Sahir Ludhianvi’s harsh eye
Ahead of his birth anniversary (March 8), exploring the noted poet’s searing commentary on how he saw the world
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ALL poets, all writers are political. They either maintain the status quo, or they say, ‘Something’s wrong, let’s change it for the better’ — this thought of African-American poet Sonia Sanchez echoed what an Indian counterpart of hers was doing: questioning society and holding power to account.
Sahir Ludhianvi, one of India’s greatest poets and songwriters, became politically and socially aware early in his life. A difficult childhood during which he saw his mother suffer patriarchy and poverty, and his association with the All India Students’ Federation, affiliated to the Communist Party of India, shaped his thought process.
The critical thinking that bubbled in Sahir’s mind led him to write about events happening around him and in the world.
The earliest such nazm that one finds in Sahir’s works is ‘Kahat-e-Bangal’, which asks searing questions about the 1943 famine that left lakhs of people in Bengal and Orissa dead. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, was blamed for causing the deaths by diverting rice away from Bengal to locations where British soldiers were stationed. Sahir wrote:
Pachaas laakh farsuda gale-sade dhaanche
Nizaam-e-zar ke khilaaf ehtijaaj karte hain
Khamosh hothon se, dam todti nigaahon se
Bashar, bashar ke khilaaf ehtijaaj karte hain
(Fifty lakh decaying skeletons
protest capitalist rule
With silent lips, with fading sight,
humanity rises in protest)
‘Tuluh-e-Ishtarakiyat’ (The Dawn of Communism) is inspired by Russia’s 1917 October Revolution — four years before Sahir’s birth. It talks about the emancipation of farmers and workers; the poor and the powerless rising; rulers and tyrants shaking in fear; and the abolition of private property and privileges.
Raundee-kuchlee aavaazon ke shor se
dharti goonj uthi hai
Duniya ke anyaay-nagar mein haq ki
pehli goonj uthi hai
(The earth resounds with the roar of
muffled voices,
In the city of injustice, the first cry for
rights has arisen)
Then came two nazms, ‘Lenin (1)’ and ‘Lenin (2)’, dedicated to the leader of the October Revolution. The first credited him with freeing humans’ destiny from the deceptions of religion and the torment of royalty. In 1970, Lenin’s birth centenary, Sahir voiced his apprehension:
Tabqon se nikalkar hum firkon mein
na bah jaayen
Bankar na bigad jaaye taqdeer
ghulaamon ki
(Out of class we rose, but may we not
in sects descend;
Let not the slaves’ hard-won fate be ruined)
The 1946 Naval Mutiny, an uprising by soldiers of the Royal Indian Navy against discrimination, bad food and excessive strictness, contributed to India winning independence. A stirred Sahir, then 24, challenged India’s political leaders, many of whom disapproved of the revolt:
Kya qaumo-watan ki jai gaakar marte
hue raahi gunde the?
Jo desh ka parcham le ke uthe, wo shokh
sipahi gunde the?
Jo baare-ghulaami seh na sake, wo
mujrim-e-shahi gunde the?
Ye kiska lahoo hai, kaun mara?
(Were the travellers who died singing
praises of the nation thugs?
Were the handsome soldiers who rose with
the national flag thugs?
Were those who could not tolerate the
burden of slavery thugs?
Whose blood is this? Who died?)
Parts of this poem were incorporated in a song for ‘Dharmputra’, a 1961 movie that turned the spotlight on communalism.
Whether it was the Red Army crossing the German border in January 1945 (a push that hastened the end of Hitler’s rule) or the 1961 assassination of Congo’s Patrice Lumumba or the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik in 1957, Sahir commented with verve and took sides.
In 1951, Pakistan’s progressive poets, writers and journalists were arrested on the charges of plotting to overthrow the government. Among them were Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Sajjad Zaheer, with whom Sahir was closely associated. He wrote:
Dabegi kab talak aawaaz e aadam
hum bhi dekhenge
Rukenge kab talak jazbaat e barham
hum bhi dekhenge
Chalo yun hi sahi zor e paiham
hum bhi dekhenge
(How long will the human voice be
muffled, we shall see
How long will turbulent emotions
be stopped, we shall see
Go on, continue your relentless
oppression, we shall see)
Liberation from colonial rule was a tormenting experience for India. A sceptical Sahir wrote that if the tribulations that led to freedom failed, there would be a lasting negative effect on India’s conscience.
A month later, he wrote ‘Aaj’, which some sources say he recited on Akashvani. The poet who once sang songs of beauty, hope and love now finds his music stifled amid barbarism, death and fear. He pleads for peace, joy and life.
Apne naghmon ki jholi pasaare
Dar b dar phir raha hoon
Mujhko aman aur tehzeeb ki bheekh do
(With the begging bowl of my songs
held out,
I wander from door to door.
Give me alms of peace and culture)
When India and Pakistan teetered on the brink of war in 1965, Sahir wrote that no dispute, however deep, could justify the devastation caused by war. He pleaded for reason, humanity and dialogue.
Jung to khud hi ek mas’ala hai
Jung kya mas’alon ka hal degi
Aag aur khoon aaj bakhshegi
Bhookh aur ehtijaaz kal degi
(War itself is a problem.
How can it solve problems?
Today it will give fire and blood.
Tomorrow it will yield hunger
and deprivation)
Responding to an official commemoration of Ghalib’s death and birth centenary, he called out the hypocrisy of the political class, which paid lip service to their ideals and language. Stop talking about culture, he said, let us bury both Gandhi and Ghalib. He also wrote:
Wo basti, wo gaon hi kya
Jismein Harijan ho aazaad?
Wo qasba, wo shahr hi kya
Jo na bane Ahmedabad?
(What is that habitation, that village
Where Harijans are unshackled?
What is that town, that city
Which has not become Ahmedabad?)
On the day India adopted its Constitution, he asked the leaders why the dreams they had woven had remained dreams. If people’s wealth had increased, why had poverty increased? Ever worried about communalism, he asked, ‘Mazhab ka rog aaj bhi kyun la-ilaaj hai?’ (Why is the disease of religion still incurable today?)
Had Sahir been alive, he would have asked the same questions.
Critic, admirer of Nehru
Sahir’s lyrics in ‘Pyaasa’ (1957) and ‘Phir Subah Hogi’ (1958) raised the eyebrows of the censor board. His biting songs were as much an indictment of Jawaharlal Nehru’s government as they were of society.
But when Nehru died in May 1964, a grief-stricken Sahir wrote:
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Wo jo har deen se munkir tha, har ik dharm se door
Phir bhi har deen har ik dharm ka gham-khwar raha
Saari qaumon ke gunahon ka kada bojh liye
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Umr-bhar soorat-e-Isa jo sare-dar raha
(He who denied every religion and
kept distant from every faith,
Yet cared for every religion, every creed.
Bearing the harsh burden of the sins
of all communities,
All his life he remained, Jesus-like,
crucified on gallows)
— The writer is a journalist based in Bengaluru
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