Josh Malihabadi : A Great Revolutionary Poet

KAAM HAI MERA BAGHAWAT

NAAM HAI MERA SHABAB

MERA NA’ARA INQUILAB-O-

INQUILAB-O-INQUILAB

(My function is to revolt and my name is youth. My slogan is revolution and total revolution.)

This couplet vividly symbolizes the revolutionary spirit of great poet, Shabbir Husan Khan, whose nom de plume is Josh. He throughout his life preached revolution and worked for it. He raised a banner of revolt against society, social, political and economic set up of the country and more over his family. He selected his own way, adopted his own principles and gave a new message to humanity.

 Born on December 5, 1898 in Malihabad (Oudh) in Uttar Pradesh, Josh had his early education in Husainbad, Lucknow and Aligarh and obtained his senior Cambridge diploma from St. College, Agra. He joined ‘DARUL TARJUMA’ in 1925, where he came in contact with well known writers, poets and scholars of his time.

Later, he moved to Delhi, where he was appointed to head a Government of India publication, Aaj Kal, a monthly magazine. He migrated to Pakistan around 1956 and was appointed there as a literary advisor to the Urdu Development Board. A pupil of a well known poet Aziz Lakhnawi, the first collection of his prose and poetical composition, Rooh-e-Adab, was published in 1920. He had written some fifteen books, some of which are  Shola-o-Shabnam, Ravish-o-Rang, Junoon-o-Hikmat, Saif-o-Subu, Yaadon Ki Barat and Shair Ki Raatein.

Josh spent the last year of his stormy controversial life of struggle in virtual oblivion in the Pakistani capital. A third generation poet in his family, Josh regretted till his death his migration to Pakistan, which attracted the wrath of fanatic Mullahs and the suspicion of the Military regimes of Pakistan. Even as early as December 22, 1955 Josh realised his mistake and even shared it with one of his friends in India, Diwan Singh Maftoon, an Editor of Riyasat weekly, expressing his unhappiness and worries as to what would happen to his wife and family after his death. 

Tall, well built, handsome with flowing hair, Josh, a Pathan had fiery temper but at the same time he was equally sentimental, especially in religius affairs.

Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad fired his revolutionary zeal. While freedom struggle inspired him, youth and beauty bewitched him. A versatile poet of his era, Josh equally dominated in Nazm and Ghazal, but preferred the former as better vehicle for giving expression to his feelings of revolutionary thought, patriotism and anti-colonialism. Though a scon of the feudal aristocracy, he identified himself with the toiling masses and the working class and preached communal harmony.

His ‘MARSIA’ (elegy) on the death of Mahatma Gandhi is considered a master-piece in Urdu poetry. He was equally adept in prose writing of which ROOM-i-ADAB and YADON KI BARAT, a biographical account, are the best specimens. The latter became controversial though it was regarded as a trend setter in prose writing of those days.

Fond of good things of life, economic constraints took him to Bambay for a while, before he left for Pakistan in 1956. In Bombay, he wrote songs for films, some of which became hits, but literary critics accused him of “prostituting with his pen.”

Even in his age disregard for delicacy elegance colloquial usage of language courtesy and manners, Josh always regarded the Lucknow school as his bible. This is how he summed up this aspect of life :

TABIYAT  KHUSH  HUI  AE  HUMNASHIN

KAL  JOSH  SE  MIL  KAR

ABHI  AGLI  SHARAFAT  KE

NAMUNE  PAYE  JATE  HAIN.

Stung by allegations of being a traitor and an Indian agent, soon after eraching Pakistan, Josh gave a statement to a newspaper in Karachi declaring that he had decided to lead a solitary life so that nobody even know whether he was living or dead even if he had ever been a poet. He could not but mourn :

IN  BUZDILON  KE  HUSAN  PAR

SHAIDA  KIYA  HAI  KYON

NAMARD  KAUM  MEIN  MUJHE

PAIDA  KIYA  HAI  KYON

(Why have you made me enamoured of the beuty of these cowards. Oh! why have you given me birth in a race of impotents.) 

