A statue of renowned poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal (commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal) was recently put up a sculpture at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Pakistan's Lahore, and let's just say... it didn't have the most impeccable resemblance to the poet.
The statue at Lahore's Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park | Via Twitter
A section of netizens have pointed out that it looks nothing like him at all. In fact, some even went on to say that it is an insult to the poet, philosopher, lawyer, theorist and politician behind Islamic political and spiritual revivalism.
Naturally, Pakistani Twitter was not too happy about it either. The day saw several users taking to the microblogging website only to post pictures of the sculpture with captions suggesting that it is "photoshopped" and demands that it be removed.
"I strongly demand to remove this. It is an insult to Allama Iqbal, and get it done by a professional sculpture," a user contributed to the discussion.
Iqbal, whose poetry in Urdu and Persian is considered to be among the greatest of the modern era, was from Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan).
He is also credited with having the vision of an independent state of the Muslims of North West British India and behind the inspiration to create Pakistan.
The sculpture was unveiled on Pakistan's 73rd Independence Day on August 14, 2020. However, local media has reported that it was not sculpted by professionals but "out of love" by gardeners of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park as a tribute to the renowned poet.
Recent reports suggest that the Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province has ordered the removal of the sculpture following the unabashed criticism and ridicule from netizens.
