Kolkata, Sep 2 (IANS): A host of national and international scholars would participate in a three-day seminar here to mark the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Organised by the Iran Society in association with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), the seminar, beginning Sep 12, will also witness the staging of a play on the country's first education minister by renowned thespian Tom Alter.

"The seminar to be inaugurated by Vice President Hamid Ansari, will witness a host of scholars from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who will deliberate on Azad's ideals of nationalism and their relevance in today's India," said Iran Society president P.M. Chopra.

Iran Society general secretary Mansoor Alam said four scholars from Pakistan including Abu Salman Shahjahanpuri of Abul Kalam Azad Research Institute, Karachi and three from Bangladesh including Dhaka university professor Kamaluddin Ahmed would participate in the seminar and submit research papers.

Speaking on the occasion, former West Bengal assembly speaker and Iran Society patron H.A. Halim said the seminar was aimed at highlighting Azad's ideals of nationalism and secularism.

"Despite his immense contribution to the nationalist movement and in the fields of education and secularism, Azad has remain unsung. This seminar is an effort to highlight his ideals of secularism," he said.