Iqbal Day: November 9 declared a public holiday across Pakistan

The federal government has declared Monday, November 9, a public holiday across Pakistan to mark Iqbal Day, the birth anniversary of national poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The Cabinet Division issued the notification on Thursday, confirming that government offices, schools and banks will remain closed for the day.

A three-day weekend

November 9 falls on a Monday this year, so employees and students who already have Saturday and Sunday off will get three days in a row, from November 7 to 9. Offices, schools and colleges reopen on Tuesday, November 10.

Schools and banks closed

Sindh had already announced on Wednesday that all public and private schools across the province would stay closed on November 9, and the Punjab government has announced a public holiday in the province as well. The State Bank of Pakistan has also declared a closure for Monday, so there will be no banking transactions that day.

Iqbal’s 149th birth anniversary

The holiday marks the 149th birth anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, born on 9 November 1877 in Sialkot. He died in Lahore on 21 April 1938, aged 60, and is buried at Mazar-e-Iqbal in Hazuri Bagh, beside the Badshahi Mosque, where thousands of visitors pay their respects every day. Iqbal is revered in Pakistan as Mufakkir-e-Pakistan, the Thinker of Pakistan, and Shair-e-Mashriq, the Poet of the East.

A holiday that came back

Iqbal Day had been on the calendar of national public holidays for decades, until an interior ministry circular in November 2015 removed it as an annual holiday without giving a reason. It was put back on the list in the Cabinet Division’s annual holidays circular for 2026, issued in January — and Thursday’s notification has now confirmed it officially, ending any doubt about the day.