Second Death Anniversary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997) (1999-8)

 

Nusrat Fateh All Khan can truly be described as one of the greatest musical prodigies of our times.

Although he was an exponent of the Qawali (mystic) singing but he used his musical skills of the classical art form of music to blend it with contemporary music to an extent that he can be called the pioneer of this individualistic style by harnessing the vocal of his high pitched voice that depicted the cry and pathos of the common man.

Born to a distinguished family from Jalandher with a 600 year-long tradition of performing Qawali, his deceased father and uncles are still remembered as great masters of Qawali.

Mr Nusrat began to seriously pursue Qawali career only after the death of his father. However, since his debut in 1965 as the lead singer of the group, he had distinguished himself as a qawal - a singer of Qawali music. He was known as the “Shahenshah-e-Qawall” - the king of Qawali.

Nusrat Khan continued to perform Qawali in religious rites - the original form in which Qawali is sung-at mausoleums of revered saints in Pakistan, while at the same time giving concerts at more convenient venues.

The superb singing talent and musical skill of this great master of Qawali, alongwith his strong command of Urdu, Farsi (Persian) and his native language, Punjabi, had enabled him to sing the mystic poetry 4 written in these languages with fluency and expressiveness.

He was also famous for his unparalleled repertoire, which extended to several thousands of songs. In appreciation of his excellence, the Government of Pakistan award him the President’s Pride of Performance in 1987.

In the summer of 1985, Mr Nusrat Fateh All Khan performed at the World Music arts and Dance festival (WOMAD) in London, where he stood out as the most promising singer. After the success of that summer, he began to perform music more freely.

His various experimentation, such as the use of seat-like singing improvisation, brought a fresh breeze into the traditional world of Qawali. His concerts in Paris in 1985 and 1988 were received with great enthusiasm as his amazing vocal performances produced a craze for his music throughout Europe. His first visit to Japan took place in 1987, at the invitation of the Japan Foundation.

His participation in seminars and his performance atthe 5th Asian Traditional Performing Art Festival and subsequent concerts in Japan had earned him a steadily increasing number of fans in this country.

These achievements, taken together had an immeasurable impact on cultural exchange between the East and the West, led to the enhancement of both cultures, and thus made Ustad Nusrat Fateh All Khan particularly worthy of receiving the Arts and Culture Prizes of various countries and made his name synonymous with International Music.

Khan Sahib was a regular performer of Pakistan Television ever since its inception, in Qawali programmes but with his amalgamation of modern music in traditional music, the demand of his songs, as a soloist became more in the enthusiastic young crowed.

To cater to this demand PTV also launched a series of musical programmes entitled “Nusrat Fateh All Khan Show” which was aired for three months on weekly basis.

His international tours with regards to his musical performances to experiment and inter-act with the diversified musical skills of musicians of international repute earned him unparalleled place.

He could undoubtedly be acclaimed as the cultural ambassador of Pakistan He died on 16th August, 1997.

Courtesy: Pakistan Television Corporation.

To commemorate the 2nd Death Anniversary of Music Maestro Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs 2 denomination on August 16,1999.

Pioneers Of Freedom Series (1999-7)

 

Mr CHAUDHRY MUHAMMAD ALI (1905-1980)

The late Chaudhry Muhammad All, former Prime Minister of Pakistan was born in 1905 in Nagal Ambia, a village near Jullandar, Punjab into a family of agriculturists.

After completing his education Chaudhry Sahib appeared in the civil services examinations and was inducted into the service in Audit and Accounts Group. He rose rapidly through the ranks of the services.

He served for a time as the Accountant-General to the Nawab of Bahawalpur and thereafter was transferred and posted at Delhi. The eve of Second World War found him as one of the very few Muslims who had secured a high position in the Government of India. By 1945 he was appointed Financial Advisor, War & Supply and was the first Indian to hold this key position.

By the early 40’s the struggle for independence had entered into a critical phase, Chaudhry Sahib became a close aide to the Quaid-e-Azam.