Fed up, he beseeched his friends in letters to pray to Allah to take away Josh from this world immediately. Yet he had once said

MUDATTON  ROYA  KARENGE

JAM-o-PAIMANA  MUJHEY

(For a long time to come, the goblet and the wine measure would bemoan my loss.)

One of the last of his genre, his contemporary and somewhat elder, Raghupati Sahai, well knkown as Firaq Gorakhpuri, has spoken highly of his poetry as well as the man himself. As for ability and contribution to literature, it was always too close to call. But at the mushairas (poetical symposia), Josh always recited his piece after Firaq, a sort of recognition of his seniority.

As Josh was from a family of the Taluqdars, this background left a lasting imprint on him. When P.C.Joshi, as Secretary General of  the Communist Party of India, was scouting for important Urdu poets to strengthen the cultural wing of the party, he cast his net as far as Josh, but inspite of his revolutionary ideas, he could never be cast in that role. He remained the feudal aristocrat till his death.  No doubt, he did compose highly rhetorical and powerful anti-colonial poetry during the freedom struggle, which earned him the title of Shair-i-Inquilab (Revolutionary Poet), a fact which brought him close to leaders like Mr. Nehru; but a factor that contributed towards sustaining this question may well have been a shared aristocratic demeanour.

Through his fiery poems against the British imperial rulers, Josh Malihabadi inspired the Indians in their fight for freedom and defence of the country.

[This article was written by my father Sh. Sham Dass Khanna about 20 years back.]

Firaq : The Poet of the totality of Love

Firaq : The Poet of the totality of Love
by Sham Dass Khanna

Dr. Gopi Chand Narang writes, “Firaq Gorakhpuri was a giant of poetry. To many, Firaq was one of the greatest poets of Urdu ranking next only to Mir Taqi Mir, Ghalib and Iqbal. He left a deep impress on Urdu poetry and inspired many generations of Urdu poets both in India and Pakistan. His poetry is marked by a lyrical quality and depth of feeling unparalleled in Urdu poetry.”

He prided in representing the Aryan mind in Urdu and made his Ghazal reflect Indianness. His verse echoed the finest shades of Indian culture, ancient, medieval and modern.”

Firaq defined poetry as a heightened awareness of the world and he showed this heightened awareness in his Ghazals and Nazams for nearly half a century. About his Ghazals, critic Niaz says, “He takes the top position among his contemporaries, the grace and texture of his verse are so pure and pleasing that we can rate it as the ultimate in intellectual delectation.”

Firaq was conscious of his primacy. Some days before his death, an interviewer asked what he thought of the statement that many considered him the greatest Urdu poet after Ghalib.” His reply was, “How can I say anything different from what others say about me?”

A bitter critic of Hindi, which he considered utterly incapable of being anybody’s language, Firaq was a great admirer of Ramayana and Mahabharata. He never accepted Tulsidas, Surdas or Kabir as Hindi poets. As for Hindi poets like Maithili Sharan Gupta, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala and Sumitranandan Pant, he said their language was crude and an ugliness made vocal.

Firaq was the trendsetter in impressionistic criticism. He rediscovered some of the classical Urdu poets through his articles in his analytical book ANDAZE which he considered as the first example of impressionistic AESTNETICAL criticism in Urdu literature. In his poetry, he was influenced by English poets like Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley and Byron as also by the “Shringar Rasa” of Sanskrit poetry. He inspired a whole generation of new poets in Urdu language. He was a romantist but his poetry also gave expression to the humanism of India as reflected in the various shades of the country’s culture. At the same time, Firaq considered English, the language he taught at the Allahabad University, the only medium which could bring the Indians in touch with the world.

