Iqbal’s poetry embodies message of action, continuous struggle: Pervaiz

LAHORE, Nov 9 (APP): Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting
and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid Monday said the 9th November
is the day to exhort the nation to action being the birth anniversary of
Allama Muhammad Iqbal whose poetry embodies the message of action and continuous struggle.
He was addressing the “Youm-e-Iqbal” ceremony here under the
auspices of Aiwan-e-Iqbal Complex to commemorate the birth anniversary
of Poet of the East who had conceived the idea of a separate homeland
for Muslims of the Sub-continent.
He said that action was the most vital ingredient of Allama Iqbal’s
poetry. Abundance of poetic allusions in Iqbal’s poetry was enough to
prove that he was poet of action and not thought only.
The Information Minister said that inaction and lethargy
could not be the message of the “Dreamer of Pakistan”, Iqbal,
whose poetry personifies action. A public holiday
deprives the nation of Iqbal’s vision of waging continuous
struggle to conquer mind and thought of the world, he added.
“November 9 is the day to convey Iqbal’s message of
action, acquiring knowledge and searching new vistas of
science and technology to the children,” Pervaiz Rashid said.
He said it was the need of the hour to work extra hours
as Pakistan lagged behind others in the field of science and
technology. Muslims were inheritors of the fountainheads of
knowledge and wisdom, but “we have not been able to take as
much advantage of the boons.”
The minister said,”We, as a nation, should be
sleepless and work more; rest a little and traverse more
in order to rub shoulders with the nations which have benefitted
from the philosophy and poetry of Allama Dr Muhammad Iqbal.”
Pervaiz Rashid said that there might be difference of opinion
on the point of a public holiday or no holiday, to commemorate
the birth anniversary of Iqbal, but both groups had one purpose –
to disseminate the message of Iqbal to the younger generations.
He said the educational institutions had been kept open
on 9th November in order to apprise the children of the universal
message of Iqbal, his thought and philosophy.
Punjab Governor Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana, Jamaat Islami
Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq, Allama Iqbal’s grandson Muneeb Iqbal,
writers, intellectuals and senior journalists including Sajjad
Mir, Auriya Maqbool Jan, Mujeeb ur Rehman Shami and Chairman
Aiwan e Iqbal Complex Arif Nizami also spoke on the occasion.