FCCI Holds Function To Honour Martyrs' Families, Talented People Of Faisalabad

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Sep, 2024) Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) organised a function here on Saturday to honour families of martyrs, and present awards to local talented people, who excelled in their specific fields.

Renowned scholar, philanthropist and businessman Syed Sarfraz Ahmad Shah, speaking at the ceremony, appreciated the efforts, saying it would produce a chain reaction and motivate elders of other cities to arrange such functions to highlight their local asset and pride at the national level.

He mentioned General Aamir Riaz of Pak Army, who hailed from Faisalabad, saying everyone appreciated the expertise and professionalism of General Riaz by dubbing him as the “brain of the army” and “engine of the army”.

About Air Marshal Arshad Mahmood Malik, he said he was very humble and Allah likes humility and rewards such personalities with its unending bounties.

Akhuwat Foundation Chairman Dr Amjad Saqib said his great grandfather, grandfather and father were buried in a small village near Dijkot and he was a true Faisalabadian. He said he studied in Lyallpur, Toba Tek Singh, Kamalia, Tandianwala and Jaranwala. He shared his old memories and said that he belongs to a middle-class family. “Once, he requested his father that he intended to study at Atchison College,” he recalled and added that his father kept silence and did not respond. He asked his family members about it and he was told that his father had no means to bear the expenses of his education at that prime institution. "It was a turning point in my life, as I resolved at that time to establish a quality institution where children of low income family background can study with dignity and pride." He said he successfully established a campus sprawling over 50 acres of land where 700 students are getting free education.

About Akhuwat, he said it was launched with an initial asset of $100 to offer interest-free loans to help people to start their own micro-level businesses.

He said that now, the Foundation had disbursed $1bn with a recovery rate of 100 per cent. He said now he wanted to transform Faisalabad into a city of 'Muwakhat' [brotherhood] with the help of Dr Khurram Tariq.

Earlier, FCCI President Dr Khurram Tariq said the land of Faisalabad had a rich legacy of producing personalities with extraordinary talent, but it was an enigma that its residents, after shifting to other cities, forget their original identity. He said Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, who proposed the name of Pakistan, belonged to Chak No. 66-JB Dhandra. Similarly, freedom fighter Rai Ahmad Khan Kharal hailed from Jhumra, Bhagat Singh from Chak No. 105 Banga Jaranwala, and Sir Ganga Ram was from Mangtanwala. “The first horse-drawn train from Gangapur to Buchina was his brainchild," he added.

Dr Khurram said that Pirthavi Kapoor, Mala Begum, Captain Sarwar Shaheed, former air chief Kaleem Saadat, former naval chief Zakaullah, former chairman PIA Arshad Malik, General Aamir Riaz, Dr Amjad Saqib, Zia Mohyiuddin and Nusrat Fateh Ali were the sons of this soil, and they excelled in the world.

He claimed that that 90pc of players in the Kabaddi team, 50pc in swimming, 80pc in handball and Taekwondo belong to Faisalabad. He said the event had been organised to pay tribute to those personalities par excellence.

He was optimistic that new office-bearers would continue the legacy and dig out the remaining unsung heroes from this land and organise a similar function to recognise their contributions.

Mian Muhammad Idrees, Mian Javed Iqbal, SVP Dr Sajjad Arshad, VP Haji Muhammad Aslam Bhalli, Syed Zia Alumdar, Muzammil Sultan and other leading personalities also participated in the ceremony to encourage the talent and identity of Faisalabad.