Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a public holiday for all private and public offices, as well as educational institutions, on May 28 as the nation marks Youm-e-Takbir.
According to the notification, all public and private institutions, including schools, will remain closed on Tuesday, May 28.
The notification, titled “Declaration of Public Holiday on the Occasion of Youm-e-Takbir,” stated, “In modification of Cabinet Division’s circular No. 10-02/2023-Min.II dated December 20, 2023, regarding public and optional holidays for the year 2024, the Prime Minister has been pleased to declare May 28, 2024, a public holiday throughout the country.”
Pakistan conducted nuclear tests on May 28, 1998, and the nation celebrates this day as Youm-e-Takbir to honor the achievement of invincible defense capabilities and to ensure regional stability through power equilibrium.
The nuclear tests made Pakistan the seventh nuclear nation in the world and the first Muslim state to have a nuclear arsenal in its defense stockpile.
Despite external pressures, the courageous decision by then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to conduct the tests ensured a strategic balance in the region.