Allama Iqbal or Iqbal Goth: Gulshan Iqbal of Karachi was named after whom?
Allama Iqbal or Iqbal Goth Gulshan Iqbal of Karachi was named after whom? |
Recently PPP leader and provincial information minister Saeed Ghani while discussing the demarcation proposals of Karachi city revealed that the name of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, a popular area of Karachi has nothing to do with the name of Allama Iqbal.
He said that those who claim that Gulshan-e-Iqbal is named after the poet Allama Iqbal should read the history. He became known as Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
Postal code for KARACHI-GULSHAN-E-IQBAL
Post code of KARACHI GULSHAN-E-IQBAL is 75300
Post code: 75300
Delivery Office: KARACHI GULSHAN-E-IQBAL
account Office : New Town
Province : Sindh
Postal code for KARACHI-GULSHAN-E-IQBAL |
His video went viral after the provincial information minister's statement. Some accused him of distorting historical facts and most people made humorous comments on his statement.
After the video went viral, some people shared an excerpt from my book 'Pakistan Chronicle', according to which on April 16, 1966, the then commissioner of Karachi Syed Darbar Ali Shah, announced that the KDA in Karachi Scheme No. 24 has been named after the poet Allama Iqbal and now this scheme will be called as Gulshan Iqbal.
The provincial information minister had suggested in his statement that those who claim that Gulshan-e-Iqbal is named after the poet Allama Iqbal should read history, so we started searching the pages of history.
For this, I first saw the file of Hurriyat Karachi daily. A study of this file revealed that a two-day conference was held on 16th and 17th April, 1966 at Bagh-e-Jinnah (Frere Hall) in Karachi with the participation of Iqbal scholars from all over Pakistan and representatives of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and China. Of
Ali Bakhsh, a respected employee of Allama Iqbal, not only specially attended the conference but also presided over a meeting.
The National Museum which was housed in Frere Hall at that time also exhibited the works of Allama Iqbal, his letters, photographs and articles.
The record of this conference named after Allama Iqbal was later published in book form under the title 'Maqalat Yum Iqbal'.
A study of this book reveals that in this conference Allama Muhammad Hussain Arshi Amritsar, SM Zafar, Agha Abdul Hameed Hakeem Muhammad Hassan Qureshi Hakeem Ahmad Shuja, Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, Maulvi Sirajuddin Pal Naseer Ahmad Nasir, Prof. Muhammad Munawar Mian Yaqub Tawfiq, Syed Abdul Wahid, Mian Bashir Ahmed, Begum Masood Jawad and Abid Ali Abid presented their dissertations in Urdu.
In addition, the translation of Yahya Al-Khashab's dissertation was presented by Prof. Muhammad Munawar.
Gulshan-e-Iqbal a popular area of Karachi |
Conference participants named after Allama Iqbal
Mr. Mumtaz Hassan, Mr. Hoshang Ansari, Mr. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mr. Orhan Kolgho and Prof. Chen Chi Yu presented their papers in English while Jazeb Qureshi, Maher Al Qadri, Ibrat Siddiqui, Abdul Fattah Abdul Aqeeli, Sirajuddin Zafar and Iqbal Safi Puri presented Allama Iqbal. The Holy Prophet paid homage.
Messages from President Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan, Governor West Pakistan Malik Amir Muhammad Khan and International Court of Justice Judge Chaudhry Muhammad Zafarullah Khan were also read out on the occasion.
On the second day of the conference, a concert was also arranged in which Mehdi Hassan and Farida Khanum presented Iqbal's speech.
The conference was chaired by Syed Darbar Ali Shah, the then Commissioner of Karachi. He presented the inaugural paper of the conference and gave some impromptu talks before the paper.
An excerpt from the conversation was as follows:
On this occasion, I am very pleased to announce that the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), at my request, has launched its Scheme No. 24, popularly known as Gulshan and where the intention is to have Gulberg in Lahore. I have approved the naming of 'Gulshan-e-Iqbal' as a high-level settlement and I have been given the authority to formally announce it at this Iqbal Day meeting.
The same statement of Mr. Darbar Ali Shah was prominently published in Karachi newspapers the next day.
The text of the news published in the April 18, 1966 issue of the daily Hurriyat was as follows:
Karachi, April 16 (Hurriyat News Service): KDA Scheme No. 24 Gulshan has been renamed as Gulshan-e-Iqbal on the occasion of the name of the poet of the East. This announcement was made by Divisional Commissioner Syed Darbar Ali Shah on the occasion of Iqbal Day celebrated by Old Ravens on which the audience applauded loudly and expressed immense happiness. Apart from this, a guest from Lahore (Professor Muhammad Munawar) from the stage also gave the good news that the name of (Government College Lahore) Quadrangle Hostel has been changed to Iqbal Hostel. He said that Allama Iqbal had spent a lot of time as a student in this hostel.
News of the announcement of renaming Gulshan as Gulshan-e-Iqbal
Here is the case of Iqbal Goth where he was located in Karachi. If you do a little search on Google, you will find that the area called Iqbal Goth is located near Sector C-7 (C-7) of North Karachi which is Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Is far from
It is hoped that after this writing the discussion on the name of Gulshan Iqbal will end and the Hon'ble Minister of Information Mr. Saeed Ghani will refer to his own opinion.
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