After a decade-and-a-half-long gap, the water fountain at the historic Iqbal Maidan has been restored, marking the start of a significant revitalisation of this historic landmark.
Once an open quadrangle in the midst of the royal enclave, with a lone Khirni tree which earned it the sobriquet of Khinni Wala Maidan, this relic from the city's Nawabi past was later dedicated to polymath poet Iqbal.
The following decades saw the historic maidan host cultural activities like Mushairas and Qawwali nights, which came to an abrupt halt or moved elsewhere after such events were banned at the venue.
Though a revival of the maidan is being carried out as part of preparations for the Global Investors Summit, city residents hope that the Maidan, once adorned with a red sandstone boundary wall engraved with Iqbal's famous lines from Saare Jahaan Se Accha, will be restored to its earlier glory.
Iqbal, a close friend of Bhopal's last ruler Nawab Hamidullah Khan, visited the city several times. Historians say that the erstwhile princely state also provided him with a wazifa or scholarship to assist his research work.
The poet, however, remains a controversial figure, especially as one of his compositions was adopted by Pakistan as its national anthem. Critics, however, overlook the fact that Iqbal had died in 1938, a shade short of a decade before the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
