LAHORE: Lahore Sangat continued commemorating iconic personalities who lived and worked in Lahore, contributing to the rich heritage of the city, by installing plaques to honour their contribution here on Sunday.

The informal group started the activity by installing a plaque for Faiz Ahmed Faiz at the place of his residence on Empress Road. Plaques were also installed to honour Mian Iftikharuddin, founder of the daily Pakistan Times, Satnam Mahmood, leading woman broadcaster and educationist and writer and dramatist Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj.

The plaques were mounted on locations associated with these personalities in the vicinity of Empress Road, Abbot Road and Nisbet Road.

Lahore Sangat is an informal group of Lahoris that holds different events to pay tributes to the extraordinary residents of the historic city by mapping where they lived and worked by installing distinctive blue plaques in their memory. These exceptional individuals include painters, writers, poets, journalists, architects, master craftsmen, wrestlers, storytellers, actors, jurists, designers, doctors, philanthropists, saints, mystics, musicians, singers, freedom fighters, dancers etc.

According to the group’s founders, the objective of installing these plaques is not only to honour these exceptional personalities, but also to create awareness among people and instill a sense of pride in them regarding the significance of the localities and neighborhoods where they lived.

Residents of Lahore who can research, recommend names and contribute to the cost of the plaques qualify for Lahore Sangat’s informal membership, they say.

Lahore Sangat plans to install 100 more plaques in the city with the cooperation of citizens of Lahore.

The group installed a plaque for poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz at the house where he lived near Shimla Pahari, Empress Road, for writer Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj at 40-Abbot Road, where he lived from 1947 to 1975, for educationist and broadcaster, Satnam Mahmood at Radio Pakistan, PTV buildings, where she worked from 1960s to 1980s, for progressive politician and founder of the daily Pakistan Times Mian Iftikharuddin at Pakistan Times office (where he worked from 1947 to 1996), where another plaque was also installed for Faiz Ahmed Faiz as he worked there as editor from 1947 to 1951.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2021