The third son in the family, Firaq received conventional education like his brothers, sisters and cousins, but as he himself put it once, the legends, facts, songs and scenes affected him so intensely “that they often became unbearable with their power of joy or sorrow.” As a child, he was shy and wanted to “remain as unnoticed as a broom.”

In 1913, Raghupati Sahai Firaq came to Allahabad for college education. By this time, he was married. However, this marriage was a disaster, and he expressed his bitterness about it in a poem Hind (the cradle), which he wrote in 1960.

He graduated from the Allahabad University in 1918. Two years later, he was selected for the Indian Civil Services, from which he resigned to join Mahatma Gandhi in the freedom struggle. He did his M.A. in English from the Agra University in 1920 and became a lecturer in the Allahabad University. While teaching English, he started writing poetry in Urdu. Firaq’s forte was “Rubai”. He wrote with equal ease the Ghazal and the Nazam, which have been published in an anthology of 90 pieces in Gul-e-Nagma. The anthology brought him Jnanpith Award in 1969.

Firaq’s Ghazal shows that he first digested the tradition he inherited, and only then introduced the new dimensions of physical love. His poetry is not bound by the temporal but marked by the universal.

Here are some couplets of Firaq:
Orhni Uski Hawaein Hai Ke Taron Bhari Raat,
Kisi Ghunghat Hi Ko Sarkao Ke Kuchh Raat Katae.
(She is draped in the breezes or the star filled sky! Gently remove the veil, so that the night passes by.)

Kis Liye Kam Nahin Hai Dard Firaq
Ab To Who Dhyan Se Utar Bhi Gaye.

Tujhe To Haath Lagaya Hai Barha Lekin
Tire Khayal Ko Chhute Hue Main Darta Hun
(I have fondled you so many times, but I fear even to care the thought of you.)

Tum Mukhatib Bhi Ho Qarib Bhi Ho
Tum Ko Dekhun Ke Tum Ko Pyar Karun
(You are attentive, and you are close. Shall I look at you or speak to you?)
And now specimen of his quatains:-

Doshiza Ka Faza Mein Lahlahaya Hua Roop
Aaina-e-Subh Mein Jhalakta Hua Roop
Yeh Naram Nikhar, Yeh Sigil Dhaj Yeh Sugandh
Ras Mein Hai Kanwarepan Ka Duba Hua Roop.
(Against the immaculate air this understanding Beauty
In the mirror of the dawn, this shining beauty,
The soft glow, the elegant figure, the fragrtance
Steeped in the elixir of virginity, this Beauty.)

Hai Byahata Par Roop Abhi Kunwara Hai
Man Hai Par Ada Jo Bhi Hai Dishiza Hai
Who Mad Bhari, Mang Bhari, God Bhari
Kanya Hai Suhagan Hai Jagat Mata Hai.
(She is married, but her Beauty still is virgin
She is a mother, but all her charm is still untouched
She is joy-filled, her hair-part filled, her lap is filled
She is a daughter, a happy wife, mankind’s mother.)

In the words of Dr. Gopi Chand Narang, “Though this type of verse, both on the sematic and expression levels, Firaq introduced a new tenderness and new intimacy to Urdu lyric poetry. His sensuousness reminds one of Sanskrit literature. Obviously he has been influenced by Indian classical literature and the theory of Rasa, and one can make a stray of the parallels between the two. He seems to have the mind of modern man but the heart of an ancient Aryan, and he has separately said that he wanted to make his poetry the voice of the very soul of India. Under the impact of his verse, Urdu poetry gradually became more conscious of its Indian heritage. Firaq was a great advocate of Khari Boli Hindustani, which forms the common base for both Hindi and Urdu.” His compositions were a great source of inspiration and gave a new direction to urdu literature. He epitomized the highest form of patriotism, steadfastness and intellectual reliance.

Firaq belonged to a middle class Hindu Kayastha family. He joined Allahabad University as a lecturer in English Literature. He was never accorded Professorship so as not to burden him with chorus that would have detracted from his creativity. His lectures were more in the nature of conversations with his students, laced with his brilliant wit, ranging from Keats to Kalidas with dazzling virtuosity. This enormous range was part of Firaq’s repertoire till the very end.

