Islamabad (TDI): The federal government on Thursday announced a countrywide public holiday on November 9 to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan, a notification issued by the Cabinet Division notified.
Born on November 9, 1877, in Sialkot, Iqbal was a distinguished poet, a scholar, a gifted philosopher, and Pakistan’s ideological founder.
Noted as a first politician who articulated the two-nation theory at the Allahabad session of the Muslim League in 1930. It was his wisdom and deep insight that ultimately led to the creation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947.
He is not only known in Pakistan or Asia but also revered worldwide, he is also known as poet of the east.
Iqbal Day was on the calendar of national public holidays for long in Pakistan, but the interior ministry, through a circular issued in 2015, announced the cancellation of the day as an annual holiday without showing a reason.
Read More: German Ambassador’s message on Iqbal Day
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government restored the holiday again. It was a circular that was referred in the fresh notification.
As notified vide Cabinet Division’s circular No. 10-02/2023-MM-II dated 20th December 2023, listing Public and Optional Holidays for the year 2024, Saturday, November 9, 2024, shall be a public holiday throughout the country on the occasion of Allama Iqbal Day, the notification by the division read.
According to the daily ‘Dawn’, PM Shehbaz had also constituted a committee to highlight the work of the national poet — desiring that a programme be arranged to highlight the life, work, and philosophy of Dr Iqbal through the month of November.
Also Read:Eid Miladun Nabi 2024: Govt Announces Public Holiday on Sept 17
A changing of the guard ceremony at the mausoleum of Dr Iqbal outside Lahore’s Badshahi Masjid traditionally kicks off the events scheduled for the day, it added.
