ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Tuesday organized a ceremony to commemorate 67th anniversary of Pakistan Movement Leader Maulana Zafar Ali Khan.
Caretaker Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Syed Jamal Shah and former Federal Minister Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry were the chief guests.
Islamabad Bar Council Vice Chairman Raja Aleem Khan Abbasi, National Press Club Secretary Finance, Nayar Ali and others addressed the ceremony and paid tributes to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan for his outstanding services for the Pakistan Movement, said a press release issued here.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Syed Jamal Shah said that the life of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was a torchbearer for all of us as he always raised the voice of the oppressed before the oppressors.
He said that brave and truthful personalities like Maulana Zafar Ali Khan were a great asset of our national heritage and there was a need to educate the young generat
ion about their valueable services for the country.
He said that the economy of Pakistan was currently going through a difficult period and urged all political parties and leaders to make collective efforts to get the country out of the prevailing crises.
President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari that Maulana Zafar Ali Khan played a leadership role in the Pakistan Movement and as a prominent journalist and poet he awakened the spirit of freedom among the Muslims of the subcontinent through his pen.
He said that Pakistan needed the personalities like Maulana Zafar Ali Khan to overcome the economic challenges.
He said that youth was 60 percent of our population who needed better guidance to play an active role in making the future of Pakistan bright and prosperous.
PML-N leader and former federal minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said that heroes like Maulana Zafar Ali Khan would always be remembered in history for his great services for creating of Pakistan.
He urged all po
litical leaders to play a role for the development of the country instead of pulling each other’s legs.
He hoped that the future of Pakistan was bright, hoped that the country would get rid of the current problems soon.
Senior Vice President ICCI, Faad Waheed, paid tributes to the services of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan for Pakistan Movement and said that the business community, lawyers and journalist community were important stakeholders of the country and all should work together to get Pakistan’s economy out of the current problems.
Islamabad Bar Council Vice Chairman, Raja Aleem Khan Abbasi said that Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was the father of journalism who never adopted journalism as a profession, but used it for a cause.
He said that journalists and lawyers were not accountable to anyone, but they were accountable to their own conscience, so both communities should make collective efforts for the development and prosperity of the country.
Zafar Bakhtavari, former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG P
akistan said that we were forgetting our ancestors, which should be a cause of concern as those nations that forgot their ancestors and heroes did not survive in history.
He stressed the importance of educating youth about the country’s history and its heroes.
He said that Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was one of the founding members of the Muslim League and due to his high journalistic skills, he started the Zamindar newspaper, the most popular newspaper in the subcontinent within a
few years.
He said that we needed the leaders like Maulana Zafar Ali Khan to address the current difficulties being faced by Pakistan.
National Press Club Secretary Finance, Ms. Nayar Ali said that Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was a beacon for all of us.
The maulana laid the foundation of resistance journalism and became a great example for later journalists, she added.
She said that journalism had been facing challenges in every era and unfortunately it had become a tool of business.
She said that the media owners and the business co
mmunity should ensure that journalism should becomes a source of providing accurate information to the nation.
Convener, ICCI Literacy Committee, Afraz Sial said that Maulana Zafar Ali Khan always spoke the truth due to which he was imprisoned 14 times and his newspapers were banned 15 times.