Lahore Sangat is an informal association of Lahoris who have come together to pay homage to the extraordinary men and women who are not always recognised for their contributions towards making Lahore what it is. The association plans to map out where these personalities lived and put up distinctive blue plaques in their memory.
The objective of the plaques is not only to honour these personalities, but also to generate a sense of pride amongst the people who live in the vicinity of the homes and neighbourhoods of these personalities.
The personalities being honoured belong to fields of poetry, teaching, wrestling and architecture to name a few. Hafeez Jullundhri, a famous poet who also wrote the lyrics of Pakistan’s National Anthem, as well as Ustad Daman, who is responsible for Punjabi poetry such as ‘ Rab dayaan hooran pilani janat vich, Waqt ginwana mufti rakh tu zinda naal bana keh’, are being honoured. Bare Ghulam Ali and Madam Noor Jehan, as well as Dr. Allama Iqbal and wrestler Rustame Zaman Gama Pehelwan are also being memorialised with plaques.
Lahore Sangat will be putting up plaques of 10 personalities in the Walled City on Sunday, 23rd February 2020, at 9 am. The meeting point is Food street, where all will be transported in Rangeela Rickshaws to the 10 sites within the Walled city.
It fills us with a sense of pride to see Lahore’s culture being honoured and recognised in all these different ways, especially while sticking to their roots and not letting the work of these esteemed personalities get lost in translation. The fact that Lahore Sangat are honouring them and highlighting the beauty and cultural imporantace of the Walled City of Lahore is commendable and we hope to see more and more of it.