Abdul Ahad Azad

Azad was born in 1903 to Muhammad Sultan Dar belonging to the Dar tribe of Kashmir.{{Cite web |title=Abdul Ahad Azad: Voicing Romance and Rebellion |url=http://brighterkashmir.com/abdul-ahad-azad-voicing-romance-and-rebellion |access-date=22 September 2024 |website=Brighter Kashmir |archive-date=22 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922201326/http://brighterkashmir.com/abdul-ahad-azad-voicing-romance-and-rebellion |url-status=live }} He received his preliminary education in a madrassa, where he was taught Persian, Arabic and Islamic philosophy by his father. Azad passed Munshi Alim exam from University of the Punjab and was appointed by Dogra government as a primary school teacher in Zowhama, where he taught Arabic; he was later transferred to Tral.{{Cite web |last=Life |first=Kashmir |date=19 March 2021 |title=Why Abdul Ahad Azad Was The Poet of The Future? |url=https://kashmirlife.net/why-abdul-ahad-azad-was-the-poet-of-the-future-262171/ |access-date=22 September 2024 |website=Kashmir Life |language=en-GB |archive-date=9 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609214849/https://kashmirlife.net/why-abdul-ahad-azad-was-the-poet-of-the-future-262171/ |url-status=live }} Azad married a village girl and had a son. In 1931 resistance, he was suspected of being an activist and transferred to farflung areas. His house was raided, searched and family members tortured. His dues were also withheld by the government and he was not permitted to visit his ailing son,{{Cite book |last=Bhat |first=Roopkrishen |title=Communal harmony in Kashmiri literature |date=2018 |publisher=Authorspress |isbn=978-93-87281-41-7 |location=New Delhi |pages=121–136}} who died at the age of four, while he was posted at Tral. Azad thought deeply over this incident and according to Bazzaz he became "a skeptic, a rationalist."

In 1942, at the age of 39, he developed friendships with Prem Nath Bazaz, Padam Nath Ganju, Omkar Nath, Ghulam Ahmad Ashai and KL Kaul. At this point, Azad was ideologically drifting towards radical Marxism. In April 1948, Azad died of appendicitis in Srinagar at the age of 45, amidst the political turmoil in Kashmir.

Azad wrote his first poem at the age of 16. He was introduced to the poetry of Habba Khatoon, Rasul Mir and Maqbool Shah by his father.{{Cite book |last=Kachru |first=Braj B. |title=Kashmiri literature |date=2023 |publisher=Manohar |isbn=978-93-88540-55-1 |edition=Reprint 2020 |series=A history of Indian literature / Series editor Jan Gonda Vol. 8, Modern Indian-Aryan literatures, part 1 |location=New Delhi}} Azad wrote various revolutionary poems and became a source of inspiration for the freedom fighters during the political awakening in Kashmir.{{Cite journal |last=Fayaz |first=Farooq |date=2004 |title=Political Awakening and Protest as Echoed in Folk Verse (1885–1947) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44144785 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=65 |pages=715–726 |jstor=44144785 |issn=2249-1937}} Azad composed the first history of Kashmiri language and poetry from Lalleshwari to his time. The three volume book, Kashmiri Zaban aur Sayiri, was edited by Mohammad Yusuf Teng and was posthumously published by Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in Urdu, in 1959, 1962 and 1963, respectively.{{Cite journal |last=Kaul |first=J. L. |date=1963 |title=Kashmiri Literature |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23329413 |journal=Indian Literature |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=92–96 |jstor=23329413 |issn=0019-5804}}{{Cite web |last=Yaqoob |first=Gowhar |date=16 March 2019 |title=In Pursuit of a Nation: Conflicting Formulations of Nationalism in the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir (1930–1940) — by Gowhar Yaqoob |url=https://www.inversejournal.com/2019/03/16/in-pursuit-of-a-nation-conflicting-formulations-of-nationalism-in-the-princely-state-of-jammu-and-kashmir-1930-1940-by-gowhar-yaqoob/ |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=INVERSE JOURNAL |language=en-US}} Azad initially wrote prose in Urdu but was later inspired to write in Kashmiri after Mahjoor founded the journal, Kong Pos.{{Cite journal |last=Handoo |first=Jawaharlal |date=1979 |title=Contemporary Kashmiri Poetry |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23331199 |journal=Indian Literature |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=145–154 |jstor=23331199 |issn=0019-5804}}

Braj Kachru has identified three poetic phases in Azad's poetry, which he asserts, are indicative of his maturity and development. These phases coincide with the pen names Azad adopted throughout his career. The first phase was the poems of love and devotion written under the pen name, Ahad. Poems in this phase were influenced by Urdu and Persian poets. The second phase is characterized by his poetry on nature under the pen name of Janbaz. Prem Nath Bazaz argues that shift happened because Azad drew inspiration from Mahjoor's poetry on nature. The last phase was when he adopted Azad as his pen name, in 1931, at Khanqah-e-Moula, and is known to Kashmiri people by this name. Kachru holds that this change came partly due to the death of his son.

In 1942, Azad became involved in the Kashmiri Socialists' democratic movement for complete freedom of Kashmir. This affiliation provided him with opportunities to study current literature, philosophy, and progressive ideas. This, according to Prem Nath Bazaz, led to the "unfolding of all his latent capacities" and "raising of banner of revolt against the extant social order."

