Exhibit highlighting Islamic heritage in Hungary opens

Speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf inaugurated the exhibition titled Islamic Architectural Heritage in Hungary, at the Parliament House on Tuesday.

The exhibition is the first-of-its-kind jointly organised by the Hungarian embassy in Islamabad and the National Assembly to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Constitution of Pakistan.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Mehnaz Akbar Aziz, Head of Pakistan-Hungary Parliamentarians group, Ambassadors, High Commissioners, former ministers and senators also attended the event. A large number of members of the civil society thronged to the event in order to enrich their knowledge of the Islamic Architectural Heritage of Hungary.

The Speaker National Assembly in his speech said Hungary became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1526 after Suleiman the Magnificent defeated the Hungarian Royal Army. It is just a coincidence that it happened in the same year when Mughal emperor Babur invaded the northern part of the Subcontinent as a result of the first battle of Panipat.

He added Hungary was different from other parts of the Ottoman Empire not only for economic and social but for cultural reasons as well. In fact, the Ottomans never succeeded in strengthening their power in Hungary during the 150 years of the occupation of the country.

Ashraf declared relations between Pakistan and Hungary as excellent and hoped these relations would grow further even in the days to come. He thanked the Hungarian ambassador and the Embassy for arranging the exhibition. He hoped that both countries would be able to further expand cooperation in the field of culture and art as well.

Ambassador of Hungary Bela Fazekas in his speech said he was happy to co-host the important event along with the National Assembly secretariat. He hoped through the exhibition people would get information about the Islamic Architectural Heritage of Hungary.

The ambassador said although most buildings which were redesigned as mosques lost their Ottoman character after transforming them back into Christian churches, newly built mosques were conserved better. For example, the Malkoc Beg Mosque at Sklos was renovated in the 1990s and subsequently won the Europa Nostra prize in 1993.

‘After the Yugoslav wars, when a small group of Muslims moved into the area the mosque once again began functioning. At Szigetvar where Suleiman died and the place where his organs were buried, was a popular Islamic pilgrimage site whose exact location was lost to time.’ he added.

Mehnaz Akbar Aziz, Head of Pakistan-Hungary Parliamentarians group said Pakistan and Hungary enjoy excellent relations, adding these relations were on the move. She thanked the Hungarian government for increasing the number of scholarships for Pakistani students from 200 to 400.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2023.