We do not really need a holiday every November 9; what we do need is the revival of his message.
KARACHI: This is with reference to Iqbal Day, which fell yesterday on November 9. Iqbal, the poet of East, is the one who proposed the idea of Pakistan. Without doubting his immense contribution to the cause of the Muslims of the subcontinent, what I fail to understand is the logic behind observing a public holiday on his birth anniversary. How does this enhance the stature of the great poet?
We do not really need a holiday every November 9; what we do need is the revival of his message, his poetry and his agenda. In this regard, there is huge responsibility on our educational institutions to arrange programmes educating our youth about who Iqbal really was. He was not just a poet but the first person who formulated the two-nation theory in support of what would ultimately become Pakistan. My humble request to higher officials is that instead of declaring a holiday on his birth anniversary, they should arrange literature festivals on the Iqbal theme all over Pakistan and in other countries, too, so that our youth never forgets his exceptional poetry and ideas.
Syeda Noor usSaba
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2013.
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