Addressing the conference “Application of Iqbalian Vision to the 21st Century”, former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said that he attaches special importance to peace in Afghanistan for the attainment of lasting peace in Pakistan. He added that Muhammad Iqbal instructed spiritual leaders to come out of the shrines and take charge of the leadership of the nation.
Sahabzada Sultan Muhammad Ali of the house of the Sufi saint Hazrat Sultan Bahoo (RA) and founding father of the Muslim Institute said Iqbal was not for a certain era but his teachings would always perform the obligation of guiding the followers of the faith of the Holy Messenger (SAW). He added that Iqbal’s ideology of freedom was the foundation of the ideology of Pakistan.
If Pakistan’s decisions were made in Islamabad instead of being dictated from elsewhere, that would be the Pakistan of Iqbal, he stated.
Addressing the conference, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chairman Raja Zafar ul Haq said that many events would be organized in relation to the commemoration of the birth of Iqbal, but there was no parallel to the qualitative academic discourse found at the present conference.
He said Iqbal’s theory of unity required absolute knowledge for the achievement of unity. The revolutions in Iran and Egypt had also been inspired by the thinking of Iqbal. Muslim youth from Morocco to Pakistan were being drawn to Islamic thought and it was only Iqbal’s teachings that had proved to be a source of guidance for them, he added.
Former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General (DG), General (r) Hamid Gul said that the Afghan nation comprised of brave people according to the views of Iqbal and that was why they had defeated super powers five consecutive times. Iqbal’s thought would always live on because it was based on Quranic thought which would live forever, he added. The coming system would be an Islamic system with Pakistan as its guardian because Islam was part of the meaning of Pakistan, he observed.
Expressing his views, Senator Akram Zaki commented that the Muslim Institute taking up the cause of Iqbal was a highly appreciable purpose, adding that our youth was being lost to the misuse of mobile phone packages. He said that Iqbal’s philosophy could bring us back to a path of progress.
