DG) of the NLPD Dr Rauf Parekh stated it was Quaid-i-Azam’s vision and foresightedness that in the presence of so many languages being spoken in Pakistan, he declared Urdu as the National Language which was the “Lingua Franca” spoken and understood throughout the country.
Arifa Syyeda, Dr Azahar Hameed, Muhammad sharif Baqa (London) and Nasar Malik from Sweden were among other speakers who expressed their views. The session was moderated by Dr Rashid Hameed, Executive Director of the NLPD.
