Adding to his increasing list of factual errors, erroneous attributions and geographical fumbles, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday misquoted national poet and philosopher Allama Iqbal but was quick to admit his mistake after it was pointed out on social media. Taking to micro-blogging website Twitter earlier today, the prime minister shared the following image to his nearly 12 million followers.

“This poem by Iqbal reflects how I try to lead my life. I urge our youth to understand and absorb the poem of the great Iqbal and I guarantee them that it will release their great God-given potential that we all possess as His greatest creation Ashraf ul Mukhluqat,” he tweeted along with the image.

Twitter users were quick to point out the mistake telling the premier to fact-check before posting anything on social media, with “Iqbal” becoming a top trend on Twitter in Pakistan.

Former ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani said that the quote was not from Iqbal or any of his book.

“Not every Whatsapp message is to be believed,” was the rejoinder from journalist Naila Inayat.

Others were quick to jump on the bandwagon and heap ridicule on the premier for the mistake.

Journalist Hamid Mir, meanwhile, pointed out that the poem was penned by Assad Maroof.

Others pointed out that anyone acquainted with Iqbal’s work would know that the poem wasn’t among his works due to the style and diction used.

Later, after realising the mistake, PM Imran posted another tweet, saying that the poem he earlier posted was not Iqbal’s but the message in it was what he stood by and followed.

This is the latest in a spate of faux pas for the prime minister who has previously attributed a quote by Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore to Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Jibran.

PM shared the quote saying: “I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that life is all joy.”

He then wrote that those who understand Jibran’s words are able to live a life of contentment.

Before that, the premier infamously mixed up France with Japan while giving an example of how the country set up joint industries in the border region to bolster economic ties with Germany.

“The more trade you have with each other your ties automatically become stronger… Germany and Japan killed millions of their civilians until after the Second World War when they both decided to have joint industries on their border regions,” he said while speaking at an event in Tehran.

In December 2018, he referred to Africa as an “emerging country” in a speech during the Envoys Conference on Economic Diplomacy.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2236958/1-pm-misquotes-iqbal-admits-mistake-social-media-backlash/