Islamabad
\nPresident Asif Ali Zardari has paid tribute to national poet Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal on his 149th birth anniversary, saying his poetry awakened people to their dignity, rights and power to shape their own destiny.
\nIn his message on Iqbal Day, the President said Iqbal provided intellectual direction to the aspirations of the Muslims of the Subcontinent, while his poetry also reflected the wider human struggle for freedom, equality and a life of self-respect.
\nHe said Iqbal envisioned a society where wealth, privilege and inherited status would not determine an individual\u2019s worth or opportunities.
\nHis poetry challenged exploitation, called for the awakening of the poor and upheld the dignity of labour.
\nPresident Zardari said Iqbal\u2019s vision called for building a Pakistan where workers received fair wages, farmers enjoyed the fruits of their labour and every child had equal opportunities for education and progress, regardless of family background, gender or faith.
\nHighlighting the concept of Khudi, the President said it represented the development of a confident, purposeful and responsible individual through knowledge, hard work, courage and strength of character. A person conscious of their own dignity must also respect the dignity of others, he added.
\nHe said national self-respect required the ability to make independent decisions, develop national strengths and engage with other countries on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
\n\u201cFor me, fidelity to Iqbal\u2019s vision means building a Pakistan where no citizen\u2019s dignity is diminished by poverty, no child\u2019s future is limited by birth, and our nation stands among others with confidence and self-respect,\u201d the President said.
\nHe observed that Iqbal\u2019s poetry also carried a powerful message of Asia\u2019s awakening, urging its people to overcome subjugation, regain confidence and become architects of their own future.
\nReferring to the emerging Asian century, President Zardari said its promise must extend beyond economic growth to include freedom from hunger, access to knowledge and opportunities, and respect for national sovereignty.
\nHe said Pakistan must contribute to this vision through education, scientific progress, regional cooperation and peace.
\nThe President also recalled the contributions of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, saying they gave voice to people deprived of influence and opportunities and affirmed their right to participate in national life.
\nHe said their democratic tradition could be honoured by strengthening institutions, protecting equal citizenship and ensuring that development improved the lives of the majority.
\nOn Iqbal Day, President Zardari urged young people to draw inspiration from Iqbal\u2019s poetry, promote a spirit of inquiry and develop their critical thinking abilities.
\nHe called for translating Khudi into confidence rooted in knowledge, national self-respect into hard work to transform Pakistan into a developed and strong nation, and the ideal of equality into justice in everyday life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad President Asif Ali Zardari has paid tribute to national poet Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal on his 149th birth anniversary, saying his poetry awakened people to their dignity, rights and power to shape their own destiny. In his message on Iqbal Day, the President said Iqbal provided intellectual direction to the aspirations of the Muslims …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":105260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105639,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105605\/revisions\/105639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}