‘Pakistanis need inspiration from Iqbal to overcome identity crisis’

Commemoration of Allama Iqbal is as a vital need as today’s Pakistan needs his inspiration. This was stated by the Pakistan Woman's Foundation for Peace Chairperson (PWFFP) Nargis Rahman in a statement issued in connection with Iqbal Day that was observed on Saturday.

She said Iqbal was not a historical past as being the originator of the idea of Pakistan, he was a vital living presence. He said Iqbal could re-inspire the lost Pakistani generation facing a serious identity crisis after 77 years of the creation of Pakistan.

Iqbal’s vision for a homeland for the Muslim of the subcontinent seemed an impossible fantasy for the Muslims of the early 20th century as they were backward, ill-educated, economically depressed, and colonised both mentally and physically, she said.

She added that during that state of low self-esteem and hopelessness, Iqbal propounded a theory of an independent state for the Muslims of the subcontinent in 1930 and his idea was mocked by the Indian leadership of that time. Nine years after his death his vision became a reality as Pakistan was born in 1947.

The PWFFP chairperson said Iqbal’s works had been translated into major languages of the world and he was respected both in the East and the West on the basis of his scholarship, poetry and philosophy that transformed both the Muslims and the map of the subcontinent.

She said that what must be emphasised is that it is not only the poetry and philosophy of Iqbal that should be studied but his life and the evolution in his personality as well. She said most of Iqbal’s work was addressed for the youth.

The PWFFP had been organising inter-university elocution competitions since 2000 to offer university students a platform of expression on subjects of national importance that touch upon their present and future, Nargis said, adding that in 2013, the elocution competition was changed into commemoration of Iqbal — his life and mission — as the PWFFP felt there was a huge deficit in the knowledge of our youth regarding how Pakistan came into being.