Islamia College Peshawar: An education icon saw Pakistan Movement.

PESHAWAR -- Established in 1913 at the foothills of Koh e Sufaid, Islamia College Peshawar (ICP), which has held aloft the torch of educating the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the past 110 years, also saw the historic independence movement of Pakistan.

One travelling through the historic Jamrud Road can't remain unimpressed while passing under the shadows of its

tall domes, lush-green lawns and majestic edifice of its beautiful architecture. It reminds visitors of the glorious

role its students played during the Pakistan Movement led by the father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

"The history of the Pakistan Movement is incomplete without mentioning the role of the students of ICP," said Younas Khan, Chairman Pakistan Studies Department, ICP while talking to reporter on Thursday.

He said the legendary Quaid visited ICP in 1936, 1945 and 1948 to acknowledge the outstanding role of its students during the completion of his mission for Pakistan.

On April 12, 1948, Quaid-e-Azam visited ICP as the first Governor General of Pakistan where he presented glowing tributes to the services of its students towards making Pakistan.

"I am indeed very happy to be present here today and to have the privilege of addressing students of this great Darul Uloom, who are the future builders of Pakistan. Remember your government is like your own garden. Your garden flourishes by the way you look after it and the efforts that you put towards its improvement. Similarly, your government can only flourish by your patriotic, honest and constructive efforts to improve it,' Quaid said.

He wished to construct a university near ICP which was fulfilled by the government within a gap of one year by establishing the University of Peshawar in 1949.

Quaid-e-Azam became an honorary member of the Khyber Union, a debating society of the college in 1936. His love for the college can be judged from his will written on May 30, 1939, in Mumbai wherein he declared ICP, the Muslim University Aligarh and Sindh Madrassatul Islam Karachi as among the inheritor of his property.

"The Quaid Trust later paid Rs10,811,600 in different installments to the college. The amount was spent on the

establishment of Quaid-e-Azam College of Commerce, University of Peshawar, construction of Jinnah residential quarters for the college employees, Jinnah College for Women and the newly constructed Takbeer block and others projects," he said.

The college, which is a beautiful combination of...