Delhi Elections 2020: This is What Our Urdu Poets Wrote About Democracy, Voting Process and Government

With campaigning for the Delhi elections reaching a particularly brutish crescendo and elections, in general, coming to mean far more than simply the exercise of individual franchise in a democratic system, it might be useful to see how the creative writer and poet, especially in Urdu, has interpreted and analysed the electoral process.Plato had wanted poets banished from his republic because they could make lies seem like truth. PB Shelley, on the other hand, thought poets were the “unacknowledged legislators of the world”. In light of such pronouncements, let us see how our poets have viewed our political scenario, especially people’s power to vote.Kejriwal Vs Shah: Is BJP Giving AAP a Walkover in Delhi? Plato had wanted poets banished from his republic because they could make lies seem like truth. PB Shelley thought poets were the “unacknowledged legislators of the world”.Akbar Allahabadi (1846-1921), a trenchant critic of ‘modernism’, took jibes at the fledgling electoral systems being installed within a larger colonial enterprise.Akbar’s younger contemporary, Zareef Lakhnavi (1870-1937), was similarly dubious about the ‘benefits’ of municipality elections in a satirical poem called ‘Shaamat-e Election’.Taking Jibes at Fledgling Electoral Systems Within a Larger Colonial EnterpriseAkbar Allahabadi (1846-1921), a trenchant critic of ‘modernism’, takes a jibe at the fledgling electoral systems being installed within a larger colonial enterprise, alluding here to the first-ever general elections held in British India in 1920 to elect members to the Imperial Legislative Council and the Provincial Councils, in this somewhat tart observation:Scheme ka jhoolna woh jhooleyLekin yeh kyun apni raah bhooleyQaum ke dil mein khote hai paidaAchhey achchey hain vote ke shauda(Let others swing on the swing of ‘Scheme’But why have they strayed from the beaten pathA flaw has entered the heart of the peopleThe best among them are enamoured by the vote)Akbar’s younger contemporary, Zareef Lakhnavi (1870-1937), is similarly dubious about the ‘benefits’ of municipality elections in a satirical poem called ‘Shaamat-e Election’. In its engaging portrayal of an elitist man crossing the hitherto impenetrable socio-economic barrier in search of votes, the poem can be seen as an early portrayal of social engineering that India would witness in the decades after Independence. It talks of the ‘high’ going to the ‘low’ begging for votes, of asking for votes in the name of being co-religionists among a litany of other woes concluding with the rueful question:Iss tarah ke voter aur member hon jab iss qism keKahiye is municipality se kisey rahat mile(If the voters are such and the members are like thisWhat relief can such a municipality expect?)Cab Mein Charcha: Who Will Cabbies Vote For in Delhi Elections?‘The Menace that Lies Beneath the Veneer of Democracy’One of the earliest commentators on the socio-political scenario in Pakistan, the India-born satirist Dilawer Figar takes a jibe at female representation:Apiya jo ab ke qaumi election men hain khaḌiMardon ki rahnuma.i karega zamana kyaa!(Now that Big Sis is standing for the electionsHow will the world show the way for men!)Taking a cue from Ghalib’s famous line ‘Ik Brahaman ne kaha hai ke ye saal achcha hai’, our very own humourist Popular Meeruthi is predicting:Meri qismat ka sitara hai chamakne vaalaMere baare mein ye voter ka ḳhayal achchha haiIs bharose pe election men khada huun main bhiIk nujumi ne kaha hai ki ye saal achchha hai(The star of good fortune is about to shine brightlyIt’s a good thing that the voter thinks well of meAnd with that good faith I too am standing for electionAn astrologer has said this is going to be a good year for me)And elsewhere, hinting at the menace that lies beneath the veneer of democracy with political leaders relying upon the services of specially-hired thugs, he writes:Ek leader se kaha ye main ne kal ai 'Papular'Tu election men agar haara to kya rah ja.egaApne ġhundon ki taraf dekha aur us ne yuun kahaJis diye men jaan hogi vo diya rah ja.ega(I said to a leader yesterday, O PopularWhat’ll happen if you lose in the electionHe looked at his hired goons and saidThe lamp that has life will remain lit)What Makes Faiz Timeless and Accessible to Lay Urdu Readers?‘An Election Means Choosing Between a Rock and a Hard Place’With his tongue firmly in cheek, Nashtar Amrohvi is declaring:Nahin parva ki leader kaun achchha kaun ganda haiSiyasat meri rozi hai election mera dhanda hai(I don’t care which leader is good or which is badPolitics is my profession and election my trade)On the money spent on electioneering by individual candidates, here is Arshad Mir’s woeful lament:Election ab bhala kaise ladenge ham raqibon seKamai to uda daali hai saari ishtiharon par(Now how will I fight the elections with my rivalsI have spent all my savings on advertisements)In a short poem entitled ‘Makhmasa’ (meaning ‘puzzle’ or ‘riddle’), a contemporary poet Inayat Ali Khan is asking where does one go when an election means choosing between a rock and a hard place:Pahunch gaye hain election ke phir dvare parTumhi batao mire bhai kis taraf jaaenIdhar miyan hai udhar maai kis taraf jaaenIdhar kuaan hai udhar khaai kis taraf jaaen(We have again reached the doorway of