The complete trust that the Quaid-e-Azam had in Chaudhry Sahib is demonstrated by the fact that he was the person chosen by the Quaid to represent Pakistan as one of the two members of the Steering Committee through which the Partition Council acted, dealing with all those vital issues which had to be decided before partition.

Pakistan was represented on the Partition Council by the Quaid-e-Azam and Liaquat Ali Khan. At that time Chaudhry Sahib was but barely in his early 40s and it speaks volumes for his ability, integrity and complete dedication to the Muslims’ cause that he was chosen by the Quaid himself to act in such a sensitive and key position.

In 1946 the Interim Government in India composed of members of Congress on the one hand and the Muslim League on the other. The Muslims were, because of heir lack of education and experience in commercial and financial matters, typically regarded by the Hindus as incapable of having, and indeed lacking in any financial sense at all.

At the urging of Chaudhry Sahib himself, the Muslim league accepted the Finance portfolio and on February 28, 1947 Liaquat All Khan, who held the portfolio of Finance Minister, presented his budget.

This was the first budget made by a non-British Finance Minister in undivided India; it was also the last and most controversial. The entire work for the preparation of this budget was done by Chaudhry Sahib himself.

The budget is known to history as the Poor Man’s Budget and it produced consequences of fundamental importance at that key stage of the struggle of independence. The budget directly hit the Hindu Mahasaba, ie the leading Hindu capitalists and businessmen, where it hurt them the most, namely, in the their pockets.

The budget brought home to the Hindus like nothing else before it, the fact that in a united India, the relatively poorer Muslims would constantly demand in the name of social justice, a share in the wealth of Hindus.

The Budget proved to be and served as, the final proverbial straw that broke the back of the camel and led to the acceptance by the Congress leadership of the fact that the sooner the Muslims were got rid of by partition, the better.

Thus, at the most critical juncture and on the eve of the most crucial period in the emergence of Pakistan, Chaudhry Sahib’s efforts led directly to the final step that ended in the creation of Pakistan.

After partition Chaudhry Sahib was appointed, again on the direct instructions of Quaid-e-Azam and Liaquat All Khan, as the very first Secretary General of Pakistan, a post that was specifically created to deal with the problems of setting up a newly state virtually from scratch. He also held the post of Cabinet Secretary.

A few years later at the request of Liaquat All Khan and Khawaja” Nazimuddin, Chaudhry Sahib reluctantly left the security of Government service, and entered politics. He held the post of Finance Minister and subsequently became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1955.

It is a historical fact that he is the only Prime Minister of Pakistan to have resigned his post although enjoying the confidence of the majority of the Central Assembly, as the legislative house was known at that time.

He also had the honour of steering through the Central Assembly the very first constitution of Pakistan in 1956 which served as the model for all subsequent such endeavours in this country. After leaving office in 1956, Chaudhry Sahib remained actively involved in politics for a number of years till about 1970.

His struggles during the ‘60s, when he was the head of the Nizam-e-Islam Party, to oppose and dislodge the regime of Ayub Khan are too well documented and known to require any detailed examination. The important part that he played in the presidential campaign of Mader-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah at that time was only one chapter in the long struggle.

Although Chaudhry Sahib had suffered a major heart attack in 1953, that never Deterred Or stopped him in his ceaseless efforts to serve the nation. However, in 1970 he suffered another heart attack and this time the doctors told him that his health could not take such strains any longer and that he would have to necessarily retire from active politics.

He did so only with the greatest reluctance. Thereafter he assumed the role of a senior statesman in the country.

His doors always remained opened to all who sought his advice on matters large or small and he was unofficially consulted several times by various dignitaries and other important personalities.

The selfless devotion with which he had ceaselessly toiled throughout his life for the service of the nation had however, taken its toll in his health. He suffered a series of heart attacks throughout this period and finally left this earth for his heavenly abode in December, 1980.

