Allama Muhammad Iqbal Day Celebrations

The 133rd birthday of poet philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal will be celebrated on November 9 with customary enthusiasm and fervour across Pakistan with series of events, seminars and ceremonies.

The day will be a general public holiday and national flag will be hoisted on government and other important buildings. A traditional ceremony of change of guards will be held on Allama Iqbal’s ‘mazar’ in Lahore. People from all walks of life, political leaders, government officials and members of literary organisations will visit the ‘mazar’ to pay their respects to the Poet of the East and will offer ‘fateha’.

Allama Iqbal born in Sialkot on November 9, 1877 left a deep impact on the consciousness of Muslims and through his decades long poetic work in Urdu and Persian and then political struggle, he set a clear path for a state for Muslims.

Allama Iqbal envisioned the concept of Pakistan which was eventually translated into reality through the untiring efforts of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.Sir Syed Memorial Society in collaboration with Positive Pakistan would host 3rd Young Leaders Summit in Islamabad on November 9 to commemorate Iqbal Day.

The event will be held at Sir Syed Auditorium and over 500 youths will interact with experts on leadership, patriotism, citizenship and heroism in the daylong programme.National Language Authority (NLA) will hold a national dialogue ‘Fikr-e-Iqbal: Asar-e-Hazir key Tanazar Mein’ on November 8.

Television channels and radio stations will broadcast special programme to highlight various aspects of the personality of Allama Iqbal and his contribution for the welfare of Muslims of Indian sub-continent.

Schools, colleges and universities will hold debating contests and poetry competitions to make the younger generation familiar with the great poet’s literary work.Another feature of the day will be special exhibition of books and relics at Iqbal Museum Lahore, National Museum Karachi and Iqbal Manzil Sialkot.

Cinema houses will make arrangements to screen documentary films on Iqbal’s life. The academy of Lahore will arrange a book exhibition on the day.Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilization across the world, but specifically in South Asia; a series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.

One of the most prominent leaders of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal encouraged the creation of a ‘state in northwestern India for Muslims’ in his 1930 presidential address. Iqbal encouraged and worked closely with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and he is known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan (The Thinker of Pakistan), Shair-e-Mashriq (The Poet of the East), and Hakeem-ul-Ummat (The Sage of Ummah). He is officially recognised as the national poet of Pakistan.

In India, Iqbal is widely regarded for the patriotic song, ‘Saare Jahan Se Achcha’. In Afghanistan and Iran, where he is known as Eqbal-e-Lahoori (Iqbal of Lahore), and is highly regarded for his Persian works.