Babu Jagjivan Ram : Messiah of the downtrodden

Babu Jagjivan Ram: Messiah of the downtrodden
- by Sham Dass Khanna

A doughty champion of the downtrodden and consistent adherent of the left of the center ideology, Mr. Jagjivan Ram was one of the political stalwarts of the post-independence era. A comparatively younger entrant in Jawaharlal Nehru’s interim government in 1946, Mr. Jagjivan Ram went on to be a cabinet minister for about three decades in successive Congress Governments and was a powerful figure in the party’s policy making circles. “Babuji” as he was known, branched off into what turned out to be none-too happy political venture, when he broke with Mrs. Gandhi and the Congress party towards the closing months of the Emergency. In the short-lived Janta Government, he came to occupy the position of Deputy Prime Minister, but his ambition of becoming the first Dalit Prime Minister, which he thought was his rightful due, eluded him.

Administrative ability and an element of luck characterized Mr. Jagjivan Ram’s stewardship of a number of ministries at the center ranging from Labour to Defence. In Parliament, he was a powerful debater, noted for skilful oratory, clarity of thought and a capacity to disarm rivals. He commanded a position of importance both in the Congress Party and in the Janta Party, although his own creation, the short lived Congress for Democracy (CFD), which later merged into Janta and subsequently became Congress (J), failed to mister a popular base. Whether in the Government or outside, Mr. Jagjivan Ram was one of the senior politicians who were regular visitors to the Central Hall of the Parliament. Journalists found him a friendly figure, which often gave them a valuable insight into the political processes without being indiscreet.

Born into a scheduled caste family on 5th April 1908 at Chandwa in Bihar, young Jagjivan faced social ostracism. He had to carry the cross of being a low caste all through his life. His primary education as in a village school, where he was exposed to caste discrimination. Jagjivan Ram got married at the tender age of eight in 1916 and in 1919 he had finished his upper primary education. In 1920, he joined the local mission school. Despite severe compartmentalization of the caste system, there was no stopping for Babuji from pursuing studies. The second decade of the 20th century was a period of hectic political activities in India. The Home Rule League, the Khilafat Movement and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre had instilled an unprecedented nationalistic fervor among the Indians. People were rallying around the leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya and Mahatma Gandhi in milions to drive the British out of the country. All this left a deep imprint on the young and formative mind of Babuji, who also was drawn towards the mainstream of the freedom struggle. In 1926, Babuji passed his Matriculation examination with flying colours. That year Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya happened to visit Arrah town in connection with the Khilafat Movement. Fired by nationalistic zeal, Babuji gave a forceful welcome address in honour of Malviyaji, who was immensely impressed by his ideas. Malviyaji invited him to pursue his higher studies in Banaras Hindu University. Accordingly, Jagjivan Ram joined the BHU and took up Social Studies. He also got a Birla Scholarship. In the BHU hostel, young Jagjivan found himself face to face with the monster of caste discrimination once again. Hostel servants refused to clean his utensils. Babuji was forced to rent own. But this was not the end of his troubles. When a barber refused to give him a haircut, Jagjivan launched boycott of all the barbers with the help of scheduled caste boys of the town. The six-month-long boycott made the barbers see reason and the issue was settled. This was the beginning of Babuji’s life-long crusade against untouchability.

He began his public life s an earnest worker fighting for the uplift of the Dalit community to which he belonged and participated actively in the freedom struggle. During the 1930 Congress Movement, he helped secretly in the circulation of leaflets and pamphlets about the movement. He offered individual satyagraha and was imprisoned for a year in December 1940. He was again arrested at Patna in August 1942 and detained during the Quit India Movement. After his release in October 1943 on medical grounds, he toured various provinces to strengthen the depressed classes organizations. He was the President of the All India Depressed Class League from 1936 to 1946.

