These days in Pakistan, the remnants of Progressive Writers Movement, are passionately discussing that why `Faiz Ahmed Faiz, their comrade and leader joined British Army?
In his recent essay Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi has alleged that Faiz Ahmed Faiz joined colonial army in spite of being the protagonist of anti-colonialism sentiments. To absolve Faiz Ahmed Faiz of his charge, Abdullah Malik has written a long essay with the title, “Faiz and British Army”. I think the answer of the question, why Faiz joined British army, lies in another question that why Faiz left high rank of British army? Colonel Faiz Ahmed Faiz had satisfactorily answered both these questions during his lifetime. Faiz says about his decision to resign from the high rank of British Army:
“When the war was over and destination of independence was visible, British Government started planning about the future constitution of India. On the other hand Muslim League’s movement for Pakistan reached at its peak. At that time I was in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of Northern command. There I was to look after military public relations in that region and alongwith some other senior Indian Officers I was attending their secret conferences. It made clear to me these facts:
“Firstly: After this war British and Americans were planning a war against “Northern Threat” or “Soviet Russia”.
Secondly: Independent and sovereign Pakistan was undesirable for them.
Thirdly:If ever India gets freedom or partitioned, army will not be divided and it well remain under British command.
These realities were proven when Viceroy Lord Wavell came to address an army gathering in Rawalpindi in March or April 1946. On the assumption of Northern threat, they were to make Indian colony a base against Russia. Socialist republic state of Russia was bitterly pinching them. They were planning to annihilate it. Therefore complete independence of India was out of question.
I was stunned by his plight. I have heard of hypocrisy but was stocked at its manifestation. Till yesterday British and Americans were fighting against Hitler, Togo and Mussolini, side by side with Russia and today they are engaged in intrigues against her. Then I decided that my war has entered in a new phase. Independence of India and struggle for the foundation of Pakistan became part of my faith. It then became imperative to unveil the conspiracies of idiots against socialist Russia. Although for me meaning of struggle did not change but the arena as well as destination were changed. We cannot be traitor to our country, our principles and international socialism. I asked then what happened. Faiz replied while winding up his watch, “then time came to leave”. {Ham Keh Thehray Ajnabi, pp 77-79}
This statement of Faiz makes it crystal clear that he decided to leave high rank in the British Indian army on ideological grounds. When it was proved that British Government is against the creation of Pakistan and they are hectically working to hinder it. Allies of yesterday have become enemies today. And a cold war is inevitable between capitalists and communists. Then Faiz ignoring worldly pleasures resigned from the army and accepted editorship of daily “Pakistan Times”.
At that time, under the order of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Mian Iftikhar-ud-Din was making arrangements for the publication of Pakistan Times, before the creation of Pakistan. Thus Faiz Ahmed Faiz for his national cause as well as international communist objective threw off luxurious life of an army colonel and entered in the poor and laborious world of a journalist. It was also the only reason of serving in the British Indian army.
When during a conversation Dr. Ayaub Mirza expressed this perplexity which is held by respectable Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Faiz then replied:
“Dear there is no perplexity in this regard. I joined army to actively oppose fascism.”
It was time when dark shadows of Japanese Fascism were spreading over entire Asia and German Fascism from Europe was overwhelming Soviet Russia. When Hitler invaded Soviet Union, Indian communist intellectuals joined capitalist war against fascism while saying, “It’s war, war of freedom”. Faiz was one of these intellectuals.
Faiz had joined military service on the basis of his ideological orientation; not interest-oriented at all. If we just read his poems of that time, as internal evidence, this fact becomes evident. In his poems, “Teer-gee hai keh umad-ti challiaati hai”, Phir noor-I-sehar dast-o-greban hai sehr say”, “ Meray hamdan meray dost” and above all in the poem “To a Political Leader”, his ideological notion is crystal clear Faiz himself mentioned that in the poem “ To a Political Leader”, he meant Mahatma Gandhi by a “Political Leader”. While understanding this poem in the light of historical facts described in the sixth chapter, “Uneasy Interval” of Maulana Abul Klam Azad’s book, “India Wins Freedom”, then we become well familiar with the revolutionary, political and ideological notions of Faiz. It’s better that if we read this political poem once again and comprehend in the light of historical facts:
TO A POLITICAL LEADER
Year by year these unprotected, bound hands Have remained fixed in the hard, black bosom of night,
As a straw may be ardent in strife with the sea,
As a butterfly may make an attack on a mountain;
And now in the stony and black bosom of night
There are so many wounds, that whichever way the eye goes
Everywhere light has woven a sort of web,
From afar the sound of the throbbing of dawn comes.
