By Dr. Syed Ahmed for TwoCircles.net,
Imphal: The National Education Day, birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the great freedom fighter and the first Education Minister of the country, was observed by All Manipur Muslim (Meitei Pangal) Welfare Association (AMPWA), an apex body of Muslims in Manipur, on Wednesday at its office at Babupara, Imphal.
The function was graced by former Chairperson of Manipur State Minorities Commission A. Halim Chowdhury, IAS (Retd.), Vice President of AMPWA Akhtar Hussain, former member of Manipur Public Service Commission M.A. Sattar, IAS (Retd.) and Joint Director of Education (S) M. A. Salam, Sr. MCS as Chief Guest, President and Guests of Honour respectively.
Speakers at the function remembered the life and works of Maulana Azad. M.A. Sattar spoke on the life and works of Maulana Azad. He said that Maulana Azad was one of the builders of modern India, who laid the foundation of some of the premier institutes like UGC, the three academies – Sangeet Natak Academy, Sahitya Academy and Lalit Kala Academy – IIT (Kharagpur, Indian Council for Cltural Relations (ICCR), among others.
During his tenure as the first Education Minister Maulana Azad gave trust to universal primary education by offering free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14, adult illiteracy, girl’s education, vocational education, etc., he added.
In his speech, M.A. Salam said that Maulana Azad was a visionary and statesman who gave a framework of education policy in India. Over the year the Central and the State Government have been working to realize the policies and programmes outlined and initiated by Maulana Azad, he added.
A quiz programme on the life and works of Maulana Azad was also part of the function.
The function was attended by members of the Association and students.