In 1931, Babuji took his B.Sc. degree from Calcutta University. By early 1930, the struggle for independence had reached its zenith. This was the period when Mahatma Gandhi launched his Salt Satyagraha and Swadeshi Movement and the Indian National Congress adopted the resolution demanding Complete Independence for India at its Lahore session. Young Jagjivan was observing the Congress “satyagrahis’ counting arrest. He could not contain himself and resolved to devote himself wholeheartedly to the cause of the country’s freedom. In 1931, Gandhiji’s refusal to accept the statutory reservation of seats at the Round Table Conference irritated Babuji. He wrote a strongly worded letter to the Mahatma. Gandhiji’s secretary in reply said that Bapu regarded any kind of segregation as bad both for the upper caste and the harijans. During this time, an anti-untouchability league was set up which was later renamed as Harijan Sewak Sangh. By 1935, Mr. Jagjivan Ram had made up his mind to devote himself to the upliftment of the downtrodden.

Babuji’s family tried to influence him to join government service to be able to lead a more comfortable life, but he brushed all temptations aside and by early 1930, he had emerged as the most influential leader of the harijans in Bihar. During this period, Babuji came in contact with Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who later became independent India’s first President. The two shared common goal and views. Mr. Jagjivan made Bihar the launching pad for his crusade against untouchability. His steadfast devotion to the cause led to his appointment as the Secretary of the Bihar branch of the Harijan Sewak Sangh. Until mid-1930s, Babuji grappled with the plethor of social problems facing the have-nots. Following his differences with Thakkar Bapa, All India secretary of the Sangh, he resigned his post in 1935 and concentrated all his energies in his work of the depressed classes league.

In May, 1936 B.R.Ambedkar, another staunch fighter for the depressed classes, gave a call to his followers to denounce Hindu religion. However, Mr. Jagjivan Ram differed with him. His approach was nationalist. He said, “In the progress of the country lies our progress, in its salvation and in its emancipation our emancipation.”

His call to the depressed classes to remain in the mainstream of Indian National life and to strive for justice and equality within its ambit made Mr. Jagjivan Ram a force to reckon with. Babuji’s untiring efforts infused new life and vitality into the Depressed Classes League when the Congress decided to contest the Provincial Legislature Elections in 1937, the League announced that it would contest all the 15 Reserved Seats in Bihar. Beyond all expectations, it won all the seats. Mr. Jagjivan Ram’s nomination to the Bihar Legislature Council about a year earlier had initiated him into Parliamentary politics. And, in 1937, following his election to the Bihar Assembly, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary. In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, Congress ministries in all States decided to quit. Two years later, responding to Gandhiji’s call for Satyagraha and the Quit India Movement, Jagjivan Ram courted arrest and was in jail until 1943.

In 1946, the Congress again contested the elections to the Central and State Assemblies. Babuji was again elected but this time to the Central Legislative Assembly. And, when the Interim Government was formed on August 1, 1946, he joined the Central cabinet as Labour Minister. When India became independent, he was inducted into the Nehru Cabinet. From August 1947 to July 1979, he served as Cabinet Minister holding various portfolios except for a brief spell in 1963, when he resigned under the Kamaraj Plan. He rejoined the Cabinet when Mrs. Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister in 1966. He was Minister for Labour, Employment and Rehabilitation (1966-67), and then Minister of Food and Agriculture till 1970. In 1969, the Congress Party split. Babuji threw his weight behind Mrs. Gandhi and her faction and was elected President of the Party (1969-71). He was again inducted into the Union Cabinet as Defence Minister and Minister for Food and Agriculture till February 2, 1977, when he created a sensation by quitting the Congress Party and forming his own Party --- Congress For Democracy (CFD).

