Hum Dekh Chuke, Tum Dekhoge
By Mohajer Ansari
US
The imposition of the ill-thought NRC/CAA has backfired in India. It has, however, exposed the nudity of fascist vitriol in India. Indian nationalism has become synonymous with Hindu extremism.
The latest twist in the lopsided drama of the debate over the question of citizenship of Muslim immigrants, is a famous poem Hum Dekhenge by Faiz Ahmed Faiz. It was recently read by a student body in IIT, Kanpur, in solidarity with the fellow students in Jamia Millia in New Delhi protesting against NRC/CAA. The pro-government media is having a field day by sucking all the oxygen from the room to fan this ember!
Faiz Ahmed Faiz and his poetry do not need any introduction or preface. He was born in 1911 in Sialkot (undivided India) and died in Lahore (current Pakistan) in 1984. This thwarts the notion that he ever emigrated from India to Pakistan. So, at best he was an Indian who died in Pakistan, though strange enough, most of his life he lived abroad. Big deal? Of course, it is a big deal! Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in India and died in India. Yet, the Father of Nation was labeled a traitor and eventually assassinated on January 30, 1948. Seventy-two years later, his blood in still dripping from the fascist manifesto of an illusionary Ram Raj!
Yusuf Khan (Dilip Kumar) Sahib, watch out. Like Faiz, you too were born in pre-independence India (hence, in Pakistan) and will be labeled anti-Hindu, next!
Before the fateful reading of Hum Dekhege in IIT Kanpur, Faiz Saheb was deemed a great poet in India and Pakistan both, and as such, revered in both the countries. Former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee - an accomplished poet in his own right and a great patron of Urdu language and culture - was an ardent admirer of Faiz. Gopi Chand Narang was one of the closest friends of Faiz. To an observer, they were like brothers! But then, one would expect such noble traits only from people of knowledge.
The poem Hum Dekhenge was penned by Faiz Sahib some forty odd years ago, in defiance to the draconian measures of General Zia Ul Haq, who came to power in Pakistan for just 90 days but nevertheless managed to stay longer - a lot longer. Allinall, this epic poem is a bold and succinct admonition directed at a corrupt, tyrant and myopic ruler. It became the rallying cry of the Pakistani masses of that era. Though a hardcore Marxist, in this particular poem Faiz Sahib brilliantly intertwined the concept of Oneness of the Almighty, the rules of His divinity (Sunnat-il-Lah) with mystic Sufi thoughts. This brilliance gives Hum Dekhenge, an agelessness that is void of any geographical boundaries.
The choice of this poem by the students at IIT Kanpur as a tool of protest against the unilateral writ of citizenry by the Hindu nationalists should be lauded. Instead, the myopic faction of BJP, a larger swath of Indian population and the biased media, is painting the poem as anti-Hindu and using it as yet another weapon of Muslim-bashing. This is both comical and utterly tragic.
A gross tragedy of the raucous hullabaloo surrounding the debate on Hum Dekhenge is the lack of even rudimentary knowledge of Urdu by the populace and those in politics. The ouster of Urdu began with the slow, systematic and determinate banishing of the language from dramas, movies and lyrics in India of 1980s and was complete by 1990s. Now, Urdu is reduced to an aged prostitute who makes occasional appearances in annual Mushairas rebranded as Kavi Sammelans!
There is no point in educating the biased caricatures in Indian politics and media, about this poem of Faiz. Yet, gratitude is owed to Javed Akhter Sahib who is so gallantly and valiantly defending Faiz on behalf of not only 200+ million Indian Muslims but also 220 million Pakistanis.
Had he been alive today and seen how his thoughts are being misconstrued for petty political gains by BJP and its supporters, Faiz would have captured the situation a bit differently:
Hum Dekh Chuke, Tum Dekhoge
Tum dekhoge
Lazim hai ke tum dekhoge
Tum dekhoge woh din jis ka wa’da hai
Aasmani kitaboN mein bhi likhkha hai
DhokEy ke banEy woh bejaaN bUt
Rooi ki taraH uD jayenge
Is konay se lekar us konay tak
Kuchli huee roohoN ki dhak dhak dastak sun
Hojayegi qaatil khanjer ki saffaki kUm
Aur dushman-e-insaniyat ki bolti bUnd
Tum Dekhoge, AinoN ke tootey tukDoN mein
Bharat ki chHavi’ meiN RawaN ko
Jab pUkRegi barood, aag iradoN ki
Butwarey ka Chakr bhasm ho jayega
Jo Kal tha Haq, woh aaj bhi hai, aur kal bhi rahega woh baqi
Batil ko fana’ hojana hai, qismat mein hai uski barbadi
JismoN ke zaKham, aankhoN ki namEE aur soz-E-suKHan
Hatiyaar haiN yeh mazloomoN ke, Kaun jeet saka hai inse kab?
Tum dekhoge, maKHlooq ko maKHlooq hi rahna behtar hai
Gar KHaliq honE ka da’wa ho, paDh Lena anjaam-E-Fira’un behtar hai
‘Havi hai billion Mushrik per, ek Faiz akela mEr ke bhi
keya jhel sakega taGHuti, taqat bees croroN ki?
ھم دیکھ چکے، تم دیکھوگے
(مُہاجِر انصاری)
تم دیکھوگے
لازم ہے کہ تم دیکھوگے
تم دیکھوگے وہ دن جس کا وعدہ ہے
آسمانی کتابوں میں بھی لکھا ہے
دھوکے کے بنے وہ بے جاں بُت
روئ کی طرح اُڑ جائیں گے
اس کونے سے لیکر اس کونے تک
کُچلی ھوئ روحوں کی دھک دھک دستک سن
ہو جاۓگی قاتل خنجر کی سفّاکی کم
اور دشمنانِ انسانیت کی بولتی بند
تم دیکھوگے، آئینوں کے ٹوٹے ٹکڑوں میں
بھارت کی چھَوِئ میں رآؤن کو
جب پکڑے گی بارُود، آگ اِرادوں کی
بٹوارےکا چکر بھسم ھو جاۓگا
جو کل تھا حق وہ آج بھی ہے اور کل بھی رہےگا وہ باقی
باطل کو فناء ہو جانا ہے قسمت میں ہے اسکی بربادی
جسموں کے زخم، آنکھوں کی نمی اور سوزِ سخن
ھتیار ھیں یہ مظلوموں کے،کون جیت سکا ہے اِن سے کب؟
تم دیکھوگے، مخلوق کو مخلوق ہی رہنا بہتر ہے
گر خالق ہونے کادعویٰ ہو، پڑھ لینا انجامِ فرعون بہتر ہے
حاوی ہے بِلئین مشرک پر، اک فیض اکیلا مر کے بھی
کیا جھیل سکےگا طاغوتی، طاقت بیس کروڑوں کی؟