The people’s hands have been your coat of mail,
Your wealth: what else has lent you strength, but they
You do not wish this darkness to prevail,
Yet wish those hands lopped off, and the new day,
Now throbbing in its estern ambush, doomed
Under night’s iron corpse to lie entombed.
Your wealth, your hope, are these same hands
Have you anything else?— it is these same hands.
You do not desire the victory of darkness, but
You desire that these hands be cut off.
And that day, throbbing in the ambuscade of the east,
Sink under the iron corpse of night! SIYASI LEADER KE NAM
Sal-ha-sal ye be asra, jakre hu e hat
Rat ke sakht o siya sine men paiwast rahe,
Jis tarah tinka samundar se ho sargarm-e-satez,
Jis tarah titri kuhsar pe yalghar kare;
Aur ab rat ke sarigin o siya sine neri
Itne gha o hain, ke jis simt nazar jati hi
Ja-ba-ja nur-ne ek jal-sa bun rakha hai,
Dur se subh ki dharkan ki sada ati hai
Tera sarmaya, teri as yehi hat to hain!
Aur kuchh hai bhi tere pas? Yehi hat to hain.
Tujhko manzur nahin ghalba-e-zulmat, lekin
Tujhko manzur hai ye hath qalam ho-ja en,
Aur mashriq ki kamin-gah men dharakta hu a din
Rat ki ahani maiyat ke tale dab-ja e!
This poem was created at the time when Hitler attacked Soviet Russia in pursuit of his ambitions to overcome entire Europe. This step of Hitler united capitalist West and Soviet Russia to counter Fascism. Hitler was winning. On the other Side Japanese Fascism was casting its shadow on South Asia. The President of All India Congress, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was astonished to know that the “Executive Council” of congress under the leadership of Gandhiji was openly and actively supporting Fascism. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was only to oppose Fascism there. Jawahar lal Nehru agreed to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s stance to a certain extent. Nevertheless he could not support Abul Kalam Azad for being under the might of Gandhi. The proof of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s veracity, sensitivity and bravery is that he raised his voice against Gandhi’s love for Fascism. Referring to Allahabad session of All India Congress committee from 29th April to 2nd May 1946, Maulana writes in his memoir, “India wins Freedom”:
“I then referred to the imminent peril of invasion by Japan. I sharply criticized those who believed or said that Japan would give India freedom. National self-respect demanded that we should not think in terms of a change of masters. We would resist the Japanese aggression in spite of our differences with the British. There could be no welcome for Japan, whether active or passive”.
Mahatma Gandhi very much opposed this thought. Under his influence, eminent leaders of Congress were actively supporting fascism. Therefor Maulana personally visited Gandhiji to convince him.
“I also told him that it was my conviction that once the Japanese set foot on Indian soil it would become our sacred duty to oppose them with every means at our disposal. I felt that it would be intolerable to exchange an old master for a new one……. I was surprised to find that Gandhiji did not agree with me. He told me in unqualified terms that if the Japanese army ever came into India it would come not as our enemy but as the enemy of the British…… Things reached a climax when he sent me a letter to the effect that my stand was so different from his that we could not work together. If Congress wanted Gandhiji to lead the movement, I must resign from the presidentship and also withdraw from the Working Committee”.
Maulana expressed his apprehensions in the form of some burning questions at the All India Congress committee meeting. But he was bewildered to know that:
This letter of Mahatma Gandhi was conveyed to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, early in the morning on the 7th July 1942. On this royal verdict, British writer Beverley Nichols comes in my mind. In his book “Verdict on India” he for the first time highlighted strong resemblance between the thought and action of Gandhiji and Hitler. Nichols points out similar resemblance between the course of action of Congress and Nazi parties. In this book published from London for the first time in 1944, the author wrote a chapter with the title of “Heil Hindu” about Mahatma Gandhi and Indian National Congress. Here resemblance to popular Nazi slogan “Heil Hitler” is not merely of thought but the author has vividly stated:
“However, it is not with Gandhi the man that we are here concerned, but Gandhi the dictator, and the Fascist organization which he has created, called Congress, which obeys the slightest crack of his whip……. Firstly, it is Fascist in principle…… Secondly, it is Fascist in practice. It is a Gandhi dictatorship…… Thirdly, it is Fascist by open confession…….. In January 1941,the German radio station at Zeesen, in a special broadcast, proclaimed…… “The German people respect Mahatma Gandhi as much as Adolf Hitler. Herr Hitler has the same principles as Mahatma Gandhi.” (pp.161…..165).