The sudden announcement on January 18, 1977 of a mid-term poll and lifting the emergency imposed on June 25,1975, filled the opposition parties with enthusiasm. These parties came together under the banner of Janta Party to contest the election. The mid-term poll, held in March 1977, gave a massive mandate to the Janta Party. The choice of the new Prime Minister posed a great hurdle, as there were two powerful contenders – Mr. Morarji Desai and Mr. Jagjivan Ram. Mr. Charan Singh also aspired to the high office but his indisposition stood in the way. He, however, lent his support to Mr. Desai, who became the Prime Minister. Both Mr. Jagjivan Ram and Mr. Charan Singh were designated Deputy Prime Ministers. Intra-party rivalries and inner bickering soon plagued the Janta Party, a conglomeration of Parties having diametrically opposite ideas. Driven by political and personal rivalries, the Janta Government fell before completing its term. Mr. Jagjivan Ram dissociated himself from the Janta in March 1980 and floated a Congress Party named after him. Later, he had been leaning towards the Congress (I).

In June 1986, this great leader of the depressed classes, as he was called, breathed his last. He remained a central figure till his death and was also an axis of the central politics in India.

Allama Iqbal : The Poet and Philosopher

(This article was written about 20 years back by my father, Sh. S.D. Khanna. At present he is serving as the News Editor in Daily Hind Samachar. In the field of journalism, he has the experience of almost 45 years. An M.A. in Urdu, he has keen interest in Urdu poetry and is himself also a poet in the language.)

Iqbal is probably the most quoted poet in world’s literary and intellectual circles. His admirers attach some sort of sanctity to his opinions and use his verses as arguments. Probably his most remarkable achievement was that he gave an abiding place to the teachings of Islam and patriotism in the hearts of the people. The language he used was one of rare beauty and charm. With its solid Islamic background, wealth of stirring phrases and telling epigrams, his verse can be memorized easily and recalled and reproduced effortlessly. Even moderately educated has a readily useable treasure of Iqbal’s wisdom on the tip of his tongue.

Allama Iqbal is the spokesman of reality. The limits of his poetry are unbounded and limitless. He used it as a source of his message, which he wanted to give to the nation. Iqbal was considerably influenced by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s thoughts. He sprang into prominence about the time of Sir Syed’s death. He studied the ups and downs of the culture of man very deeply. He dedicated Godly gift of his mind for only one work – spiritualism and patriotism. It was the only motive of his life. He lived for only this work. This work was to give message to the nation, which he gave in each and every way. He provided it with a philosophical and spiritual content and drove it deep into people’s consciousness.

To Allama Iqbal, we owe not only a poetry that stirs our soul and philosophy that serves us a clarion call for a dynamic life, but a message to his countrymen to fulfill their destiny as ordained for them in the Holy Qoran. For his exhortations, Allama Iqbal used the vehicle of poetry that he weaved with prophetic vision, religious, historical, psychological, social, cultural and political themes as if in a Kaleidoscope.

There are, indeed, countless facets of Iqbal’s message each replete with limitless truths, each capable of blazing a resplendent trail. But the quintessence of his message is best expressed in his own words in his lectures on “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam”. Iqbal says, “Humanity needs three things today – Spiritual interpretation of the universe, Spiritual emancipation of the individual and basic principles of a universal impart directing the evolution of human society on a spiritual basis.”

Sir Abdul Qadir said, “There are so many things which are alike between Galib and Iqbal. If I were a believer in the transmigration of soul, I would have remarked that Mirza Galib had great love for Persian and Urdu poetry. This love did not let his soul take rest in paradise and compelled it to transmigrate again in someone’s body to irrigate the garden of poetry and he was again born in Sialkot – a city of Punjab. He was named Iqbal.”

The couplets of Iqbal symbolize the true teachings of Holy Qoran. He says, “Know Thyself. Everything in this world belongs to you. Remove fear and intimidation from your hearts. Dive into seas. Fight with tides and strike with rocks, because life is not a bed of roses, but a battle field.”