Quite apart from his public service and career, Chaudhry Muhammad Ali did one more outstanding service for Pakistan.

This was his monumental work, The Emergence of Pakistan, which describes in detail the events that led to the creation of Pakistan. According to one reviewer of the work, “Chaudhry Muhammad Ali has given his readers just the kind of inside view that Liaquat All Khan and Quaid-e-Azam himself would have written, had the opportunity been given to them.

Much has been written about the period involved by British and Hindu writers; it took a man of Chaudhri Sahib’s calibre to present, definitively and elegantly, the Muslim perspective to the world.

The book reviews and presents a critical stage in the history of our nation with clarity, depth and vision.

Contributed by the Chaudhry Muhammad All Charitable Trust.

SIR ADAMJEE HAJI DAWOOD (1880-1948)

Late Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood was born in Jetpur, a small town in the present Gujrat state of India in 1880. His education was though limited, he had an immense potential in trade and commerce which led to his early business career at the age of 15 in Rangoon, Burma.

In a short period of time, Adamjee made phenomenal progress in business and was probably the first Muslim to enter into the field of Industry. In 1923 he established his first industrial venture by setting up a match factory in Rangoon.

In 1927 he further expanded his business by setting up a Jute Mill in Calcutta, which became the first Muslim owned public limited company in India. Adamjees outstanding performance earned him recognition in various business and political circles and he was elected the first President of All India Muslim Chamber of Commerce.

Sir Adamjee took keen interest in philanthropic activities, as welfare of the Muslims was a subject close to his heart. During his life Adamjee established many welfare institutions such as Adamjee Hospital in Jetpur and several student hostels all over Muslim India.

Apart from this be founded the Memon Educational and Welfare Society in 1933 and collected funds to mitigate the sufferings of the people of Bengal, Bihar and Quetta on account of natural calamities in 1933-35.

Adamjees work was recognized and appreciated by Mr Muhammad All Jinnah, Mr Gandhi, Nizam of Hyderabad Deccan Sir Mir Usman Ali Khan and several British Generals. Mr Jinnah and Adamjee became close friends and Adamjee was appointed Treasurer and Financial Advisor of the Muslim League and All India Press Fund.

At the request of Mr Jinnah, Adamjee was put incharge to oversee the problems faced by Muslims businessmen due to Hindu domination. Adamjee identified two major areas that needed attention, and alongwith the support of Mr M.A.H. Ispahani established the Muslim Commercial Bank and Orient Airways in 1946. After partition the Orient Airways was transformed into Pakistan International Airlines.

In 1938, King George VI awarded Knighthood (The title of Sir) to Adamjee in appreciation of his social activities.

Sir Adamjee’s greatest contribution was at the time of partition when the Government of Pakistan fell in financial emergency and was in urgent need of funds. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah called upon Sir Adamjee to contribute in this cause and Sir Adamjee said whatever I possess belongs to Pakistan’ and handed over a signed blank cheque to Mr Jinnah. Sir Adamjee was then again called by Quaid-e-Azam for discussion for the establishment of State Bank of Pakistan where he suffered a Heart Attack and collapsed after that meeting on 26th January 1948. Quaid-e-Azam made a public announcement on the death of Adamjee.

“I am deeply grieved on the sad demise of Adamjee Haji Dawood. He was a True Muslim. He gave full support in the struggle of freedom. We have lost him when we needed him the most. It is very difficult to fill his gap in the business community of Muslims. His death is a big blow for Pakistan.

MAULANA ABDUL HAMID BADAYUNI (1898-1970)

Maulana Abdul Hamid Badayuni was a religious scholar and renowned leader of Pakistan Movement. Educated at Badayun he started teaching at Madrassa-i-Shamsul Uloom, Badayun. In due course he became a Mufti.

Participated in National Movements, specially in Khilafat Movement and Anjuman-i-Khuddam-i-Kaba. Associated with All India Muslim League since 1918, but after the reorganization of All India Muslim League. Spoke at Minto Part in support of Lahore Resolution in March 1940.

