Delhi's egoist poetic voice falls silent: Urdu poet Shuja Khawar passes away

By Shams Ur Rehman Alavi

Shuja Khawar, who was probably the most distinct poetic voice in Urdu to have come up from Delhi in the post-independence era, bid final adieu to his admirers and poetry lovers.

ek uskaa saraapa* hai ki bas meN nahiiN aataa
kyaa haalat ho gayi, mere andaaz-e-bayaaN ki

[*figure, beauty]

It's not pure emotion but Shujauddin Sajid was worthy of being called the poet laureate of Delhi. This is not an exaggeration. Nusrat Zaheer in his editorial page column wrote an obituary titled 'Miyaan, Dilli Khamosh Ho gayi...', the words spoken to him by Farooq Argali at the graveyard.

Truly, it's a huge loss for the Dehli's culture as well as poetry.

raat usne dasht-e-jaaN ko gulistaa.n kar diya
hamne bhi har usuul ko qurbaan kar diyaa

But the reality was that Shuja never compromised on his principles:

thoRaa sa badal jaaye to bas taaj ho aur taKht
is dil ka magar kyaa kareN, sunta nahiiN kambaKht

Shuja reciting his couplets in early years.

The 'Qalandar' poet cared little about name or fame. It is not that he wasn't aware of tricks of the trade.

haalat use dil kii na dikhaai, na bayaa.n ki
Khair usne na ki baat, to hamne bhi kahaa.n ki

hue mahruumiyo.n ke jab ham aadi
to us zaalim ne chilman hi haTaa di

poNhchaa huzur-e-shaah, har ek rang ka faqiir
poNhchaa nahiiN jo, thaa vahii 'poNhchaa huaa' faqiir

Shuja Khar (Third from right)

After years of illness and solitude, he was once again getting back to the centre stage of Urdu poetry.



Despite the fact that I loved his poetry, I couldn't post his works except one ghazal. Now I intend to put up his ghazals selected couplets soon at my poetry site Best Ghazals.

Rediff's report on 'Deoband' fatwas: Wrong facts, irresponsible journalism

Rediff article that links Deoband to Surya Namaskar fatwa

It is perfectly understandable if a religious institution is criticised for issuing frivolous or controversial fatwas, just like a post written on this blog sometime back, but it is unfair if you criticise someone by attributing decrees which they didn't issue at all.

One of the most popular sites, Rediff.com surprisingly posted an article that surprisingly has not just factual error but also wrongly accuses Deoband for fatwas which they didn't at all issue. Strangely, even after it was brought to their notice, they didn't bother to correct it.

There was no quote. Of course, no effort to get version and the institution was wrongly accused. I noticed the report as I had written a post 'Fatwa Factory...' sometime back on this blog. This recent Rediff article had similar headline.

The article blamed Deoband for issuing fatwa against Surya Namaskar. The seminary never issued any such fatwa. The particular religious 'opinion' was issued by Darul Ifta Bhopal. The Rediff report that doesn't carry writer's name goes ahead to say that, 'seminary has issued fatwa against Surya Namaskar....'.

It then falsely mentions the diktat against Veena Malik. Again, this was the call of All India Muslim Tehwar Committee.

They had termed that she was now 'biradari-baahar' [to be ex-communicated, huh! who is listening and who is bothered?], a sort of call that khap panchayats issue. Of course, condemn-able but why accuse Deoband.

Cleverly, the article says 'Majlis-e-Shoora' but doesn't tell reader that this 'Majlis' was that of Tehwar Committee, not Deoband.

By any journalistic or ethical standards, this is unusual. If Rahul Gandhi makes a statement, how can simply attribute it to Nitin Gadkari and then accuse the latter again and again through similar other misrepresentations? This is not just shoddy reporting, it is unethical and gives bad name to media. 

The article further says that in defence the seminary says it's opinion that is not binding. When the writer didn't contact the seminary for version, they themselves wrote this line to support the article. Had they spoken to Ulema, they'd have been told that the above mentioned diktats were not issued by Deoband.

Rediff article that links the Veena Malik 'diktat' to Deoband

Deoband has issued several controversial fatwas in the past. If Rediff reporters made a slight effort, they could have made a good case against Deoband but they sullied journalism through such a false story. It is such news reports that create impression among citizens that journalists are irresponsible guys.

In which other profession, you can make such blunders. In print media also, you can lose job for such errors. Of course, it's easy to make changes on the internet. Still, even after being informed in comment section by readers and through other media, they haven't bothered to cross-check the facts or rectify mistakes in the last two weeks.

