Islamia College Peshawar (ICP), which saw independence movement, here Friday attracted a substantial number of students of different educational institutions on occasion of independence day’s celebrations and paid glowing tributes to its rich services for Pakistan.
Impressed by the ICP’s students historic role in mobilization of denizens of Khyber Pakthunkhwa for Pakistan, the students visited different sections including Khyber Union, a debating society of the college established in pre-partition era and highly praised its great services in awakening of people for Pakistan. Malaika Bibi, Anaya and Ibrahim Khan, a fifth, 3rd and KG grades and others students told APP that they came here to pay tributes to ICP’s students and faculty members on occasion of Pakistan’s 76th independence day to be celebrated with great national enthusiasm on August 14, 1947. The students were highly impressed by its tall beautiful domes, lush-green lawns and majestic architecture. Declaring ICP’s identity of Peshawar, the students said that the history of the Pakistan Movement could not be completed without mentioning the role of ICP. Holding a torch of education for 110 years, ICP that was beautifully illuminated with national flag hoisting, had provided a unique platform to KP’s people to compete with other communities in education, civil service, economy and politics during the colonial era.
Being a beautiful combination of Aligarh Movement of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Deoband School of Thoughts, ICP is a mere testimony to the greatness of its Founder, Nawab Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan. “The idea to establish a college clicked in the minds of Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan, leader of Muslim League, and Sir George Roos-Keppel, the then Chief Commissioner of NWFP (now KP) in early 1909 when they met the Pathan students during their visit to the Muslim University Aligarh,” writes ex-principal ICP, Prof G.D. Khilji in his memoirs.
The students requested them either to construct a Frontier hostel at Aligarh or a college may be built for them in then NWFP (now KP). As a token, the students raised around sixty rupees and gave them to Roos Keppel to form a Frontier Hostel fund or any other project. Later, Keppel passed the money on to Nawab Sahib. It was April 12, 1911 when philanthropists Ghulam Haider Khan, Habibullah Khan, Khushal Khan, Sethi Karim Bakhsh and Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum gathered at the residence of Abdul Karim Khan Indrabai in Peshawar.
Haji Karim Bakhsh Sethi offered to build a mosque, Rahim Shah Kakakhel promised to construct a hostel and Abdul Karim Khan donated Rs 10,000, Sethi Karim Bakhsh Rs.50,000 and Nawab of Dir promised Rs100,000 for the college fund.’ Later, a 10-member ad-hoc college committee under the chairmanship of Colonel Muhammad Aslam Khan was set up on May 29, 1911 to table proposals for establishment of the college. Leading Khans and Ulema were invited and seven resolutions including one to title the college as ‘Darul-Ulum-i-Islamia Suba-i-Sarhad’ were unanimously passed. A committee was constituted to select a suitable site for the college. The proposal of a college at Wazir Bagh was rejected by Ross Keppel as he wanted to spare the place of recreation. Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum in consultation with Ross Keppel had selected the existing place for ICP.
On October 1, 1913, ICP was opened with 26 students on roll and Sahibzada Khurshid was the first student who got admission and later became the Governor of then NWFP and Tipping (1913-17) was its first Principal. “Like students of Aligarh movement who were in the vanguard of the independence movement in India, so were the students of Islamia College, Peshawar for creation of Pakistan,’ said Muhammad Younas Khan, Chairman, Department of Pakistan Studies, ICP while talking to APP. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had an immense love for people of KP, ICP and visited this college in 1936, 1945 and 1948 as first Governor General of Pakistan.
In 1945, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had received a rousing welcome at ICP where students and Muslim Students Federation (MSF) presented him Rs 8,000 as fund for Pakistan Movement. “They assured him to present 8,000 committed educated workers when he came again to this great alma-mater.” Younas said, ‘KP people had shown an immense love for Quaid-i-Azam and that is why Muslim League secured maximum seats in the 1946 election and after that historic victory nobody could stop the independence movement from this province.’ ‘In July 1947 Referendum, Muslim League clinched landslide victory in KP by securing over 200,000 votes and its people announced to become part of Pakistan,’ he said. ‘The spirit and enthusiasm of people was historic when Quaid e Azam came to Peshawar as first governor general of Pakistan on April 12, 1948.
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