Daily Times

LAHORE: The 117th birth anniversary of the creator of Pakistan’s national anthem, Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jullundhri, passed silently as no major ceremony was observed at the government level to pay tribute to his service on Saturday.

However, students and people from different walks of life people visited his tomb and offered prayers.

Also, workers and office-bearers of the Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust and Pakistan Movement Workers Trust visited the shrine of Hafeez Jullundri.

Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust vice chairman Prof Dr Rafique Ahmad along with others laid a floral wreath on the tomb of Hafeez Jullundhri and offered prayers for elevation of the departed soul.

Talking with Daily Times, members of civil society criticised the Punjab government for not remembering the national heroes. They said that the Punjab government did not bother to show respect to those, who worked hard with full enthusiasm and passionate for the country.

They said that the government should mark the heroes’ day and shed light on their lives.

This is not the first time that the Punjab government has “forgotten” to mark the birthday of a national hero, as no official ceremony was held at the provincial level to mark the birthday of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah last year. However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers held cake-cutting ceremonies to celebrate birthday of Prime Minister Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif on December 25, 2016

Hafeez Jullundhri was born in Jalandhar, Indian Punjab, in 1990 and died at the age of 82. He was honoured with Pride of Performance in 1958 and Hilal-e-Imtiaz.

He was very active in the Pakistan Movement and enjoyed a lofty status due to his masterpieces, including national anthem and Shahnama-i-Islam.

Meanwhile, the Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust and the Pakistan Movement Workers Trust jointly organised a special sitting at the Aiwan-i-Karkunan-i-Tehreek-i-Pakistan to mark the birthday of Hafeez Jullundhri.

Qaumi Tarana Foundation Chairman Dr Aziz Ahmad Hashmi participated as a chief guest. Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust vice chairman Prof Dr Rafique Ahmad, Major General (r) Waqar Ahmad Khan, Prof Dr Khwaja Muhammad Zakaria, Raja Muhammad Amin, Mian Ibrahim Tahir, Inamur Rehman Gilani, Nawab Barkaat Mehmood Khan and a large number of students, teachers and people from various walks of life participated in the ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Rafique Ahmad said, “Allah almighty has showered three blessings upon us. The Quaid-i-Azam transformed the scattered Indian Muslims into a cohesive solid nation. Allama Muhammad Iqbal filled us with new hope, fervour and enthusiasm and our national anthem, written by Hafeez Jullundri, gives us a superb vision to forge ahead and play our due role in the nation-building task.”

In his address, Prof Dr Aziz Ahmad Hashmi said that acquainting the new generation with the ideology of Pakistan was the need of the hour.

“Hafeez Jullundri had a keen desire to see the national anthem implemented practically. New generations must keep the memory of their heroes alive,” he added.