Pakistan Postage Stamps - 1997: The Year of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Creation of Pakistan ~ My Philatelic World

The Year 1997 was a year to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the creation of Pakistan as carved out of the British India on 14th August 1947. To befittingly commemorate the occasion, Pakistan Post issued a beautiful set of four stamps on 14th August honouring the four stalwart Muslim leaders of the time who made it possible to obtain independence for the majority of Muslims living in the British India.

On top right corner, the stamp bears the portrait of Dr (Ph D) Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the poet philosopher and politician, who dreamed of an independent Muslim country and invited Mr Muhammad Ali Jinnah (top left) to leave Indian Congress and join All India Muslim League and lead the movement for attainment of his dream. Mr Jinnah then along with leading Muslim notables and politicians like Liaquat Ali Khan (bottom right, who later became the first prime minister of Pakistan) and many others, in the honour of whom a number of stamps have been already issued in the Pioneer of Freedom Series stamps since 1990, and forced the British to create Pakistan once it seemed inevitable that the End to British Empire in British India has finally nearing. And o 14th August 1947, Pakistan was created as an independent Muslim country.

Mohtarma (Lady) Fatima Jinnah (bottom left), younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah stood side by side his brother and spearheaded the movement leading the Muslim women section of the All India Muslim League. After the independence of Pakistan, Jinnah co-founded the Pakistan Women's Association which played an integral role in the settlement of the women migrants in the newly formed country. She continued to play an active role in the politics of Pakistan till her demise.

Rest of the stamps issued in the year are as under:

13. February: Poets of Pakistan Series - Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Faiz Ahmed Faiz (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984) was a Pakistani leftist poet and author, and one of the most celebrated writers of the Urdu language. Among other accolades, Faiz was nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature and won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962. His work remains influential in Pakistan literature and arts. Faiz's literary work was posthumously publicly honoured when the Pakistan Government conferred upon him the nation's highest civil award, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, in 1990. [Wikipedia]

23. March: Special Summit Conference of Organization of Islamic Countries, Islamabad

8. April: The 660th Anniversary of the Birth of Timur, 1336-1405

Muhammad Iqbal and Jalal ud-Din Rumi are two prominent poets of Pakistan and Iran. On 21. April, Pakistan and Iran issued a joint set of stamps and an FDC honouring the two great poets of Persian language.

The joint stamps issued by Iran

8. May Fruits of Pakistan Series - Malus domestica (Apple)

11. July: World Population Day

29. July: The 40th Anniversary of International Atomic Energy Agency Organization or IAEA

Continuing with the series of stamps on Pioneers of Freedom, a set of two stamps was issued on 14th August to honour two of the pioneers of freedom: Ms Salma Tassduq and M. Ayub Khuroo.