This evidence of a contemporary and impartial British scholar proves fascism-loving of Mahatma Gandhi and fascist strategy of Congress under the influence of his dictatorship. The way Maulana Abul Kalam Azad after 50 years politely satirizes the fascist thought and dictatorial actions of Mahatma Gandhi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz too presents it beautifully and attractively in the poem, “ To a Political Leader”. In the first stanza he highlights long struggle of oppressed and enslaved humanity. It has become a unique example in the modern poetry:
Extract from “To a Political Leader”
Year by year these unprotected, bound hands Have remained fixed in the hard, black bosom of night,
As a straw may be ardent in strife with the sea,
As a butterfly may make an attack on a mountain;
And now in the stony and black bosom of night
There are so many wounds, that whichever way the eye goes
Everywhere light has woven a sort of web,
From afar the sound of the throbbing of dawn comes.
Sal-ha-sal ye be asra, jakre hu e hat
Rat ke sakht o siya sine men paiwast rahe,
Jis tarah tinka samundar se ho sargarm-e-satez,
Jis tarah titri kuhsar pe yalghar kare;
Aur ab rat ke sarigin o siya sine neri
Itne gha o hain, ke jis simt nazar jati hi
Ja-ba-ja nur-ne ek jal-sa bun rakha hai,
Dur se subh ki dharkan ki sada ati hai
Steadfastness of the straws in war against the sea, loving assualt of the partridges on the hill; and in the struggle for independence endurance of the masses irrespective of body comforts is spread over half the century, it’s not story of few years. As a result of this revolutionary struggle, armies of dark night seem retreating. Guise of night is ragged and bright light of the dawn is peeping out, there. The morning star of independence has appeared. But tragically, Gandhi instead of paving the way for the onrush of independence is endeavoring to “Change the Lords”. He is busy to welcome fresh Japanese colonial rule at the place of weary and retreating British colonialism. In the second and last stanza of the poem, Faiz very passionately addresses Mahatma Gandhi.
Extract from “A Political Leader”
You do not desire the victory of darkness, but
You desire that these hands be cut off.
And that day, throbbing in the ambuscade of the east,
Sink under the iron corpse of night Tujhko manzur nahin ghalba-e-zulmat, lekin
Tujhko manzur hai ye hath qalam ho-ja en,
Aur mashriq ki kamin-gah men dharakta hu a din
Rat ki ahani maiyat ke tale dab-ja e!
It is a strange coincidence that the burning question which Faiz raises while addressing Mahatma Gandhi, is similar to the question Maulana Abul Kalam Azad raised befores the members of working committee of All India Congress which he revealed after fifty years. Being disappointed in working committee, he took the matter to Mahatma Gandhi personally. But Mahatma refused to discuss this question logically and members of the working committee had surrendered to the dictatorship of Gandhiji instead of analyzing it with reason.
Our progressive and open-minded intellectuals have hardly attempted to analyze this poem of Faiz in its historical context. That is why estimable Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi could not comprehend the entry of Faiz in the British army in its right perspective. In fact Faiz joined British army to reinforce ideological war and then after this enlightenment, resigned from the high rank of British army on the ideological grounds.
A heated debate is going on in Pakistan these days as to why Faiz Ahmad Faiz the progressive joined the public relations department of the British Indian army during the World War II. The participants mainly include the remnants of Progressive Writers Association who regard Faiz both as their leader and respected colleague.
Poet, writer and journalist Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi has thrown the first stone. In his sketch of Faiz first published in a magazine and now included in his book “Meray Ham Safar” (The People who came in my life), Qasmi has accused Faiz of joining an imperialist army despite the fact that as a writer he was one of the standard bearers of anti-imperialist campaign. Well-known journalist and author Abdullah Malik, has written a lengthy article titled “Faiz and British Army” in defence of the poet.
