Zardari and Shehbaz mark Iqbal Day with calls for equality and unity

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued separate messages on Monday for the 149th birth anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, calling for equality and national unity, and the prime minister announced a year-long commemoration of the poet that will run until 9 November 2027.

Zardari said Iqbal had envisioned a society in which wealth, privilege and family background would not decide a person's worth or opportunities, and that every citizen should have equal rights regardless of gender, religion or social circumstances. He said Iqbal's poetry awakened people to their dignity and their ability to shape their own future, challenged exploitation, spoke for the poor and upheld the dignity of labour. Fair wages for workers, protection for farmers and equal education for every child were, in his account, the practical requirements of an egalitarian Pakistan.

The president said Iqbal's idea of khudi, or selfhood, was built through knowledge, hard work, courage and character, and urged young people to draw on the poetry, think critically and help build the country. Daily Times reported that he also asked academic institutions to promote scholarly inquiry, and said national self-respect required Pakistan to take independent decisions while strengthening itself politically and economically at home.

Shehbaz's message set out a commemoration running from 9 November 2026 to 9 November 2027, with international conferences, academic seminars, research events, literary festivals, exhibitions, educational competitions and cultural programmes. Minute Mirror carried the dates. He said Iqbal awakened political awareness among the Muslims of the subcontinent and helped them recognise a distinct national identity that fed into the struggle for an independent homeland.

The prime minister said the government would make Iqbal's philosophy part of educational institutions, national discussion and development policy, and that intellectual awakening and character building should stay central to national priorities. He said Pakistan would keep promoting unity among the Muslim Ummah and support peaceful solutions to international disputes.

Both leaders asked the public, and young people in particular, to turn Iqbal's ideas of equality, self-respect, unity and progress into action. Daily Times reported that public sector organisations held seminars on the poet's contribution to constitutional rights and social equity, and that civil society groups took part in observances in provincial capitals and educational centres.