LAHORE: The Annual Iqbal Conference marking the 142nd birth anniversary of the national poet was held here on Saturday.
The conference was arranged by Aiwan-e-Iqbal Complex and the Markazi Majlis-e-Iqbal and was presided over by the chairman of the Aiwan e Iqbal Complex, senior journalist and anchorperson Arif Nizami.
Federal Minister for Education, National History and Literary Heritage Shafqat Mahmood and Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Dr Niaz Ahmed Akhtar were chief guests at the occasion.
While speaking at the conference, Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood said, “We owe our freedom to Allama Iqbal as he envisioned a free country for Muslims of South Asia,” adding that minorities were suffering in India while Pakistan was experiencing a period of communal harmony.
The federal minister said that Iqbal paved the way for forward-thinking among Muslims of the subcontinent.
Shafqat Mahmood further said that the federal government is working towards developing a uniform curriculum for all students in the country.
“We will not allow the current education system to sow social divisions among the people. We will devise a singular educational system for both government and private schools as well as madrassas; this I believe is in line with Iqbal’s thinking,” the federal minister said.
Vice-Chancellor of Punjab University, Dr Niaz Ahmed Akhtar said that Iqbal was a revolutionary thinker who was way ahead of his times.
“Iqbal knew several different languages such as Persian, Urdu, Arabic, and English among other; he was established in India’s literary and political circles during his day and his philosophy revolved around the teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the tenets of Islam,” Dr Niaz said, adding that Iqbal’s “teachings served as a role model for us.”
Dr Niaz further said that it was unfortunate that national institutions such as the railway and PIA had gone bankrupt.
He said that a singular educational system for all people regardless of class and stature would serve the country well and help eradicate social inequality, adding this would “transform the country into the vision of Allama Iqbal.”
Veteran journalist Orya Maqbool Jan said that Iqbal had produced the two-nation theory which was rejected by the “Nagpur scholars of his times who” were not willing to concede a separate state for the Muslims of India.
He said that Iqbal strongly held on to his beliefs in the face of growing opposition. He said that while Iqbal espoused the two-nation theory, Indian nationalists who opposed him carried the mantle of secularism; “But after 70 years, India’s faux secularism has been exposed and the country has come to openly endorse the virulent Hindutva ideology,” he said.
Chairman of the Awain-e-Iqbal Complex, Arif Nizami said that Iqbal’s philosophy was built upon his devotion to Allah and his love for the Holy Prophet (PBUH). He said that Iqbal reinvigorated the spirit of Islam among Muslims which allowed them to fight for their rights.
Renowned scholar Ahmed Javed said that negating Iqbal’s message and ideology is tantamount to anti-national and anti-religious sentiment.