Iqbal also made some very pertinent comments on the rising generation. “The youth,” he said, “had been largely captivated by western ideas and was impatient to put them into practice in their immediate environment, little realizing the incalculable damage that exotic ideologies had done in the land of their birth. In trying to evolve a nationhood of the western pattern, the countrymen would be wiping out of the brightest achievements of Islam. Iqbal led an unrelenting crusade against all forces of disruption from the beginning to the end. Apparently coming from an overused pen and a tired mind, his last Urdu work published in his lifetime, lashes out at all the major evils that would banish from the kind of society he was advocating. What he branded as forces of disintegration including colonialism, western education, indifference to religion etc. All of these are more or less closely inter-related political slavery, in Iqbal’s reckoning, is the main spring of all evils; it brings out the most sinister side of human nature warps and minds of the rulers and the ruled alike and dehumanizes vast segments of humanity. Western education changes our habit of thought and scale of valves, intellectual serfdom leads to indiscriminate adoption of alien wonts and usages. Immitation kills initiative and discourages independent thought and effort. Much of what he said constitutes the warp and woof of our thinking. His idealism is a force that goes deep into our mental and moral make up.

Iqbal is not a poet of insurrection but a poet of man’s awakening. With reference to Sir Abdul Qadir, it can be said, with confidence and without doubt that except elementary practice, he initiated writing in Urdu before beginning of the 20th century. In 1897-98, he was seen in poetical symposiums. He attended a meeting in which the renowned literary personalities participated. There, he recited his poem Himalaya that was published in the first issue of MAKHZAN, after some days. When Iqbal started composing couplets, Daag Dehlvi was in high esteems. By the efforts of Maulana Mohammad Hussain Azaad, the base of new poetry was prepared. The Hexameter (a verse which consists of six metrical feet) of Hali was becoming popular among the masses. Akbar Allahabadi, in his special way, was criticizing social and political problems. The speeches and writings of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan had done well in eradicating the darkness of minds and thoughts. Several religious movements had breathed their last. The light of the teachings of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Shah Wali Allah was quite new. The struggle for independence of 1857 had not vanished from the minds. Fifteen to twenty years had elapsed in coming into existence of the Congress. A great revolution was created in political and social life with the efforts of Surinder Nath Bannerji, Dada Bhai Naoroji, Sir Feroz Shah Mehta and Badr-ud-Din Tyabji. The roaring of Gokhale had shaken the foundations of the palaces of the government. Such was the background of mind when our world was feeling the necessity of a new culture. This was the environment when the spokesman of reality opened his eyes; he as totally of light saw the wall of India – “Himalaya”. At that time, he by making the Ganges a witness spoke lonely:
Jal Raha Hun Kal Nahin Parti Mujhe
(I am burning and find no peace and tranquility in anyway.)
Sone Walon Ko Jaga De
She’r Ke Aijaaz Se
Khirmane Batin Jalaa De
Shaula-o-Awaaz Se
(O poet! Rouse the people from sleep with the miracle of poetry. Set ablaze the internal nest by the voice of flame.)

