High female enrolment in Chitral impresses Iqbal's son

CHITRAL, April 26: Justice (retired) Javed Iqbal, the visionary son of a visionary father Dr Allama Mohammad Iqbal, on Thursday honoured Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University’s Chitral campus with his visit to inaugurate the computer lab followed by a lecture session. [caption id="attachment_1336" align="alignright" width="294" caption="Justice Javed Iqbal speaks to the students"][/caption] He was accompanied by his spouse Justice (retired) Nasira Javed, his sister (Iqbal’s daughter) Munira Salahuddin, Mr. Tasleem Munir (Iqbal’s grandson), Suraya Jabeen, Captain Sirajul Mulk and two foreign guests. In his address to the captive audience, Justice Iqbal said: “I found it very encouraging that the ratio of female students in the campus is significantly greater than male students. This is what we achingly need as a nation today. We should not confine our female population to household chores. We should provide them equal opportunities of enlightened education. This is the effect that Iqbal had envisioned and the Quaid had practiced and advocated.” He explained Iqbal’s vision about the youth and said, “Allama Iqbal in his Javed-Nama has used me as a symbol for the youth, and while addressing me he is actually addressing the youth of this nation. Allama wants the youth to be like Shaheen (golden eagle), a central symbol in his poety which Iqbal uses exclusively for the youth. By symbolizing the youth this way Iqbal means to emphasize that our youth must have all the five qualities of a Shaheen. They are: It flies high, it never gets exhausted of flight, it is farsighted, it does not build nest and it eats solely and exclusively out of its own hunt.” He further said, “we, as a nation, can taste the fruit of success and prosperity only if our youth adopt all these qualities, understanding the underlying implications and significance of the symbol of Shaheen.” He stressed again, to conclude his sermon, that as a nation we have to rise above gender discrimination and must provide equal opportunities of enlightened education to the female population of our society. Earlier, when he reached the campus in this historic visit he was welcomed by eager and enthusiastic students carrying bouquets of flowers and wreaths in their hands. He left the campus only to make the students tearful. After all “Parting is such a sweet sorrow.”]]>