Online Desk: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Hurriyat leaders have paid rich tributes to the Poet of the East, Allama Muhammad Iqbal (RA), on his 149th birth anniversary, today.

In their messages issued in Srinagar, Hurriyat leaders said Allama Iqbal (RA) had stood firmly with the people of Kashmir in their struggle against Dogra rule and had awakened them through his powerful poetry.

They said Jammu and Kashmir was part of the homeland envisioned by Allama Iqbal (RA) for the Muslims. The Kashmiri people, they added, are continuing their peaceful struggle for their right to self-determination and remain determined to carry their freedom movement to its logical conclusion despite all hardships.

Hurriyat leaders said Allama Iqbal was not only a great poet and philosopher but also a visionary leader who instilled self-awareness, dignity and intellectual awakening among the Muslims of the subcontinent.