Indian expats recall contribution of first education minister

A souvenir highlighting the contribution of India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abulkalam Azad was released at the event. (AN photo)

Urdu Academy Jeddah recently celebrated the 16th National Education Day.
The annual day, dedicated to India’s first Education Minister Maulana Abulkalam Azad was held at the Indian Consulate.
Many well-known personalities, including students, principals, teachers and parents from various international schools, were in attendance.
India’s Consul General Mohammed Noor Rahman Shaikh was the chief guest. Deputy Consul General Shahid Alam and Zia Nadwi, director Al Falah International School (DPS), were the guests of honor.
Urdu poetry competitions (Tamsili mushaira) and speech contests in Urdu were the highlights of the event.
Students of 16 Jeddah international schools took part and gave skillful presentations. The speaking talents of the students received all round praise and favorable notice.
Addressing the gathering, the consul general said the academy’s efforts to promote Urdu and the style of presenting the poetry with perfect resemblance to great Urdu poets deserved appreciation.
In his welcome address, Jamal Qadri, president of Urdu Academy, reviewed the academy’s activities and achievements in Saudi Arabia and at home in India. He thanked the Indian Consulate for providing the venue and for having extended cooperation to the academy since 2001.
Mohammed Faheem, program organizer who conducted the meeting, presented some verses from renowned Urdu poets.
International Indian School Jeddah’s (IISJ) students, Nadira Sadaf and Liaqat Ali Khan, anchored the speech contests for girls and boys respectively.
Mohammed Abdul Sattar Khan conducted the program and Khalid Hussain thanked the sponsors for their support.
The annual Azad Souvenir for 2016 was released by the consul general and was presented by Chief Organizer Sheikh Ibrahim.
The consul general also distributed plaques of appreciation to teachers of all participating schools.
Abdul Sami, governor of Toastmasters in the Western Region, was the chief judge. He was assisted by Nasir Khursheed.
The panel of judges for the speech contest included Syed Ali of King Abdulaziz University, Farzan Rizvi, general manager of Abdul-Aziz M.H. Alshaya Co., Professor Shahida Aziz of King Abdulaziz University and Surinder Pal Singh.
Judges for the poetry competition were Urdu poets Mahtab Qadr, Shiraz Mehdi, Altaf Shahryar, Waheed-ul-Qadri Arif, Nassir Barni, Irfan Barahbankwi, Iqbal Belan and Afsar Barabankwi.
In the speech contest for girls, Summayya Shamim of IISJ took the first prize; Bayan Arif of Shati Al-Noor the second, and Syeda Sara Fatima from Dauhat-ul-Uloom the third. They were awarded trophies, plaques and tablets.
In the speech contest for boys, Yahya Syed Viqaruddin of DPS Al-Falah won the first prize and Mohammed Sufiyan Nafees of Al Wurood School got the second. The third place went to Mohammed Azam Ali from Al Mawarid School.
The poetry session, conducted by Aslam Afghani, began with naat presented by Tahira Fahim.
Mariya Imad of Al Mawarid won the first prize for girls for presenting one of Anjum Rehbar’s poems. Sidra Mohammed of IISJ was second with a poem by Ambreen Haseeb Amber and third place went to Saba Noor of Shati-ul Noor School who presented a poem by Parveen Shaker.
Mohammed Anees Siraj Patel of IISJ topped the boys. He presented the poetry of Munawar Rana on Maa (Mother). Zain Rashed of DPS won the second prize for presenting a poem by Manzar Bhopal and Adrish Kar of DPS took third prize for presenting Anglo-Indian poetry of Mustafa Ali Baig.
Salim Farooqi, secretary of Urdu Academy, proposed the vote of thanks.