Athar Abbasi, in his presidential address, called for following Allama Iqbal's mission and vision to solve the issues Pakistan faces.
Chief guest Irfan Hashmi, president of Majlise Allama Iqbal, said the establishment of Pakistan as a true Islamic state was Iqbal's dream. “However, in the past 62 years, we failed to achieve any milestone as we did not follow his message,” he added. He also condemned the dissolution of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) and demanded it should not be abolished or its role curtailed by reducing its budget.
Community leaders Agha Mohammad Akram, Hamid Islam Khan, Tariq Mahmood and Syed Shahabuddin spoke about Iqbal's rich poetry and referred to the awakening he kindled among the subcontinent's Muslims to seek a homeland for themselves.
PRC convener Syed Ehsanul Haque said, “While remembering Allama Iqbal, we should commit ourselves to the goals set by the great poet and Quaide Azam for the establishment of an Islamic welfare state. Today, we have ethnic, parochial, religious and linguistic groupings, which have created serious issues like ignoring the rights of stranded Pakistanis.”
Renowned poets Syed Mohsin Alavi, Athar Abbasi, Abdul Qayyum Waseq and Gule Anwar recited poems in tribute to Allama Iqbal.
The meeting passed resolutions calling for solving the issues of stranded Pakistanis and Kashmir, and condemned the dissolution of the HEC.