Even the most careless person would make such errors. Journalists can't generally get away with such factual inaccuracies. Then, how could the site that grabs millions of eye balls act with such carelessness? They could have either done groundwork to mention the really controversial fatwas of Deoband or simply written on the trend of fatwas issued from the seminaries [and such so-called moral guardians].

Why they got so irresponsible? Any answers Rediff.com?

[My article that was critical of such fatwas in the past. Read it here]

Saffronisation in Madhya Pradesh: Isn't it BJP's appeasement of the majority community?

Towards a Saffron state!

We hear the BJP make so much noise about appeasement of minorities, particularly Muslims. But does anyone use the term 'Majority [or Hindu] appeasement' when the party goes all out to ensure Saffronisation in a state.

In Madhya Pradesh, BJP seems to have steadily taken the RSS agenda quite far without a whimper. As a commentator in a national newspaper recently remarked that by keeping a low-profile BJP leaders in MP have silently pushed the Hindutva plan ahead.

But in the last few months, people have begun to see the design. Either it is the stringent law against cow slaughter that will put onus on any cattle trader if he is 'caught' taking bovines to prove his innocence or the introduction of Gita in school syllabus, MP is clearly outpacing Gujarat as the Hindutva lab.

1. The 'Surya Namaskar' may seem to be a innocuous activity akin to Yoga but the seriousness of the government in implementing it, clearly shows that it wants majority community's style of worship to enter hitherto secular schools. Personally many people won't find it too disturbing.

2. The party had proposed renaming Bhopal as Bhojpal in an apparent move to get rid off its Muslim heritage. The founder of modern Bhopal was Dost Mohammad Khan, the first Nawab and ruler of the medieval dynasty. On the ramparts of his fort in the lake, the huge statue of Raja Bhoj was erected.

Was it not majority appeasement? It didn't work though as party understood the popular mood was against the proposed name, Bhojpal. There has been no end to such decisions during the last few years. You may find them innocuous at your own risk.

3. Even when Abhinav Bharat members were caught for acts of terrorism, no statewide hunt was launched by MP police. But when Kashmiri youths were caught, they were immediately dubbed as terrorists. They were later released when it was realised that there was no case against them.

Further a campaign was launched against Kashmiri students in Bhopal. It was alleged that if Kashmiris would be allowed to come in such large numbers, this would facilitate the entry of militants who could then sneak into the state.

4. Steps were taken to ensure that Kashmiri Muslims didn't come for studies in MP in large numbers. It became a national issue. Similar was the case of stringent law against conversion and the religious profiling of Christians that was stopped after it came in open. Isn't all this clear case of Hindu appeasement?

5. The issue is that there is clearly a larger design. When Gita lessons were about to be introduced, the leaders of Sikh, Christian and Muslim communities opposed it. They termed it a step to turn all state-run schools into Shishu Mandirs.

Then, the State government, said that it had no objection to add teachings from scriptures of other communities as well. It was cleverly aimed to mollify the protesters.

When the opposition died down, the BJP government silently introduced the Gita chapters in the curriculum in schools.

As long as it is a secular state bound by constitution, there has to be a limit to this form of appeasement. Muslims can teach Quran in Madarsas and Hindus can teach Gita or other scriptures at private run schools or Saraswati Shishu Mandirs.

6. Public memory is short. Sometime back the decision to ask students recite 'Bhojan mantra' was also taken in the state. The education department had then insisted that it was not 'objectionable'. It is not that everybody is a fool. They try, see the response, then either act or stop and reintroduce things slightly later.

7. It is not the state government is concerned about education or students. The state run schools are in a mess. There is little interest to save schools, let alone open new ones. The buildings are in poor state. Of the 1.3 lakh government schools, over 25,000 schools have no toilets.

8. Government teachers, students are used to swell crowds by all parties. They come free and can't question the decisions. So it's easy to force them to attend rallies or mass Surya Namaskar. Unlike party workers brought from far-flung areas at the cost of transportation, the children won't even ask for money or lunch.

9. Schoolteachers are forced into election duties, regular vaccination drives and all government functions. The truth is that there is no concern about schoolchildren's fitness or education standards in these schools. The interest is just to further the agenda.

10. In fact, MP is a classic case. Unlike Gujarat, where Chief Minister Narendra Modi was till a few years back quite vocal and often made crude statements about Muslim community, BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh have been silent and have projected its image as an inclusive party.

In MP that has 50 lakh [five million] Muslims, the BJP has held conventions for Muslims. The CM's pet Kanya Daan scheme for Hindu couples has been extended to include 'mass nikaahs' that are held at the expense of the government.