I tend to believe that answer to the question as to why Faiz entered the British-Indian Army lies in another question as to why Faiz Quit the army? A satisfactory answer to both questions by Faiz himself while talking to his biographer Ayub Mirza. Faiz has said, “The Muslim League, under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam had put forth a formal demand for the creation of Pakistan. Since in my official capacity, I sat in high-level meetings with British officials, I was fully aware of their anger and dismay over the demand for Pakistan………the Naval and other military rebellions against the foreign rule had shaken the British Empire, now appeared to the changing course. As the war ended (World War II), and the independence looked around the corner, the British government got hurry with making future constitutional plans for India. This was the time when the Pakistan movement was also touching its Zenith. In those days I was posted at Rawalpindi which was the headquarter of Northern Command. My job was to look after the Public Relations aspects of military. Perhaps inadvertently I got invited the head quarters. Some other senior Indian officers also participated in there meetings. Through there meeting few things became very clear to me. There were:
(1) After the conclusion of World War II, the British and American strategists were making preparations for possible conflict with the Soviet Union.
(2) They were apposed to the creation of an independent Pakistan.
(3) Even if India wins freedom, or is divided into two independent states, the British Indian army will remain as single entity under the command of British officers.
My assessment was confirmed by the Vice-Roy, Lord Wavell during his visit to Rawalpindi in March or April of 1946. After attending the Voice-Roy’s Darbar we were invited for lunch at the residence of General Rees (?) who was GOC of the area. There the Viceroy made frightening observations about the Indian politics. I had heard about betrayal but had never witnessed its true demonstration as I was seeing now. I was shocked indeed, and right at that moment decided that our struggle for freedom has entered a new phase, and that I must fight for independence of India and the creation of Pakistan. The time had arrived to quit the army, I thought.”
“Until yesterday America and Britain were allies of the Soviet Union against Hitler’s Germany and Italy’s Mussolini and now they were engaged in conspiracies against the Soviet Union. I decided that our struggle was entering a new phase. Creation of Pakistan and total independence of India were the objectives I firmly believed in. Along with that it had become essential to explore the conspiracies hatched against socialist Russia. I could never imagine betraying my country, violating my beliefs and ditching the International Socialism………Hence I decided that the time had arrived to Quit the army.”
The above quoted statement of Faiz leaves no doubt that he had decided to resign from the British-Indian Army purely on ideological grounds. Once it became clear to him that the British Government was against the creation of Pakistan; that the allies of yesterday had turned into enemies of today, and that a cold war was inevitable between the capitalist and socialist blocks, he decided to say farewell to the life of comfort and jumped into the foray of politics by accepting editorship of the Pakistan Times. This happened about a year before the independence. The Pakistan Times was in the process of being launched from Lahore. The owner Mian Iftkharuddin was spearheading the venture on the advice of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. As we have noticed, Faiz’s decision to quit army and take the bumpy road of journalism was dictated by his commitment to international socialism and Pakistani nationalism. Thus his reasons to join army were no different than his reasons to quit the army. To clarify his position further he told his biographer, that “there should be no confusion about it that I had joined army to fight fascism.”
Faiz in the above statement is talking about the time when the German fascism had trampled over Europe and was posing a serious threat to Soviet Union; and the Japanese fascism had run over Far East and was knocking at the doors of India. As soon as Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, leftist Indian intellectuals declared their full support to the Allied Nation’s war efforts against fascism. The war was termed “as war for freedom” and the slogan was readily adopted by the Indian Left. Faiz belonged to the same group of Indian leftist intellectuals.
Faiz in the above statement in talking about the time when the German fascism had trampled over Europe and was posing a serious threat to Soviet Union; and the Japanese fascism had run over Far East and was knocking at the doors of India. As soon as Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, leftist Indian intellectuals declared their full support to the Allied Nation’s war efforts against fascism. The war was termed ‘as war for freedom’ and the slogan was readily adopted by the Indian Left.
That Faiz’s stint with the army was dictated by his ideological and not “good life” concern is very well reflected in his following poems: “Teer-gee-hai keh umadti he challi aati hai”; “Phir Noor-e-Sehar dost-e-greban hai sehr say”; “Meray Hamdam Meray Dost”, and “siasi leader key Naam”. The last mentioned poem was addressed to Mohatama Gandhi. If we try to interpret and understand this poem in the light of historical facts stated by Moulana Abul Kalam Azad in the sixth chapter of his book “India Wins Freedom”, we would know for better Faiz’s revolutionary political beliefs and ideals. We are therefore reproducing that poem here for its careful study in the backdrop of political facts.