Lahore, the legendary city of united Punjab, blossomed at the turn of the century into a new centre of knowledge and culture. A galaxy of writers, litterateurs and educationists appeared on the literary scene. Among them were Mohammad Hussain Azaad, a first rank writer known for the first authentic history of Urdu poets, Aab-i-Hayat; Tirath Ram Ferozepuri, a noted translator; Lala Hans Raj, the saintly Principal of the local D.A.V. College, who dedicated his services to the Arya Samaj and the cause of education; and Principal Hakim Ali of Islamia College – an embodiment of simple living and high thinking. There were also Lala Lajpat Rai, the firebrand nationalist and Sir Abdul Qadir, a legal luminary, philanthropist, humanist, editor and many more. They slowly but silently brought about renaissance in thought and literature in the province. More or less, it was the time when Home Rule League was founded. In the struggle of independence of country, the Congress, in accordance with the demands of the circumstances, was changing its own strategy. The day had not come yet, when from the platform of the Congress, an open challenge should have been given to British Imperialism. Gokhale was about to demand the reduction and annihilation of new colonialism. Our angel Poet, Iqbal, warns us:
Yeh Khamoshi Kahan Tak
Lazzte Faryaad Paida Kar
Zamin Par Ho Too Aur Teri
Sa’daa Ho Aasmano Mein
(O man! How long will your silence continue? You should reveal your hardships and create such a situation that your voice should go from earth to sky.)
Again,
Utho Meri Duniya Ke
Garibon Ko Jaga Do
Kakhe Umra’a Ke
Daro Deewar Hila Do
Jis Khet Se Dekhan Ko
Muyassar Nahin Rozi
Us Khet Ke Har
Khosha-e-Gandam Ko Jala Do
(Rise and rouse the poor of my world. Strike and shake the palaces of the rich. A field that does not give bread to the farmer should be burnt completely.)

One of the great forums of literary and religious gatherings in Lahore was Anjuman-e-Himayat-Islam, which had the avowed object of promoting the cultural, educational and social interests of the Muslims. The Anjuman provided a ready platform to Iqbal to recite some of his famous poems, like Nalaa-e-Yateem (orphan cry), a pathetic verse lamenting the pitiable condition of the Muslims. “Shikwa” (the complaint) written soon after Italy had grabbed Tripoli from the Turks, voices the grievances of the Muslims against their God. Khizr-e-Rah (The Guide), a poem unmasking and dissecting the European civilization and statesmanship and Talu-e-Islam (The Rise of Islam), in which the poet glorifies the vision of the rebirth of Islam, of which Mustafa Kamaal Pash’a coup in Turkey, was in his opinion, the promise to flourish.

His verse invariably succeeded in generating the right atmosphere of emotional upsurge. “Hindustan Hamara” his short poem of nine stanzas pointedly refers to the citizens of the sub-continent as Indians and India as their motherland. It chides communalists by saying that “Religion does not teach bigotry.” (Mazhab nahin sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna) One critic hails it as the best patriotic poem written by any Indian in modern times. The last two stanzas of the poem require a special significance:
Yunan-o-Misr-o-Roma Sab Mit Gaye Jahan Se
Ab Tak Magar Hai Baki Naam-o-Nishan Hamara
Kuchh Baat Hai Ke Hasti Mit’ti Nahin Hamari
Sadiyon Raha Hai Dushman Daur-e-Zaman Hamara.
(The civilizations of Greece, Egypt and Rome are dead and gone but the glory of India shines still. There must be something and some reason why we have not been wiped out of existence, despite the fact that for centuries the horrible winds have been blowing against us.)
Iqbal summed up for all times to come his and the nation’s emotions in lines of ineffable beauty and splendour.

Iqbal, the poet of world celebrity, played an important role in the history of the Indian Muslims. Though he supported the Liberal movement, he asked the liberal Muslims to be on guard so that the broad human principle, which Islam stood for, was not thrown in the background by emphasis on the nation and the race.

Iqbal described the European civilization as inhuman, rapacious, predatory and decadent. He even quoted such writers as Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Spengler and Karl Marx holding conflicting views to denounce in different aspects. He passionately attacked the European civilization in poems which are pearls of Persian and Urdu poetry. He was essentially a humanist and considered Islam as a religion of broadest humanism.

The Aligarh Movement, started under the leadership of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, played a significant role in bringing about awakening among the Muslims, especially among its middle classes. Chirag Ali, Syed Mehdi, Mustafa Khan, Khuda Bakhsh, Hali, Nazir Ahmed and Mohammad Shibli were the outstanding leaders and exponents of the ideas of the movement. They exhorted the Muslims to imbibe the western culture to interpret Qoran in the rational terms and in accordance with the needs of the Muslims in the present period and to revise their social system on more or less modern and democratic lines.