When there was criticism that advertisements for 'Beti Bachao' scheme, the hoardings were quickly changed. The photographs of Muslim girls adorned them. The couplets like 'HadithoN [HadeesoN] ki zeenat haiN betiyaaN' were also introduced as slogans.

On the law-and-order front, the riots were controlled quickly and there were no major communal clashes. The activities of Bajrang Dal and other allied Hindutva groups were kept under control. No wonder, a section of Muslims felt comfortable with Chouhan as Chief Minister.

The down to earth approach of the Chief Minister has made him popular among Muslims also. Party is expecting Muslim votes in the upcoming Assembly elections. Many BJP leaders had got Muslim votes in the last election and this was a surprise for the party.

Then what prompts the State BJP to take decisions that are now leading to controversies. Everybody in the power corridors in MP knows that the top state leadership doesn't want any issue that will cause disharmony or unnecessary controversy.

10. Clearly, good governance and popularity are not enough. The RSS doesn't want the BJP to become a Congress' version 2.0, even if it outperforms the latter on various indicators. In the last two terms, all Sangh institutions in MP have got so strong that even if the party doesn't come to power for decades, they won't face any problem.

Huge chunks of prime land have been given to them. If a BJP leader wants to keep his chair safe, then the first thing he must do is to keep the RSS in good humour. Once he is done with that, he can be assured that there is no internal threat to his rule, and focus on politics and governance.

Unfortunately for the party, the President's nod for the bill came just now when Surya Namaskar was to be organised. The controversy over Gita lessons hadn't died. For years, BJP has raised the issue of 'alpasankhyak tushtikaran', now they are doing aggressive appeasement of the bahusankhyak [majority] and not many seems to notice!

No cartoons, No comics: Urdu newspapers, magazines neglecting children

Khilauna published foreign comic strips

Shams Ur Rehman Alavi

Despite fears about survival of Urdu in the decades after independence, the language continues to thrive in India, 64 years after independence.

But it's surprising how Urdu newspapers and even magazines continue to neglect children. Surprisingly, even the kids' magazines have few cartoons.

It is this segment--the kids--that will grow up to read the papers and if circulations fall in future, the reason would be lack of any effort to draw the young generation towards the language.

In fact, most of the Urdu papers have no concept of cartoons or comic strips (except political cartoons in a few papers). None of the Urdu newspapers published from Delhi, Hyderabad or Lucknow have a single cartoon for kids. Though there is no dearth of cartoonists in the country, they have neither any cartoon nor any translated comic strip.

Foreign cartoon strips--Dennis the Menace, Phantom, Archies or Richie Rich are translated and published in other vernacular papers. One could understand that many papers don't have resources to pay for the strips as they are expensive but the reality is that there is no serious effort to get indigenous cartoon strips either.

Children in the age group 4-10 get attracted towards papers if they see a cartoon, a sketch which they are asked to colour or similar activity. If they find such stuff, then they evince interest and without anybody's effort start reading over a period of time.

But despite umpteen conferences regarding future of Urdu, this aspect remains neglected. Only recently Urdu editors' conference was held in Hyderabad. Though Vice-President Hamid Ansari advised the papers to draw youngsters, I wonder if anyone of the seasoned editors could understand the essence of his speech.

Comic strip by Shakil Anwaar Siddiqui

Excessive focus on politics is harming Urdu press. 

Till 1980s, Shama publications' Khilauna [do you call it Khilona?] published Richie Rich, even Archies and other international comics. Apart from these translated strips, there were Indian authors' who drew awesome comics. 

A case in point is 'Shuja'at', the thrilling strip by Shakil Anwaar Siddiqui that continued for a long time and had kids hooked.

There is ample official patronage and money for Urdu in India. Apart from over a dozen Urdu academies, there are big institutions like NCPUL.

But Urdu media remains obsessed with politics. If those who love the language want Urdu to survive and thrive, they must focus on getting children interested in reading Urdu magazines and papers. This is the need of the hour. 

Indian Muslims must avoid street protests

An incident that largely went ignored in national media recently occurred in Jalna, which is located in 'Congress-ruled' Maharashtra, and has lessons for Muslims.

Upset over circulation of a distorted photograph on Facebook, Muslims took out a protest. There was ruckus during the procession that sought stern action against culprits. Some youths in the demonstration had face-off with traders and resorted to stone pelting. A vehicle was also reportedly torched.

What happened thereafter is incomprehensible. The Jalna police registered cases under sections meant for  dacoity and attempt to murder against these youths. They were arrested and sent to jail and the father of one them died of heart attack when he heard news of his son's arrest.

