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Indian Express
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Faiz's ‘Hum dekhenge' is not about country or religion. It is anti-oppression
In the Subcontinent, Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz's uncompromising 1979 poem Hum dekhenge ('We shall see') has mostly travelled with ease. This famed protest song, written against General Ziaul Haq's conservative rule, has outlived regimes, resurfacing in moments of protest across both sides of the border. But in recent years, it seems to be increasingly caught in the crosshairs of cross-border hostilities. Last week, Pushpa Sathidar, wife of actor and Dalit rights activist Vira Sathidar (who was seen as Narayan Kamble in Chaitanya Tamhane's National Award-winning film, Court) and two others, were booked under Section 152 of the BNS, for 'endangering the sovereignty and integrity of the nation', Section 196 for promoting enmity between groups and Section 353 for statements conducing to public mischief, after she organised a memorial for her husband in Nagpur. It is at this memorial that the members of Samata Kala Manch — an Ambedkarite cultural outfit that often speaks of class, caste and Brahminical hegemony — sang the Faiz poem. In the FIR, right-wing activist Dattatraya Shirke alleged that the poem by a Pakistani poet was sung at a time when the country valiantly fought Pakistani forces in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. He accused the organisers of using provocative language that could incite unrest. In this moment, I wonder about Faiz, the humanist, the star of Progressive Writers' Movement in undivided India, who opposed communalism, who condemned terrorism, whose writing grieved the scars of violence and lauded the resilience of the downtrodden, who wrote Hum dekhenge against the atrocities of his own government. In 2020, IIT Kanpur formed a panel to look into the recitation of the poem on their campus by some students. The committee had concluded that the poem was 'unsuitable to the time and place' and recommended 'counselling' for those involved. Faiz's work was also removed from school textbooks in 2022. One is left wondering whether all of this stems from a lack of understanding or simply an unwillingness to engage with a poet whose work is accessible, deeply documented and who spoke not for Pakistan or India but for a better, more inclusive world. Days after Partition was announced, when the streets on both sides of the border were rife with violence, a deeply anguished Faiz wrote, 'Yeh daagh daagh ujala, yeh shab gazidaa seher/ Woh intezaar tha jiska, yeh woh seher toh nahin' (This smudged first light, this daybreak battered by night/ This dawn that we all ached for, this is not the one) [Subh-e-Azadi (Dawn of Freedom)]. Faiz's poetry, its universality and its constant endeavour to uphold human dignity are what make it significant. Written in Beirut, where Faiz was living in a self-imposed exile, after his blunt political views were condemned for being 'anti-Pakistan', Hum dekhenge quickly became a symbol of dissent, first in Pakistan and then in the Subcontinent. It also found significance in ghazal singer Iqbal Bano's oeuvre, when she sang it in 1986 at Lahore Arts Council's Alhamra auditorium, a year after Faiz's death, clad in a black sari — an act of rebellion at a time when saris were banned at public venues and on television. She sang it with vigour, pausing often as the exhilarated thousands who'd gathered in and outside the hall chanted Inquilab zindabad. This rendition, in one of the darkest periods of Pakistan's history, took the song to the common man. It was surreptitiously recorded by a technician. The recording was banned; so was Bano from singing in public. They thought the poem was 'anti-Muslim'. In India, the poem has often been called 'anti-Hindu'. Which is it really? If one really pays attention, it's not hard to see that it is anti-oppression. The lines that bothered Pakistan then and bother India now, including in the current FIR are as follows: 'Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se, sab butt uthwaye jaayenge/ Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-haram, masnad pe bithaaye jaayenge / Sab taaj uchhale jaayenge, sab takht giraaye jaayenge (From the abode of God, when the icons of falsehood will be removed/ When we, the faithful, who have been barred from sacred places, will be seated on high pedestal/ When crowns will be tossed, when thrones will be brought down)'. Shirke has claimed that the thrones being brought down constitute a direct threat to the government. And yet, songs can't overturn governments; they can only gnaw at the illusion that power lasts forever. In 1989, almost a year after Ziaul Haq's death in an aircrash and the return of democracy to Pakistan, Bano performed at Delhi's Siri Fort, with the hall brimming with ghazal enthusiasts who had one demand from her — Hum dekhenge. If convicted, the punishment for Pushpa and the others can be imprisonment and a fine. That is for the courts to decide. But Hum dekhenge has and should endure — as a reminder of the courage art is capable of. To quote Faiz, 'Bol ke lab azaad hain tere/ Bol ki zubaan ab tak teri hai… Bol ki sach zinda hai ab tak/ Bol jo kuch kehna hai keh le' (Speak, for your lips are yet free/ Speak, for your tongue is still your own/ Speak, the truth is still alive/ Speak: say what you have to say).
Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Pushpa, wife of late actor Veera Sathidar, booked over alleged ‘inflammatory' remarks at memorial event in Nagpur
The Maharashtra Police have booked social activist Pushpa Veera Sathidar, wife of the late actor and activist Veera Sathidar, and two others for alleged 'inflammatory' remarks at an event held in Nagpur on May 13. Veera Sathidar Smruti Samanvay Samiti and Samata Kala Manch, a prominent Ambedkarite cultural outfit, organised the event in memory of Veera Saathidar, in which an Urdu poem by Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz was recited. According to the police, they registered a case based on the complaint of a right-wing activist, Dattatraya Shirke, who alleged that this cultural programme featured provocative content with alleged Naxalite overtones. The complainant, who has been active in conducting health, education, and development initiatives in the Naxal-affected areas of Gadchiroli, described Samata Kala Manch as a radical group with a 'suspicious Naxal background.' According to the complaint filed at Sitabuldi police station in Nagpur, a member of Samata Kala Manch recited the controversial poem 'Hum Dekhenge' by Faiz Ahmad Faiz. He further alleged that a male speaker had made politically charged remarks, including references to 'fascism' and 'dictatorship,' and had called for shaking the metaphorical 'throne' of power in the country. The complainant claimed that such statements made during a public event were inflammatory and posed a threat to the unity, integrity, and sovereignty of India. He alleged that the event was designed to mislead the public, disturb social harmony, and provoke unrest, and called on authorities to take legal action against the organisers and participants. Pushpa Sathidar and two others were booked under sections 152 (acts endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India) which has replaced 'sedition' in Indian Penal Code, 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), 353 (circulation of false statements and rumors) and 3 (5) (liability of individuals when a criminal act is done in furtherance of a common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). 'The charges registered against Pushpa Sathidar are of serious nature. The investigation is currently ongoing, and any action will be taken only after its completion. No arrests have been made at this stage,' said Inspector Vitthalsingh Rajput. Born in 1960, Veera Sathidar is known for the national award-winning film, Court. He made a name for himself in almost every field, including arts, literature, the rebel movement, and acting. Veera Sathidar passed away in April 2021 in Nagpur.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Faiz's nazm of dissent and resistance
Written by renowned Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz in 1979, just two years after the country came under martial law under Gen Zia-ul-Haq, ' Hum Dekhenge (We shall see)' is often used in anti-establishment protests both in India and Pakistan. The nazm of dissent and resistance gained larger recognition after singer Iqbal Bano defied the law and delivered a public rendition in Lahore in 1986. In India, 'Hum Dekhenge' has been especially popular with cultural activists and Left groups. At one point, the poem goes, "Sab taaj uchhaley jayenge/ Sab takht giraye jayenge (Every crown will be flung/ Each throne brought down)." During the anti-CAA protests in 2019, some professors in IIT Kanpur claimed that the song had anti-Hindu references. The probe was later closed.
