AIOU announces fee waiver for children of ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ martyrs

Islamabad: The Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has announced fee waiver for the children of all those who sacrificed their lives during the ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ operation against terrorists and extremists. An amount of Rs8 million was allocated for this purpose.
This is in recognition of heroic sacrifices rendered by the officers and ‘jawans’ of the armed forces for the national cause, said AIOU Vice chancellor Professor Dr. Shahid Siddiqui while addressing the national songs competition at the AIOU main campus in connection with Defence Day of Pakistan.
The fee concession will also be available to the children of IDPs, for which a separate financial allocation has been made.
While paying homage to the martyrs of 1965, 1971 wars and the ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ operation, Dr. Siddiqui said they deserved high respect since they sacrificed their today for our tomorrow.
The national songs competition, arranged by the AIOU’s Rawalpindi region and Directorate of Students’ Advisory Services, was presided over by Muhammad Maroof, brother of late Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz, a recipient of ‘Nishan-e-Haider’.
The Pakistan Army officers Sajjad Ahmed, Tariq and Tanzeelur Rehman specially attended the function, who were given standing ovation by the participants as a mark of respect for the armed forces of Pakistan.
Later, the vice chancellor awarded shields and cash prizes to the winners of the competition. The first position was earned by Wasim Bashir and Zaheer Abbas, students of AIOU’ s Rawalpindi-Islamabad campus, second position was obtained by Nagman Farooq of Mirpur campus and third position went to Syeda Samina of G-10/4 Model College of Women.