To A POLITICAL LEADER
Year by year these unprotected, bound hands
Have remained fixed in the hard, black bosom of night,
As a straw may be ardent in strife with the sea,
As a butterfly may make an attack on a mountain;
And now in the stony and black bosom of night
There are so many wounds, that whichever way the eye goes
Every where light has woven a sort of web,
From afar the sound of the throbbing of dawn comes.
Your wealth, your hope, are these same hands—
Have you anything else?— it is these same hands.
You do not desire the victory of darkness, but
You desire that these hand be cut off,
And that day, throbbing in the ambuscade of the east,
Sink under the iron corpse of night! SIYASI LEADER KE NAAM
Sal-hasal ye be-asra, jakre hu’e hat
Rat ke sakht o siya sine men paiwast rahe,
Jis tarah tinka samundar se ho sargarm-e-satez,
Jis tarah titri kuhsar pe yalghar kare;
Aur ab rat ke sarigin o siya sine mein
Itne gho o hain, ke jis simt nazar jati hi
Ja-ba-ja nur-ne ek jal-sa bun rakha hai,
Dur se subh ki dharkan ki sada ati hai
Tera sarmaya, teri as yehi hat to hain! Aur kuchh hai bhi tere pas? Yehi hat to hain,
Tujhko manzur nahin ghalba-e-zulmat, lekin
Tujhko manzur hai ye hath qalam ho-ja en,
Aur mashriq ki kamin-gah men dharakta hua din
Rat ki aahni majiyat ke tale dar-ja’ e!
This poem was written at a time when Hitler, after the conquest of Europe had attached the Soviet Union. This resulted in to an alliance between the West and Soviet Union to put-up a united front against fascism. Hitler appeared to having an upper hand. At the same time Japanese brand of fascism was swiftly expanding its empire in Asia. As president of the Indian National Congress, and a man blessed with perception to see through the fascist game, Moulana Azad was extremely upset over the support the Working Committee of Congress was extending to the Fascist regimes. The Most amazing part of the development was that the support to fascism was given under the leadership and urgings of Mohatama Gandhi. Moulana Azad was to soon discover that with the circles of Congress high command his was the lonely voice rose against fascism. To an extent Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru shared Maulana’s views but he lacked courage to speak out against Gandhi Jee. Azad indeed deserves complements for his unqualified and open opposition to Gandhi Jee’s friendly posture towards fascism. Discussing the (Congress) Working Committee’s meeting in Allahabad April 29, 1944, Azad in “India Wins Freedom” writes, “(see English text)
“I referred to the imminent peril of invasion by Japan. I sharply criticized those who believed or said that Japan would give India freedom. National self-respect demanded that we should not think in terms of a change of masters. We would resist the Japanese aggression in spite of our differences with the British. There could be no welcome for Japan, whether active or passive.”
Mahatma Gandhi very much opposed this thought. Under his influence, eminent leaders of Congress were actively supporting fascism. Therefore Maulana personally visited Gandhi Jee to convince him.
“I also told him that it was my conviction that once the Japanese set foot on Indian soil it would become our sacred duty to oppose them with every means at our disposal. I felt that it would be intolerable to exchange an old master for a new one……….. I was surprised to find that Gandhi Jee did not agree with me. He told me in unqualified terms that if the Japanese army ever came into India it would come not as our enemy but as the enemy of the British………..Things reached a climax when he sent me a letter to the effect that my stand was so different from his that we could not work together. If Congress wanted Gandhi Jee to lead the movement, I must resign from the presidentship and also withdraw from the Working Committee”.
Azad thought he had made a convening presentation of his views in the working committee but was astounded to find out the committee’s version on the controversy. He writes: “After a long, winding discussion the members reached the conclusion that we should have complete faith and trust in the wisdom of Gandhi Jee. And that if we continued to have unwavering faith in the leadership of Gandhi Jee, he will soon on later find out some solution to the difficult situation confronting us……….. Following Gandhi’s adverse reaction to Azad’s views, the differences between the two leaders acquired serious dimension. Azad goes on, (see English text)
Gandhi Jee’s dictatorial order, which stripped off Azad of all positions within the party, reminds us the comments on Gandhi of Beverly Nichols, the British author of “Verdict on India.” He was the first writer to point out the identity of outlook between Gandhi and Hitler, and the Indian National Congress and the German Nazi party published in 1944, chapter of the book which is devoted to the study of Gandhi and the Congress carries the intriguing title of “Heil Hindi”. Very obviously the selection of title is designed to reminds us the fact that the author finds no difference between the popular Nazi slogan “Heil Hitler” and “Heil Hindu” as well as the implications of this similarity under the above title Nichols writes,
“However, it is not with Gandhi the man that we are here concerned, but Gandhi the dictator, and the Fascist organization which he has created, called Congress, which obeys the slightest crack of his whip……….. First, it is Fascist in principle……….. Secondly, it is Fascist in practice. It is a Gandhi dictatorship……….. Thirdly, it is Fascist by open confession……….. In January 1941, the German radio station at Zeesen, in a special broadcast, proclaimed……….. “The German people respect Mahatma Gandhi as much as Adolf Hitler. Herr Hitler has the same principles as Mahatma Gandhi.” (pp.161………..165).