Popularised the demand for Pakistan throughout India by delivering speeches. Member, All India Council of All India Muslim League.

Called All India Sunni Conference at Banaras in 1946 to support Pakistan on religious basis, worked for the organization of jamiat-i-Ulama-i-Pakistan and became its president. Founded Jamia Taleemat-i-Islamia at Karachi. Died in 1970 and buried at Karachi.

Courtesy: Quaid-e-Azam Academy, Karachi.

To commemorate the Pioneers of Freedom Pakistan Post Office is issuing a set of 3 commemorate postage stamps of Rs 2 (each) denomination on August 14, 1999.

50th Anniversary Of The Geneva Conventions. (1999-6)

 

International humanitarian law has a long history. The modern form of this law goes back to the Baffle of Solferino and the work of Henry Dunant. As a result of his endeavours, the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies of the Field, the very first “Geneva Convention”, was adopted in 1864.

This pioneering convention was followed by several key developments in what has come to be known as “Geneva law”. The most important dates are 1907 (protection of combatants wounded at sea), 1929 (Protection of prisoners of war).

Finally, on August 12, 1949, the four Geneva Conventions were adopted for the protection of the wounded, sick and ship wrecked in armed forces in the field and at sea, of prisoners of war and of civilians.

Lastly, in 1977, two Protocols were added to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols today form the core of international humanitarian law.

The fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions is of special importance, since these treaties are a great step forward for humanity. Nonetheless, it should not be forgotten that it is far more important to review and determine what still merits improvement than to celebrate a body of law regulating the least human activity of all: war.

To this end, the ICRC has launched a major consultation-campaign entitled “People on War”: its aim is to allow the victims of armed conflict to speak for themselves.

Fifty years after the signing of the Geneva Conventions, the first observation in any preliminary review is that these norms are universally accepted.

To date they have been ratified by 188 States Parties, in other words almost the entire planet. As for the Additional Protocols, they are well on the way towards universal acceptance; respectively 153 and 145 States are now bound by them.

Pakistan is party to the four Geneva Conventions and has signed but not yet ratified the Additional Protocols. ICRC Activities in Pakistan since 1947.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officially recognized the Pakistan Red Cross Society on the 21st of July 1948. The Geneva based institution could not imagine the course of dramatic events and exceptional situations which would require the efficient involvement of the young Red Cross Society as early as the very first year of its creation.

As we all know, at its very inception Pakistan was faced with the problem of receiving and housing hundreds of thousands of refugees, among them sick and wounded. The Pakistan Red Cross Society (PRCS) rendered all possible help to relieve their distress.

From 1947 until today, 50 years of solidarity between the ICRC and the PROS have passed, years of both happiness and tragedy.

Following is chronology of important events during the 50 years.

1947 An ICRC delegate is sent to Karachi and New Delhi to act as neutral intermediary for facilitating repatriations of civilians and to visit refugee camps in both Pakistan and India.

1948 Recognition of the Pakistan Red Cross Society by the ICRC (21.07). Under the auspices of the ICRC an agreement is reached between Pakistan and India on the tracing and repatriation of civilians lost during the two-way migration.

1949 ICRC supervises a general exchange of prisoners in April. Medical relief is sent to the PRCS to cope with the high number of refugees.

1954 Severe flooding causes extensive damage in the country. The ICRC helps the PROS to initiate emergency assistance.

1965 An ICRC delegate is sent to Rawalpindi. On an urgent request from the PRCS, plasma and transfusion material is provided to military hospitals. The Central Tracing Agency at ICRC headquarters in Geneva receives and transmits lists of prisoners of war (POW.) to both Pakistani and Indian authorities and facilitates the exchange of thousands of messages between POW. and their relatives. In December, the ICRC organizes on the cease-fire line and exchange of family parcels prepared by both national societies for prisoners. Syed Wajid Ali Shah, chairman PRCS, meets his Indian counterpart during this exchange. More than 700 parcels are exchanged that day.

