Remembering Faiz Ahmad Faiz: Voice That’s Relevant Even in 2020

Why Faiz Ahmad Faiz is the relevant even in 2020?

Why Faiz Ahmad Faiz is relevant even in 2020? 

(Photo: The Quint)

(This story was originally published on 7 February 2020 and is being republished from The Quint’s archives after an IIT-K panel found that students reciting Faiz’s Hum Dekhenge was “unsuitable.”)

One poet that has found his way back in today’s context is Faiz Ahmad Faiz. His work like ‘Hum Dekhengay’ has been a popular rendition at Shaheen Bagh and other sites of protests ever since the CAA debate started.

Faiz Ahmad Faiz is one of the most popular poets of the 20th century. His writings reflect the transition from romanticism to revolution and he faced political repression for his revolutionary views.

He was born in the year 1911, in Sialkot, Punjab, from where he pursued his basic education from Church Mission School. Later, he did his Masters in English and Arabic from Lahore. During his college days, he continued to pursue his poetic aspirations. When the Progressive Movement in India gathered momentum in 1936, he was one of the protagonists. Faiz beautifully blended the grief of love with sorrows of life in his poetry which struck a chord with the youth.

Aside from literature, he had also dabbled in fields like teaching and journalism. He was also a part of the British Indian Army. Faiz's work is considered to be the backbone of Pakistani literature and helped developed the arts in the country. While on the one hand, he created some revolutionary verses that called for justice, he also wrote beautiful soulful poetry.

The Quint got a celebrated singer Smita Bellur and poet and writer Suhail Akhtar Warsi to sing and narrate Faiz’s poetry. Accompanied by her, on the dholak is Sadanand Mulik and on the harmonium is Vinod Padge.

Cameraperson - Sanjoy Deb, Shekhar, Vijay, Vivek, Gautam Sharma, and Jyoti
Video Editor - Ashish Maccune
Video Producer - Deeksha Sharma