electionsYou tell me, my brother; where should we goA husband here, a mother there; where should we goA well here and a cliff there; where should we go)‘Give Them Everything But Do Not Give Them Your Vote’In a poem entitled ‘Vasiyat’ (‘Will’), Kaifi Azmi is asking his son to give his heart, his eyes, even his khuddari (self-respect) after he dies but never, never give his vote to ‘them’, meaning the dark forces that are tearing away at society:Jo vo phailain daaman ye vasiyat yaad kar lenaUnhein har chiiz de dena par un ko vote mat dena(If they beg you remember this Will of mineGive them everything, but do not give them your vote)The poet and film-maker, Gulzar, who had made the film ‘Mere Apne’ (1971) about gang-warfare and political campaigning that exploits unemployed youth, writes this haiku-like piece on the post-election horse-trading and the scenes witnessed in Maharashtra after the recent elections using the analogy of rogue roosters and hapless hens:Badey mustande murghe thhe gali keBacha ke rakhna mushkil ho gaya thha murghiyon koKabhi sab tokri mein rakh ke ooper eent rakh deteyTo charrh ke eenton par vo bang detey thheyUnhein darbon mein band karteyTo darwazon pe dastak aaney lagti thhiBason mein bhar ke le jaate hain abUnhein ab hotalon mein band rakhtey hainKoi ‘ego’ nahin in murghiyon kiFaqat voting mein aa kar andey detii hain!(The roosters in the alley had become such roguesIt was becoming difficult to keep the hens safeWhen the hens would be put under baskets with a brick on topThey would climb atop the bricks and crowWhen the hens would be put in coopsThey would begin to peck at the doorNow they are taken away in busesAnd kept locked up in hotelsThese hens have no ‘ego’They only come during voting to lay eggs)‘The EVM, Too, Is Mine’The ailing, elderly poet from the Jamia neighbourhood who has adopted the university’s name as his nom de plum, Asrar Jamaii, has written ‘Leader ki Dua’, a spoof on Sir Muhammad Iqbal’s famous poem ‘Dua’ (‘Prayer’); except that this prayer is not address to the Lord but to Iblis (Satan):Paida dil-e-votar mein vo shorish-e-mahshar karJo josh-e-election mein danka mira bajva de(Create such a fear of Doomsday in the voters’ heartThat it may beat my drum in the frenzy of election)Asra Rizvi draws our attention to the arrogance and appropriation of political power that is far more sinister than the pomp and splendour of election rallies, the flower-bedecked stages, the loudspeakers and bombastic speeches filled with high rhetoric and empty promises:EVM bhi mera haiSab neta nagri meri haiAb koi nahin kuchh bolegaAur koi nahin munh kholega(The EVM too is mineThe city and all its leaders are mineNo one shall say anything nowNo one shall open their mouth)In a long satirical poem directed specifically at elections entitled ‘Main Nashe Mein Hoon’ by Syed Mohamad Jafri (1905-1976) takes a sharp penetrating look at the state of the nation, rocked as it is by protests, empty sloganeering, false promises and processions where nothing is free, not even fame that can bring in votes (shohrat to muft vote dilati nahin hai kuchh):Is qaum ki falah hai jam-o-subu ke biichTum intiḳhab ja ke laḌo hav-hu ke biichDushnam aur balvon ke aur du-ba-du ke biichJaise ki koi baiTha ho bazm-e-adu ke biich(The welfare of this nation lies betwixt the glass and jugWhile you go and fight your elections amidst hue and cryBetween abuse and riots and confrontations and tete-a-tetesLike someone sitting in an Assembly of Rivals)‘It’s the Season of Rains, When Votes Will Shower’In yet another poem, titled ‘Election’, the same Jafri paints a picture that has become all too familiar: a state and society in the throes of elections, of leaders behaving like wrestlers in a wrestling pit, of scuffles breaking out among rivals during processions, when grand sales are announced at shops selling votes (‘voton ki har dukan pe hogi grand sale’), when only those people matter whose names exist in electoral rolls (‘zinda hai vo ki jis ka register men naam hai’),Saaqi sharab de ke election hai aaj-kalBarsenge vote jis men vo savan hai aaj-kalJamhuriyat ke paanv men jhanjan hai aaj-kalYe mulk us ke naach ka angan hai aaj-kal(Pour me some wine for it’s the time of election these daysIt’s the season of rains when votes will shower these daysThere’s a tinkling anklet on the feet of democracy these daysThis country has become a courtyard for its dance these days)And:Hasil karenge laakh tariqon se vote koPaani hi ki tarah se bahaenge note ko(We will gain the votes though lakhs of different waysWe will pour wads of money like flowing water)Today, when the air is rent with talk of ‘Tukde-Tukde Gang’ and cries of ‘Goli Maro’, these jibes of votes-for cash and empty sloganeering seem benign, almost genteel. Only time will tell what the poetry of tomorrow will depict.(Rakhshanda Jalil is a writer, translator and literary historian. She writes on literature, culture and society. She runs Hindustani Awaaz, an organisation devoted to the popularisation of Urdu literature. She tweets at @RakhshandaJalil. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

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Delhi Polls: What Did Urdu Poets Like Gulzar Write On Elections?

Plato wanted poets banished from his republic as they could ‘make lies seem like truth’. What did Urdu poets feel?

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