1966 The ICRC launches an emergency appeal to the Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies to help the Pakistan and Indian Red Cross in their relief operation for more than 500,000 refugees on both sides. Two mobile medical unit vehicles are sent by the ICRC to the PROS, thanks to a grant from the British Red Cross.

1973 More than 10 million family messages are exchanged between POW. and their families. The ICRC transmits them to the PROS for distribution to the addresses in Pakistan. 180,000 family parcels prepared by the PRCS are transmitted by the ICRC to Pakistani P.O.W. detained in India.

1974 The ICRC helps the PRCS to settle problems related to the repatriation of ten of thousands of stranded persons to Pakistan Among them 90,000 Pakistani POW. who are repatriated to Pakistan by ICRC.

1979 The PROS NWFP branch assists Afghan refugees located close to the border with ICRC’s help.

1980 Two first aid posts managed by the PROS and financed by the ICRC are opened on the Pakistan-Afghan border. Five other posts are opened during the year.

1984 A paraplegic rehabilitation center is inaugurated by the ICRC in Peshawar and its management handed over to the PRCS in 1986.

1996 The Sindh branch of the PROS receives two ambulances from the ICRC especially for the areas of Karachi struck by violence. PROS mobile eye clinics in Northern Areas and parts of Kashmir are being supported by IORO.

1998 Launch by ICRC of an extensive training programme on the Law of Armed Conflicts with Staff Colleges and Combat Schools of the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force.

1998 Launch by ICRC of a relief programme to assist thousands of displaced Persons In Azad Kashmir (districts of Muzaffarabad and Bagh).

1999 PROS starts providing first aid training to Police officers in the Punjab. Two fully equipped ambulances are offered by IORO of PROS Punjab branch for a medical evacuation project in Lahore.

1999 IORC starts an instruction programme on Human Rights and Law Enforcement matters with the two Police Training Centres in the Punjab.

Courtesy: International Committee of the Red Cross-Delegation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

To commemorate the occasion Pakistan Post Officer is issuing a stamp of Rs 5 denomination on August 12, 1999.

Archaeological Heritage Of Pakistan Fasting Buddha (Gandhara Civilizations) (1999-5)

 

When the young prince Siddharatha, left his place in search of solution to seek enlightenment for human miseries, he straight went to a jungle and started physical austerities the age-old practice of getting spiritual enlightenment.

He fasted for several weeks, even months to banish all worldly thoughts and tame the body through pure spiritual activities.

Siddharatha thought that a liberal soul, as explained to him by a Brahman, is still a soul, and whatever the condition it attains, must be subject to rebirth and since each successive rebirth is held to be still accompanied by qualities. He maintained that the absolute attainment of our and was only to be found in abandonment of everything.

Seeking, therefore, something beyond, Siddharatha-actually a Bodhisattava, proceeded to Uruvilva near Bodhgaya and practiced for six years such severe austerities and intense mental concentration that his beautiful body withered away to skin and bones. He limited his daily diet to a single sesamun seed or a grain of rice, until one day he was overcome by a severe pain and fainted.

Some of the gods, taking him as dead, informed, queen Maya, the mother of Siddharatha, in Tusita Heaven. Immediately, she came down and seeing that Siddharatha was almost deed, she began to cry.

Then spoke the Siddharatha to his mother, ‘Fear not for love of thy son. I shall fulfill the prophecy of the Saint Asita and make plain the prediction of Dipankara. Though the earth should fall into hundreds of fragments but I, the only human being, should not die.

Therefore, be not sorrowful, for soon will thee behold the wisdom of a Buddha’. After overcoming his weakness, Bodhisattava perceived that self mortification was not the way to enlightenment.

