LHC moved to re-declare Iqbal Day as public holiday

The application filed in the LHC has nominated federal and provincial governments as respondents

Lahore High Court was moved on Tuesday to re-declare Iqbal Day as a public holiday, years after the government stopped announcing a day-off to commemorate the poet’s birthday.

Iqbal day is celebrated every year as a tribute to poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal, who was born on Nov 9, 1877 in Sialkot. It was in 2015 that the then Interior Ministry abolished the public holiday on November 9.

The application filed in the LHC has nominated the federal and provincial governments as respondents on the matter of declaring Iqbal Day as a public holiday.



It further said that a similar petition filed earlier is also still pending before the court. The application sought early hearing of the matter so that this year a public holiday is declared on November 9.

Last year, Interior Ministry said it was the prerogative of the provincial governments to announce the public holiday. After this, the Sindh government declared that all public and private schools across the province will remain closed on account of Iqbal Day with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government also following suit.