Iqbal Day and Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations followed each other quickly this year. The festival of Diwali was sand-witched between these two. Another event, which made a vast majority of the Lahoris jubilant, was the judgement of the Supreme Court banning the serving of meals at wedding receptions.
The 127th birthday of Allama Muhammad Iqbal was celebrated in Lahore on November 9 with traditional fervour and enthusiasm. One of the major events in this connection was arranged at the spacious hall of Lahore Arts Council under the aegis of Markazi Majlis-e-Iqbal. A number of functions, including seminars, poetry and poster contests were also arranged in the city under the auspices of political, social, religious and literary organisations at which glowing tributes were paid to the poet philosopher of Pakistan.
Lieutenant General (Retired) Khalid Maqbool, the Punjab Governor, Mian Amer Mahmood, District Nazim, Dr Nasim Hassan Shah, former Chief Justice of Pakistan and currently President Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam and other leading lights of Lahore visited the nazar-e-Iqbal for fateh a and laid floral wreaths on his grave. Included in the list of visitors to the mazar of Iqbal were teachers, students and Vice Chancellor of the University of the Punjab.
Iqbal's philosophy, conveyed through his highly motivating poetry, created an awakening among the dis-spirited and politically fragmented Muslims of the sub-continent prompting them to organise politically and socially at one platform. It helped them in demanding and achieving their goal - a separate, independent and sovereign homeland, Pakistan.
Speaker after speaker at different functions in the city exhorted the attendees to show similar kind of unity in their ranks once again to thwart the designs of their enemies to cause any harm to Pakistan. They also talked in detail about Iqbal's concept of religion, which preached moderation. One of the speakers at the Lahore College for Women University, Dr Shehzad Qaiser, said that Iqbal was a unique thinker of the Muslim World as he combined traditional knowledge and modern learning in his message as enunciated in his book - The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.
Declamation contests and exhibitions were other features of a large number of functions held in the city to commemorate the birthday of Allama Iqbal, whose contributions to the creation of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent have been ungrudgingly acknowledged even by the enemies of Pakistan.
Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramazan, was celebrated in Lahore, as elsewhere in the country, with traditional fanfare and religious fervour. However, one thing which did not go unnoticed at a large number of congregations in the city was tight security arrangements made by City District Government to prevent acts of terrorism. Management of mosques and Eidgah administrators remained on their toes in efforts to ward off any untoward incident during Eid congregations.
Lahore seemed to have been invaded by hordes of beggars, who descended upon the bustling ancient city in hopes of making easy money without working to earn it. Another noticeable impact of Eid celebrations was the return of movie buffs to local cinema houses, which after a long hiatus, were thronged by people of all age groups.
Unrelated to the Eid celebrations but more important socially was the announcement of the judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which banned serving of meals at wedding receptions. A plethora of un-Islamic customs, which the Muslims of the sub-continent have adopted during the past several centuries as a consequence of trans-national and cultural pollination, in the opinion of many citizens hailing from poor and middle classes, should also have been banned by the apex court.
Dewali, the festival of merry-making, was also celebrated on November 12 by the tiny Hindu minority in the city. A group comprising over 300 Hindus participated in Dewali festivities held at the Krishna Temple. They were joined by a number of local Christians, who also took part in the celebrations as a show of solidarity with them. A delgation of World Punjabi Congress attended the function.
The Krishna Temple has retained the distinction of being the only temple in Lahore where members from Hindu community congregate to discharge their liturgical obligations to the Creator. This Hindu temple of the city is managed and its activities promoted by the provincial Evacuee Trust Board.
To create awareness among the people, especially students, the provincial Environmental Protection Agency jointly with a number of city schools held several competitions in photography, poster making and skits focussing on environmental issues. These competitions were held on November 11 at Alhamra Cultural Complex at Gaddafi Stadium. A large number of students and representatives of NGOs and City District Government were present to encourage the students.