Brig (R) Mujahid Alam Principal, Lawrence College
Bismillah-Ar Rahman Ar Rahim. Honorable Ikram ul Majid Sehgal, Mrs. Sehgal, distinguished senior Gallians, GOC 12 Division, respected Staff and my dear young Gallians. Assalam o Alaikum, a very warm welcome to everyone, especially to our Chief Guest, Ikram Sehgal, Mrs. Sehgal, and Erum. As well as all the Senior Gallians who have found time to come to this simple and dignified function ceremony of the groundbreaking of the swimming pool. I am extremely grateful for your presence. Today is a day of great pride and excitement for Lawrence College. It is not just another milestone in the rich history of this institution but a step forward toward enhancing the overall development and well-being of our students. Please allow me to recount a bit of recent history, this is not the first act of generosity commitment and concern displayed by Ikram Sehgal for his Alma Mater. In 2014 he made a very substantial and significant contribution on an urgent emergency basis for the security of Lawrence College. He provided 10 trained and armed guards from his excellent security company, SMS, 27 shotguns, and excellent training for all our guards. All this support was provided completely free of cost and continued for 10 years until June 2024. Your contribution is not just a gift of brick and water, it is a gift that will provide future generations of Gallians the opportunity to develop skills that go beyond the classroom – skills of teamwork, resilience, and physical endurance. You have set an inspiring example of what it means to be a Gallian. This swimming pool will not only benefit our students and staff but also serve as a lasting testament to the bond that ties you to this institution. Through your act of kindness, you have enriched the lives of many and created a lasting legacy at Lawrence College.
Ikram Sehgal Co-Chairman, Pathfinder Group
Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ai Rahim, Brigadier Mujahid Alam, and all the senior Gallians who are present here, with the students of Lawrence College Senior School and Junior School faculty members. Of course, I must give my special thanks to the members of the Board of Governors and Lieutenant General Aamer Raza for taking the time to come here. And one cannot thank Major Irfan enough, I have been a personal witness to the amount of support that he has given at Lawrence College. I don’t want to talk about the turmoil we went through but I think we owe it to Lieutenant General Amir, Major Irfan, and all the other BOG members who stood by the faith. So, thank you! I take this occasion to thank you.
I would like to take special mention of General Hamid who has always been contributing to this college and Maj General West and my roommate Dr Asim. I think there’s a lot of history that we can go into, I don’t want to go into it. I’ll just tell you this during my time we were not that good academically but we used to excel in sports and excel in other fields. And really whether we went to the PMA, whether you went to Hockey, Athletics, or Cricket, we used to excel.
One thing we used to miserably lack was swimming. In fact, let me tell you that even some of our people who won the Swords of Honor and started as non-swimmers in the PMA. That was something that I always felt was lacking because swimming is something that really is different from all the other sports. It gives you something more than only an athletic sense, it also gives you a sense of recuperation. My only exercise now is a little bit of walking, but daily swimming – I swim daily and I realize how good it is both for the spirit and the soul and the body.
One of my closest friends was Shabir Sharif, Nishan Haider, and even though his younger brother Mumtaz was my classmate, Shabir was the one that you, the people did not know, even though Shabir was such an extrovert he was always wanting to die with bullets in his chest – which he ultimately did. But he was also a great intellectual people did not know this but he had to hide it. I asked, ‘Why did you hide it?’ He replied, “Hamare zamane mein bole ga k ye parhako hai, tou mein ye nahi chahta tha”. I have been blessed knowing two of his brothers, of course, Raheel grew up as a younger brother and two of his course mates are here, Kiyani and Adnan, I thank them also