Realising the fact he gave up fasting and accepted food from a maiden name Sujata. Then, after taking a bath in the stream of Naranjana, he again sat under a pipal tree at Bodhgaya to revive his meditation. Here he attained enlightenment at the age of thirty five and become known as the Buddha ‘The Enlightened one’.

This resolve was strikingly illustrated for the first time in Gandhara art and never so sublimely as in the masterpiece from Sikri, District Mardan, now in Lahore Museum.

This so-called statue of Fasting Siddharatha ranks not only as the finest specimen of Gandhara Art, but also as one of the rarest antiquities of the earliest world. Almost wholly undamaged and facing the viewer with a remorseless face it could not have failed to move the faithfuls, as it does fail to move us even today, with an awareness of the heroism which Buddhism saw in Buddsha striving for enlightenment.

In this sculpture the Bodhisattava sits in meditation, right hand over left, arms in the round, his upper garments slipped down to the elbows and spread in a broad semi-circle over the feet and crossed legs.

The head projects dramatically from the large plain halo, its shape and the luxuriant hair almost unaffected by the extreme emaciation of the features. The eyes are in sunken pits of deep shadow, the cheekbones project symmetrically, the nose in thin, the lips narrow and mouth small.

A short curling beard runs along the chin and jaw and even the thin curved, ears seem to convey the tension of the Bodhisattava withdrawn meditations. In low relief on the forehead, veins stand out as they do again in a regular and almost frightening tracery on the undercut arms, across the quaintly projecting shoulder blades and the ribcage.

Below the arch of the ribcage the abdomen is in drawn as if to leave no room for the wasted inner organs. Over the seat is spread the usual grass and on its face worshippers flank a fire-altar.

It is not known who carved this masterpiece of a sculpture and also as to how this image was housed in its shrine. Surviving smaller narrative panels with a central Fasting Bodhisattava can show a variety of flanking figures and if this image was not a wholly independent cult object, it may have been accompanied by odorants, as were Buddha in stucco groups at Taxila, or as in a narrative tableau, by appropriate participants at this stage in the Buddha legends.

Whatever may have been the case, this image show, to an exceptional degree for Gandhara devices more commonly employed in later sculpture the high relief, the under-cutting of the arms and the open spaces so produced under the armpits create a stark play of light and shade that could have enhanced the impact of one of the greatest achievements of any religious art.

Contributed by Lahore Museum, Lahore.

To focus the attention on Archaeological Heritage of Pakistan, Pakistan Post Office is issuing 2 commemorative postage stamps of denomination of Rs 7 each and one Souvenir Sheet of denomination of Rs 25 on July 21,1999.

CELEBRATING 77 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE HONOURING ARSHAD NADEEM'S ACHIEVEMENT. AUGUST 14, 2024 (2024-7)

 

On Pakistan's 78th Independence Day, we proudly introduce a special postal stamp that celebrates the remarkable achievement of Arshad Nadeem. Arshad Nadeem made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics by setting a new Olympic record with a phenomenal throw of 92.97 meters in the men's javelin throw final on August 8, 2024. Arshad Nadeem's gold medal stands as a profound symbol of national pride. This remarkable victory is not just a personal success but highlights the exceptional talent and potential of Pakistan's young athletes. His achievement reflects the dedication, skill, and determination needed to excel at the highest levels of international sport.

The new stamp commemorates Arshad Nadeem's outstanding performance and his contribution to bringing recognition to Pakistan on the global stage. His success story is an example of the remarkable achievements. possible through hard work and perseverance, inspiring future generations to pursue their own goals with the same dedication and hard work.

As we celebrate our 77 years of independence, this stamp honours Arshad Nadeem's incredible achievement and the broader promise of Pakistani talent. It's a moment to reflect on the pride we feel for Arshad Nadeem and the potential that continues to grow within our nation.

On the occasion of 78th Independence Day of Pakistan, a Special Postage Stamp of Rs. 100/- denomination is being issued by Pakistan Post on August 14th, 2024,