The most conspicuous introduction of Major Ishaq Muhammad – the peasant leader and arch-dramatist who was born a hundred years ago today in Jalandhar – is that he was a revolutionary leader constantly at war with the Pakistani establishment. He was arrested in 1951 by the Liaqat Ali Khan government in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case. Upon his release in 1955, which verified his hardships to be a form of blessing, and after being discharged from the army, Major Ishaq turned to politics and earned a great reputation. So from the Awami League and the National Awami Party, he came to found the Mazdoor Kisan Party. Even those who disagree with him politically and ideologically acknowledge his vision, his courage of refusal and steadfastness. Though by removing him from his position, the army lost such a military expert who was not only a witness to the post-WW2 changing military technique but also had a great eye on politics and society.
Not for nothing, some of our great literary luminaries like Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Ahmad Bashir, Habib Jalib and Fahmida Riaz have paid tributes to Major Ishaq and made him a subject of their writings. To remember Major Ishaq’s tremendous memory and legacy on his birth centennial, I am presenting a humble translation of Faiz’s better-known and Fahmida Riaz’s lesser-known tributes to Major Ishaq on his untimely death on April 2, 1982.
Faiz’s tribute titled Major Ishaq Ki Yaad Mein (In Memory of Major Ishaq) forms part of his last collection of poems titled Ghubaar-e-Ayyam (The Fog of Time). More than a standard ode, it is rather a heartfelt complaint to his old comrade of leaving him for the heavenly plane so early:
Lo you too went, so we had thought
That some other vow of loyalty was under your consideration
The promise that you will remain active with us lifelong
When the other people of purity would take the path of separation
We had thought the quiver of the hunter had emptied
But one arrow of death yet remained for your annihilation
Every thorn is a petitioner of the path of the desert of the nation
Let us wait for some other tired traveller in anticipation
If Doomsday wanted to come with hesitation
It was well for you too to delay your final destination.
Riaz’s ode titled Nauha — Major Ishaq ke Intiqal Par (Dirge — On the Death of Major Ishaq) also complains of the early departure of Major Ishaq from the ranks of the living, but also compares him to Mehar, the Sindhi expression for Mahinwal, the legendary folk hero and lover of Sohni, in his passion and dedication to his cause. My English translation follows the poem in the Urdu text:
Is andhiyari, dukhi raat mein
Kahan chale Mehar!
Ab nahin saath nibhaoge kya
Itna dukh de jaoge kya
Pagal raat hava toofani
Gali mein ghutnon ghutnon paani
Maande maande pair tumhare
Aur chhaati par chot purani
Bhoot nagar mein naach rahe hain
Kutiya mein barje viraani
Thar thar chhapar kaanp raha hai
Dekho ik shahteer gira hai
Kaandha nahin lagaoge kya
Lamba kaaj umar ya thori
Lauta do yeh ujli ghori
Aansu le lo, aahen le lo
Qasmen vaade saare le lo
Jo hai paas hamare le lo
Is dukhiyari raat ko hum tum
Saath jo karte paar….
Arre Mehar!
Arre Mehar!
(In this sad night of darkness
Mehar! For where did you put on your harness
Will you now stand by no longer
Will you leave us with so much distress
The mad night, the stormy air
Water upto the knees in the street
So tired are your feet
And the old injury on the chest
Ghosts dance in the city
The cottage sits lonely
The thatch is shivering
Look a beam has fallen
Will you not lend a shoulder
Life whether a long or short affair
Return this bright mare
Take the tears, take the sighs
Take whatever oaths, promises you require, everything
Take whatever I have
Would that you and me
Cross this suffering night together….
Arre Mehar!
Arre Mehar!)
Not for nothing, some of our great literary luminaries like Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Ahmad Bashir, Habib Jalib and Fahmida Riaz have paid tributes to Major Ishaq and made him a subject of their writings. To remember Major Ishaq’s tremendous memory and legacy on his birth centennial, I am presenting a humble translation of Faiz’s better-known and Fahmida Riaz’s lesser-known tributes to Major Ishaq on his untimely death on April 2, 1982.
Faiz’s tribute titled Major Ishaq Ki Yaad Mein (In Memory of Major Ishaq) forms part of his last collection of poems titled Ghubaar-e-Ayyam (The Fog of Time). More than a standard ode, it is rather a heartfelt complaint to his old comrade of leaving him for the heavenly plane so early:
Lo you too went, so we had thought
That some other vow of loyalty was under your consideration
The promise that you will remain active with us lifelong
When the other people of purity would take the path of separation
We had thought the quiver of the hunter had emptied
But one arrow of death yet remained for your annihilation
Every thorn is a petitioner of the path of the desert of the nation
Let us wait for some other tired traveller in anticipation
If Doomsday wanted to come with hesitation
It was well for you too to delay your final destination.
Riaz’s ode titled Nauha — Major Ishaq ke Intiqal Par (Dirge — On the Death of Major Ishaq) also complains of the early departure of Major Ishaq from the ranks of the living, but also compares him to Mehar, the Sindhi expression for Mahinwal, the legendary folk hero and lover of Sohni, in his passion and dedication to his cause. My English translation follows the poem in the Urdu text:
Is andhiyari, dukhi raat mein
Kahan chale Mehar!
Ab nahin saath nibhaoge kya
Itna dukh de jaoge kya
Pagal raat hava toofani
Gali mein ghutnon ghutnon paani
Maande maande pair tumhare
Aur chhaati par chot purani
Bhoot nagar mein naach rahe hain
Kutiya mein barje viraani
Thar thar chhapar kaanp raha hai
Dekho ik shahteer gira hai
Kaandha nahin lagaoge kya
Lamba kaaj umar ya thori
Lauta do yeh ujli ghori
Aansu le lo, aahen le lo
Qasmen vaade saare le lo
Jo hai paas hamare le lo
Is dukhiyari raat ko hum tum
Saath jo karte paar….
Arre Mehar!
Arre Mehar!
(In this sad night of darkness
Mehar! For where did you put on your harness
Will you now stand by no longer
Will you leave us with so much distress
The mad night, the stormy air
Water upto the knees in the street
So tired are your feet
And the old injury on the chest
Ghosts dance in the city
The cottage sits lonely
The thatch is shivering
Look a beam has fallen
Will you not lend a shoulder
Life whether a long or short affair
Return this bright mare
Take the tears, take the sighs
Take whatever oaths, promises you require, everything
Take whatever I have
Would that you and me
Cross this suffering night together….
Arre Mehar!
Arre Mehar!)