Presidential Iqbal Award relaunched

LAHORE: Iqbal Academy Pakistan has re-launched the Presidential Iqbal Award for the year 2019 in accordance with the new rules and regulations.

According to the decision of the selection committee for Iqbal Award, along with the books written in 2019, books written in Urdu, English and other languages on the life and thoughts of Allama Iqbal, his personality and Kalam, from 2016 to 2018 would also be able to contest for the award. The practice of conferring Presidential Iqbal Award every year for Urdu books, whereas, for the books written in English and other languages every three years will remain intact.

According to a statement issued by Iqbal Academy Pakistan Director Prof Dr Baseera Ambreen, the decision was taken in the meeting of the Presidential Iqbal Award Selection Committee held at Aiwan-e-Iqbal on Sunday.

Iqbal Academy Pakistan Vice-President Dr Shehzad Qaiser chaired the meeting. The meeting decided that the suspended Presidential Iqbal Award will be re-launched in line with the new rules approved by the President of Pakistan in 2019.

In this connection, the sub-committee constituted by the president of Iqbal Academy Pakistan, Federal Minister for Education, National Heritage and Culture Shafqat Mehmood, in the last meeting of the selection committee, had presented the recommendations for Iqbal Award. According to the recommendations, not only the awards conferred by the judges up to 2015 ratified, but the award was also approved for the year 2019 in the light of the new rules. In addition, the books written in this regard from 2016 to 2018 were also approved for the 2019 competition.

Federal Secretary for National Heritage and Culture Division Ms Nosheen Javed, Academy of Letters Chairman Prof Yousuf Kushk, Allama Iqbal Open University Faculty of Social Sciences Dean Prof Dr Shahid Iqbal participated in the meeting via video link while Prof Dr Zia-ul-Haq, Raja Muhammad Akhtar Iqbal and Dr Humaira Shahbaz were present on the occasion.