Nation celebrates 145th birth anniversary of Dr Allama Iqbal with great zeal, enthusiasm

Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The 145th birth anniversary of the great poet and philosopher Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal was observed with national enthusiasm, traditional zeal and fervour across the country including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Wednesday.
The day dawn with special prayers at the mosques for the peace, national integrity, prosperity and development of Pakistan and eternal peace of all martyrs of the country including those Muslims, who laid down lives during Pakistan’s freedom movement.
The government had declared a public holiday in connection with the momentous day and all the federal and provincial government’s offices, schools and colleges were closed.
People from different walks of life paid glowing tributes to Dr Allama Iqbal for his unmatched contributions in terms of awakening and uniting Muslims to stand for the cause of acquiring a separate homeland, through his thought provoking messages and poetry.
An impressive change of guards ceremony was held at the mausoleum of Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal. A smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Navy clad in immaculate whites, assumed ceremonial guard duties with traditional spirit and enthusiasm.
The ceremonial guard mounting was followed by wreath laying at the mausoleum of the national poet by station commander (Navy) on behalf of the chief of the naval staff, officers, sailors and civilians of Pakistan Navy. Later, the station commander offered Fateha and recorded his impressions in the visitor’s book.
Special programmes were arranged by different literary, political, social, educational and cultural organizations to pay homage to Dr Allama Iqbal for his unmatched literary contributions and his role in character building of the entire Muslim Ummah.
Seminars, conferences, debate and poetry competitions and discussion programmes were arranged to highlight different aspects of poetry, thoughts and messages of Dr Allama Iqbal. Allama Iqbal is officially recognized as national poet of Pakistan and known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan, Shair-e-Mashriq and Hakeem-ul-Ummat.
His best literary work includes Asrar-e-Khudi, Payam- i-Mashriq, Bang-i-Dara, Bal-i-Jibril, Zarb-i-Kalim and Armughan-e-Hijaz.
Social media, Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp were the most prominent social media sites where this great scholar remained center of discussion and eulogized for his contributions, besides electronic and print media.