Certainly there was no need for any ruckus in the procession and if, at all, there was lawlessness, it warranted legal action. But the police should have applied the appropriate sections under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), not the cases meant for acts that didn't happen. Instead they used such harsh sections that are never used in such incidents. One again you can cry 'injustice' or recite couplets like 'ham aah bhi bharte haiN to ho jaate hain badnaam, voh qatl bhi...'.

But there are several lessons for Indian Muslims in this:

1. Firstly, many would say that it is 'injustice' and that protests which are much more violent--ranging from open arms display by right-wing groups to Barjang Dal attacks during Valentine's Day or the Gujjars blocking railway track, don't invoke such harsh sections.

The fact is that incidents like Forbesganj firing, Gopalgarh killings and now Jalna arrests, show how administration acts in such cases. Was a mere Facebook post so damaging for a religion professed by hundreds of millions?

2. Couldn't the local Muslims have taken legal route--either filing FIR in the police station or getting case registered through a private complaint in the court. Else, submitting memorandums to district collector. Couldn't they have taken a leaf out of Muslims in another city [I have forgotten the name], who took Hindus and Sikhs also along, while taking their delegation to the officials.

3. How many protests have Jalna Muslims undertaken for issues pertaining to their socio-economic backwardness or how many times have they joined hands with other communities in taking out protests. We, mostly, go out, when there is an 'attack' on 'our religion'.

4. We exclusively take out protests. In such instances, there is often a risk, that the section of policemen or officers who don't like the sight of a 'Muslim juloos' may use extra force. There is apparently a feeling that with such processions, Muslims want to show their 'strength'.

This feeling is reinforced and officials sometimes take stringent action. If another group that is allied to a political party may get away lightly with a protest, it doesn't mean that you will also be let off that easily. The cases would be registered, youths hounded and their future [careers] affected.

5. A history of such incidents must have taught us that often the 'protesting minority' is seen as 'the other'. In Jalna, 60 Muslim youths were sent to jail. While one may criticise police action and the case may or may not stand in the court later on, the reality is that there was lawlessness to an extent, which you can't justify. And now the youths and their families are suffering.

The youths will experience what it is when your name is once registered in the local police station and you are deemed a troublemaker. It is really frustrating to see Muslims repeating the same mistakes again and again across the country.

6. Protest is out democratic right.But if you feel that someone else can get away with a violent protest and thus you should be spared as there was just a 'mere stone pelting', it is not a practical argument. Words like 'injustice', 'biased action', 'communal mindset' are often used but this can't justify your stand.

It also hurts the image of the community that it is ready to take to streets at the slightest provocation. Is our religion or belief so weak that any damn person's post or photo on a social networking website can hurt it. And why not take proper action, rather, than chanting emotional slogans and taking to the streets.

7. Frankly, you must protest for other people, belonging to other communities also for valid reasons, not just your own community as if you are absolutely isolated. We only go out for ourselves. This reinforces the set 'image' of Muslims. Each such protest results in loss for Muslims. This pattern is going on for decades.

8. I can recall dozens of incidents in the last decade alone, starting from the Kanpur case to the recent incidents that occurred in Rajasthan and Bihar. The violence in Kanpur had occurred in 2001, when Muslims protesting desecration of Holy Quran were fired at.

At least, 13 Muslims were killed as per official reports and the destruction of property of Muslims was immense. Not just right-wing groups but UP's notorious PAC smelt blood again and went about loot and destruction.

The better example is the case where Muslims took members of all other communities along and they took up the cases of online mischief that was 'hurting religious feelings' with the officials. Hindu leaders took up example of pictures of Gods that were morphed and similar was complaint of Sikhs.

As a result, the administration promptly acted and with greater sensitivityYou must take others along, rather than blowing your own trumpet alone.

9. Don't always think that it is you who gets the raw deal. In daily life, almost everybody who is unprivileged gets a bad deal from police and administration. The Tribal, Dalit and other weaker sections, a poor belonging to higher caste, are also a victim of numerous injustices.

So don't think that you alone are targeted all the time and stop raising the bogey of 'victim hood'. You are no special that you would be treated less harshly. Thus Jalna incident should again serve as reminder that reckless  actions can lead to further problems.

Muslims must learn to hold silent sit-ins and dharnas, if at all, it is necessary or innovative forms of smart protests that attract media rather than affecting traffic and turning off others. Otherwise they run the risk of getting labelled as aggressors and termed as 'troublemakers'. It's time to ponder seriously whether mindlessly protests serve any purpose or they instead hurt us.

10. And yes, new media is evolving. There will be a lot of stuff that you may find offending. But it shouldn't drive you crazy. You must learn to ignore things as well. One can only hope that repeated incidents will now serve as lesson for the community and they would learn to be more responsible and tactful.