Justice Markandey Katju: The importance of Urdu poetry in India today

Justice Markandey Katju

By Justice Markandey Katju–

(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman, Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own)

I have repeatedly said that the next two decades in Indian history will be a turbulent period, and it will culminate in creating a new political and social order, under which India will rapidly modernize and industrialize.

This period will witness a mighty united people’s struggle, which will be protracted, arduous, with many twists and turns, and in which tremendous sacrifices will have to be made.

The great evils of poverty, unemployment, child malnutrition, lack of healthcare and education, etc, will be largely eliminated, and our people will get decent lives.

In this stormy period, great literature will be required, to attack feudal forces like casteism and communalism, and inspire people to perform heroic deeds, sometimes even at the cost of one’s lives.

The literature of Voltaire and Rousseau attacked feudalism and religious bigotry, and inspired the people of France to overthrow the institution of monarchy in 1789.

Similarly, the writings of Thomas Paine (‘Commonsense’, for example) inspired the patriots in the American War of Independence (1775-81). The writings of Maxim Gorki (‘Mother’, a novel, and ‘Song of the Stormy Petrel’, a poem) inspired the Russian people and their Revolution in 1917.

Urdu poetry such as Bismil’s ‘Sarfaroshi ki tamanna’ inspired India’s freedom struggle, and Faiz’s’ poem ‘Hum dekhenge’ inspired Pakistanis in their fight against military dictatorship. ‘Sarfaroshi ki tamanna’ was written by Bismil Azimabadi in protest against the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. His real name was Syed Shah Mohammad Hasan and he was a zamindar (landlord) from Patna in Bihar. Later, another freedom fighter — Ram Prasad Bismil — immortalized this song as a war cry in India’s fight for Independence.

I submit that Urdu poetry (in its simplified, not highly Persian form ), will be of great utility to the Indian people in this turbulent period.

This is because of the dual nature of Urdu, as explained in my article ‘What is Urdu?’.

Urdu is a language created by a combination of two languages — Hindustani or khadiboli, and Persian. That is why, at one time it was called Rekhta, which means hybrid.

The former is the language of the common man in large parts of India even today, and the latter was the language of the aristocratic elite in India for centuries during the Mughal rule and later. Thus, while Urdu is the language of the common man (since its base is Hindustani, and its verbs are all in Hindustani ), it has also the sophistication and polish of an aristocrat.

The content of Urdu poetry is the feelings, sorrows, and aspirations of the common man. They are expressed, however, not in the language of the common man, but in a somewhat aristocratic and sophisticated manner, which gives it great power and elegance.

Take Bismil’s verse ‘Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai’. Sarfaroshi means the desire to die for a good cause, or in this context, the desire to give one’s life for India’s freedom. If we write this in Hindi it will become ‘Sheesh katwaane ki manokaamna ab hamaare hriday mein hai’. Does this have the power and elegance of the former? It does not.

Or, take Faiz’s verse ‘Bol ki lab azad hain tere, bol zubaan ab tak teri hai’. In Hindi this becomes ‘Uchchaaran karo ki honth swatantra hain tumhaare, uchchaaran karo ki jivha ab tak tumhaari hai’. Does this have the power and elegance of the former? Once again, no.

I am not against Hindi. It is my mother tongue, so how can I be against it? But the truth is that modern Hindi poetry does not have the power and elegance which Urdu poetry has.

In fact, in many agitations and protests in India students recited and sang Faiz’s poem ‘Hum Dekhenge‘ and Habib Jalib’s poem ‘Main nahi maanta‘ and ‘Hukmaraan ho gaye kameene log‘. 

I conclude with my own sher (couplet):
‘Hum inquilaabiyon ko naya jahaan banaana hai magar
Yeh safar hai mashaqqat-o-museebaten liye hue’

i.e.
We revolutionaries have to create a new world
But this journey is full of toil and difficulties

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