'Sab yaad rakha jayega' poet Aamir Aziz accuses artist of lifting his work

Business Standard

21-04-2025

A Delhi-based poet and activist has accused contemporary artist Anita Dube of using his popular protest poem 'Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega' without his permission, credit, or compensation. Aamir Aziz, an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia, called the act 'cultural extraction and plunder'.
The 35-year-old poet said he first discovered the alleged unauthorised use of his work when a friend noticed the poem stitched into an exhibit at Vadehra Art Gallery on March 18. The gallery, one of India's most prestigious art institutions, is currently showcasing an exhibition of Dube's work.
Aziz alleged that his poem had been renamed and recontextualised in the gallery, making it appear as if it were Dube's original creation.
'That was the first time I learned Anita Dube had taken my poem and turned it into her 'art'. When I confronted her, she made it seem normal — like lifting a living poet's work, branding it into her own, and selling it in elite galleries for lakhs of rupees was normal,' Aziz stated in a social media post.
According to Aziz, this was not an isolated case. He later found out that his poem had been previously displayed without permission in a 2023 exhibition titled 'Of Mimicry, Mimesis and Masquerade', curated by Arshiya Lokhandwala, and again at the India Art Fair in 2025.
'When I confronted her, she didn't mention these previous exhibitions. She hid it. Deliberately,' Aziz alleged.
He drew a clear distinction between solidarity and exploitation, saying, 'Let's be clear: if someone holds my poem in a placard at a protest, a rally, or a people's uprising — I stand with them. But this is not that. This is not solidarity. This is not homage. This is not conceptual borrowing. This is theft. This is erasure.'
Aziz further claimed that sections of his poem were altered and embedded into wood carvings and velvet cloth installations, showcased in commercial gallery spaces — all without credit or acknowledgement.
He accused Anita Dube and the galleries involved of exploiting marginalised voices for profit. 'The oldest trick in the book, inherited from the same colonial masters: steal the voice, erase the name, and sell the illusion of originality,' he wrote.
'Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega' rose to prominence during the anti-CAA protests, becoming a symbol of resistance. It even caught international attention when Roger Waters, co-founder of the legendary band Pink Floyd, read it aloud at a London event in February 2020. The poem also became widely known during the violent anti-CAA protests in Delhi.
Now, Aziz says, the poem that once stood for defiance has been 'gutted, defanged, and stitched into velvet for profit.'
Aziz said he sent legal notices to both Anita Dube and Vadehra Art Gallery, demanding accountability and the removal of his poem from the exhibition. However, he claims his concerns were dismissed.
'In return: silence, half-truths, and insulting offers,' he wrote. 'I asked them to take the work down. They refused. The exhibition at Vadehra Art Gallery is on till the 26th of April.'
Anita Dube, known for her use of text, found objects, velvet, beads, bones, and ceramic eyes to explore personal and collective histories, often addresses themes of loss, regeneration, and resistance in her work. A public response from Anita Dube regarding these allegations is still awaited.