I have repeatedly said that the massive socio-economic problems of India (in which term I include Pakistan and Bangladesh, as I regard them as part of India, only temporarily separated) i.e. massive poverty, record unemployment, appalling child malnourishment, lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, soaring prices, widespread corruption etc can only be resolved by a Revolution (see my articles ‘India’s moment of turbulent revolution is here’ published in firstpost.in, ‘A French Revolution is coming to India’ published in nayadaur.tv, ‘India needs modern minded revolution to become a first world nation’ published in theweek.in, ‘Eight steps to a revolution’ published in dailyo.in etc).
Such a revolution requires inter alia a revolutionary poetry and songs to inspire patriots like ‘La Marseillaise’ in the French Revolution, and Gorki’s ‘The song of the stormy petrel’ and ‘ The Internationale’ in the Russian Revolution (see my articles ‘The Song of the Stormy Petrel’ published in pakistanistories.com and ‘Revolutionaries prefer Urdu poetry as it has power and punch’ published in siasat.com).
Of course there are many languages in India, and all of them have produced some good poetry. However, in my opinion none of them have the revolutionary spirit and ‘dum’ (power) which Urdu poetry has.
I have explained the reason for this in my articles ‘What is Urdu’ and ‘Great injustice to Urdu in India’, which can be seen online. By its very nature, Urdu poetry is a poetry of protest, protest against the afflictions of the common man, and against injustice.
Some people think that Urdu is the language of Muslims alone, but this is totally false. Urdu is a totally secular language, and till 1947 Urdu was the language of educated people of all communities, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh etc in large parts of India. It was part of the British divide and rule policy to propagate the idea (through their local agents) that Hindi is the language of Hindus, while Urdu is the language of Muslims.
The propaganda that Urdu was a foreign language was also false. Persian and Arabic are no doubt foreign languages, but Urdu is a desi (indigenous) language.
I had once been invited to an Urdu poetry function in Lucknow, where a young Muslim woman said that she wants her children to learn Urdu, so that they could read the Quran. To this I responded, "Ma'am, the Quran is in Arabic, not in Urdu. And there are more Ramayanas in Urdu and Persian than Qurans."
It was obvious this woman knew nothing about Urdu. It is a common misconception that Urdu is the language of Muslims, and many Muslims think that Urdu is their jagir (fiefdom), though they know little of this great language.
In fact, Urdu poetry criticises some extremist aspects of Islam. For instance, Mirza Ghalib writes:
Imāñ mujhe roke hai jo khīñche hai mujhe kufr
Kaaba mere peeche hai kaleesa mere aage
(Faith is blocking my path, but atheism is pulling me forwardK
Kaaba is behind me, the church is in front)
Here, 'Kaaba' represents feudalism, and kaleesa (church) represents modernity. So, Ghalib is rejecting religion as it represents backwardness and feudalism, and is approving of modernisation.
Masjid ke zer-e-sāya ḳharābāt chāhiye
(Beneath every mosque there should be a wine shop)
Now, Islam forbids drinking, but this is what the greatest Urdu poet says.
He also writes:
Kahan mai-Khane ka darwaza ghaalib aur kahan waiz
par itnā jānte haiñ kal vo jaatā thā ki ham nikle
(A pub and a religious scholar are poles apart/but yesterday when I entered the pub he was leaving).
The great Urdu poet Mir writes:
Mīr' ke dīn-o-mazhab ko ab pūchhte kyā ho unne to
qashqa khīñchā dair meñ baiThā kab kā tark islām kiyā
(Why do you ask the religion of Mir? He has put a kashka (tilak) on his forehead
Sat in a (Hindu) temple, and has abandoned Islam long ago)
Another great poet Sahir Ludhianvi writes:
Aqaid waham hai, mazhab khyaal-e-khaam hai saaqi Azal se zehen-e-insaan basta-e-auhaam hai saaqi
(Faith is superstition, religion is an inferior idea)
Since the dawn of time, human imagination has been imprisoned by these falsehoods.
And here are a few verses from the Urdu Ramayana of the great Urdu poet Chakbast:
Ruḳhsat huā vo baap se le kar ḳhudā kā naam
Rāh-e-vafā kī manzil-e-avval huī tamām
Manzūr thā jo maañ kī ziyārat kā intizām
Dāman se ashk poñchh ke dil se kiyā kalām
Iz.hār-e-be-kasī se sitam hogā aur bhī
Dekhā hameñ udaas to ġham hogā aur bhī
(He [Rama] said goodbye to his father taking the name of God
The first step to fidelity's tough path his feet had trod
Now for a meeting with his mother he began to plod
Wiping his tears he spoke inward keeping his shoulders broad
I dare not let her see my pain it will cause her unbearable grief
Better I show a smiling face that may give her some relief)
I can quote from this Urdu Ramayana on and on. One feels he is reading Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas, it is so touching. I also can quote countless shers by revered Urdu poets like Mir, Ghalib, Faiz, etc., attacking Islamic fundamentalism, just like Kabir did.
Urdu poetry follows the tradition of Kabir and the great Sufi saints who believed in universal brotherhood and humanitarianism, and attacked religious extremism and bigotry. As mentioned above, by its very nature, Urdu poetry is a poetry of protest, protest, both against human despots (e.g. Faiz’ poem Hum Dekhenge which was sung by Iqbal Bano against the despotism of Gen Zia, and also in the recent Shaheen Bagh protests in Delhi) and against inhuman rigid social and religious customs.
I venture to submit that no poetry in the world expresses the voice of the human heart in the manner, and with the elegance, as Urdu poetry does.
By attacking religious bigotry, or the kind currently being preached by religious fanatics and bigots in our sub-continent (both Hindus and Muslims), Urdu poetry is even more relevant and needed in India today.
As Kabir wrote:
Kankar pathar jod ke, masjid liye banaye
Ta chad mullah baang de, kya behra hua khudaye?
(With stones and bricks a mosque was built
From its top the mullah has to shout [the azaan]
Has God become deaf?)
In my opinion all Indian patriots should learn Urdu, and write verses like ‘Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai’ to inspire the Indian people who will have to make great sacrifices in the coming revolutionary storm.