The observations of an apparently neutral British author about Gandhi’s love for fascism, and pro-fascist tilt of congress under Gandhi’s dictatorial leadership, can’t be dismissed as a mere political kite plying. Maulana Azad in “India Wins Freedom” testified to the same although he maintained some lofty posture as it was characteristic of him, and did not think it advisable to make his opinion public until decades after the death of Gandhi Jee.
The fascist disposition and authoritarian stance of Gandhi, which were to become satirical target of Azad, are also very well exposed in Faiz’s afore mentioned poem “Siasi Leader Key Naam” (An address to a political leader). Faiz like Azad does not cross the limit of cultured conduct and chooses to express his views in the form of poetry which is both scintillating and a superb attempt at communication. In the opening stanza the poet is at his splendid bent as he draws the portrait of an agonizing and long drawn out struggle for freedom of a nation which has fallen in the painful shackles of imperialism. The intellectual content of the poem, the sensitivity, which oozes out of the content, and the uncommon and exceptional manner of expression makes “Siasi leader Key Naam” without doubt, as the finest example of modern Urdu poetry. Notice the opening section:
Year by year these unprotected, bound hands
Have remained fixed in the hard, black bosom of night,
As a straw may be ardent in strife with the sea,
As a butterfly may make an attack on a mountain;
And now in the stony and black bosom of night
There are so many wounds, that whichever way the eye goes
Every where light has woven a sort of web,
From afar the sound of the throbbing of dawn comes.
Sal-hasal ye be-asra, jakre hu’e hat
Rat ke sakht o siya sine men paiwast rahe,
Jis tarah tinka samundar se ho sargarm-e-satez,
Jis tarah titri kuhsar pe yalghar kare;
Aur ab rat ke sarigin o siya sine mein
Itne gho o hain, ke jis simt nazar jati hi
Ja-ba-ja nur-ne ek jal-sa bun rakha hai,
Dur se subh ki dharkan ki sada ati hai
The tireless struggle for freedom, the ardent strife of straw against the ocean, the attack of butt fly on a mountain, is spread over more than a century. Against this revolutionary endeavor the dark night of sufferings appears to be retreating, and the soft, soothing light of dawn is beginning to unfold itself. The bells of freedom are ringing, but tragically, sight at this moment Mahatama Gandhi the ground for living in freedom; he appears to be willing to change the masters. Instead of giving the last push to the tired, crumbling British imperialism, Gandhi Jee is seen making prepositions to welcome to the youthful and surging imperialism of Japan. In the second and last stanza of the poem Faiz is found in a state of agony and distress as he addresses Gandhi Jee in the following words:
You do not desire the victory of darkness, but
You desire that these hand be cut off,
And that day, throbbing in the ambuscade of the east,
Sink under the iron corpse of night! Tujhko manzur nahin ghalba-e-zulmat, lekin
Tujhko manzur hai ye hath qalam ho-ja en,
Aur mashriq ki kamin-gah men dharakta hu a din
Rat ki adhani majiyat ke tale dar-ja’ e!
It is very interesting and informative coincidence, that the question which Faiz had asked while addressing Gandhi Jee in early forties, the same question as also raised by Moulana Abul Kalam Azad about the same time before the members of Congress Working Committee, and having keen disappointed by their response addressed the question directly to Gandhi Jee. Faiz’s poem was published at the time it was written but Azad’s encounter with Gandhi was not made public, for his advice, about half a century after the fact.
It is a pity that our progressive and enlightened intellectuals have never tried to evaluate this poem in its historical perspective. This probably is the reason that my respected friend Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi could not see Faiz’s joining the British-Indian Army in its proper perspective. It is a fact that Faiz had joined the army for ideological reasons, and for those very reasons he had resigned from a high-ranking place in the army.
***
