{
  "id": 18326467,
  "title": "Govt announces public holiday on Nov 9 for Iqbal Day",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/govt-announces-public-holiday-on-nov-9-for-iqbal-day-18326467",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-05T14:53:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn",
    "slug": "dawn",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2042357/govt-announces-public-holiday-on-nov-9-for-iqbal-day"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Pakistani government has designated November 9th as a public holiday to honor the birth anniversary of Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, a distinguished poet, scholar, philosopher and the ideological founder of Pakistan. According to a notification from the Cabinet Division, the holiday will be observed nationwide on Monday, November 9th. Punjab also announced that the same day will be a public holiday, while the Sindh government declared that all public and private schools in the province will be closed on November 9th to commemorate Iqbal's 149th birth anniversary. The State Bank of Pakistan has also announced a closure on Monday to coincide with the holiday. Iqbal, born in Sialkot in 1877, was instrumental in articulating the two-nation theory during the Muslim League session in Allahabad in 1930, which later led to the creation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947. Despite being a national public holiday for many years, it was briefly cancelled in 2015 but reinstated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government in 2022.",
  "summary": "The government has declared Nov 9 (Monday) a public holiday to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal, according to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Thursday. “Monday, Nov 9, shall be a public holiday throughout the country on the occasion of Allama Iqbal Day,” the notification said, referring to a circular issued in January by the Cabinet Division listing…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}