Together with Mahjoor and Zinda Kaul, Azad is considered one of the key figures in the modernist movement in Kashmiri literature. These three poets are recognized for their contribution to shaping the literary landscape that later evolved into a renaissance of Kashmiri literature after 1947.{{Cite book|last=Gauhar |first=G. N. |title=Abdul Ahad Azad|date=1997|publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=81-260-0322-7|location=New Delhi|oclc=37993483}}

Azad introduced revolutionary themes in Kashmiri poetry. The linguistic innovation required for these new themes was also attempted by him, notably in his poems, Shikwa-i-Iblis, among other. His poetry, influenced by Marxist worldview, expresses a desire for social emancipation by giving voice to the voiceless elements of society. His poetry reveals a devotion to the birth of a new, progressive society in which the structures of exploitation and inequality collapse, as Marx predicted in his philosophy.{{Cite web |last=SHAMEEM |first=BASHARAT |date=29 December 2023 |title=Remembering the Poet of the Masses: Abdul Ahad Azad |url=https://risingkashmir.com/remembering-the-poet-of-the-masses-abdul-ahad-azad/ |access-date=22 September 2024 |website=Rising Kashmir |language=en-US}} Azad was the first Kashmiri poet to include new themes like war and religious fanaticism and champion the cause of peace and universal brotherhood.{{Cite book |last=Raina |first=Trilokinath |title=A history of Kashmiri literature |date=2002 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-1366-1 |location=New Delhi}} Azad is also credited with infusing Marxist themes in Kashmiri poetry, which is reflected in his poems such as Inqalab ("Revolution"), An Inqalab ("Bring revolution"), and Payami Inqalab ("Message of the revolution").{{Cite book |last=Bazaz |first=Abir |title=The Oxford Handbook of Modern Indian Literatures |date=23 February 2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-764791-2 |editor-last=Anjaria |editor-first=Ulka |chapter=A New Literature for a Naya Kashmir: Progressivism and Modernism in Modern Kashmiri Literature |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197647912.001.0001 |editor-last2=Nerleker |editor-first2=Anjali}}

Moving on from Mahjoor's plain and straightforward patriotism, Azad communicates not only his egalitarian beliefs and strong belief in all-encompassing equality of mankind, but also emphasizes the need for a socialistic, classless, and global human society. As a result, he made a name for himself as the first Kashmiri poet, prominently expressing three different and unifying themes in his poetry: action advocacy, egalitarianism, and social equality.{{Cite journal |last=Faizan Wani |first=Farrukh |date=July 2015 |title=Abdul Ahad Azad as a Revolutionary and an Egalitarian Poet: A Study of his Revolution and The River |url=https://www.galaxyimrj.com/V4/n4/Mir.pdf |journal=Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=48–55 |issn=2278-9529}}

In his famous poem of seventy three verses, Shikwa-i-Iblis ("Complaint of Satan), Azad criticised the existence of God. "I know only blind people believe in your existence," states Satan in the poem. The poem was considered blasphemous by Orthodox Muslims and there were talks of issuing fatwa against him and declaring him apostate. Mahjoor and other advised against such a strategy and urged him to return to conventional paths, but he was not convinced. Instead, he replied:

O men of faith, you have your own diin (religion) and I have mine.

Your sacred object is God and my ideal is man.

Your God is pleased by building temples, mosques, dharamshalas.

My beloved (God) feels delighted in unity, affection and sympathy.

Dariyav ("The River"), another famous poem of Azad was published in The Weekly Vitasta.

Prem Nath Bazaz asserts that "very little like this has been composed in Kashmiri." He further argues that the poem "contains the philosophy of life that Azad taught." Kachru states that "restlessness of an anarchist is clearly expressed in the later poetry of Azad, such as his well-known poem Dariyiv." In the poem, the rhythmic motion of the waves symbolizes a call to action and rebellion against the unjust socioeconomic system. Referring to societal inequality, the River sings:

I shall not rest till the world is rid

Of the embankments that divide,

Of ditch and hollow that deform

Its smooth and lovely face.

This passion, like a consuming fire,

Burns me even though I'm water.

Abdul Ahad Azad endeavored to incite feelings of linguistic nationalism and advocated the restoration of the lost prominence of the Kashmiri language during the 1930s, in his history of Kashmiri language and poetry. His work highlighted importance of revolution in bringing about the social and political change, apart from the empowerment of rural masses. Hafsa Kanjwal, in her book, Colonizing Kashmir: State-building Under Indian Occupation, writes, "he (Azad) identified as a Marxist and his poetry directly addressed themes of social change and justice."{{Cite book |last=Kanjwal |first=Hafsa |title=Colonizing Kashmir: state-building under Indian occupation |date=2023 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-3603-3 |series=South Asia in motion |location=Stanford, California |pages=205}} Trilokinath Raina asserts that "Azad courageously preached scientific humanism" and that "Azad's ideological commitment was deep." He further asserts that "he remained a radical Marxist throughout his life." Azad had no regard for nationalism and sees it as "jugglery" and a "cause of enimity" between people. He ranks nationalism and communalism on the same level, claiming that neither has the potential to liberate people.{{Cite book |last=Bazaz |first=Prem Nath |title=The History of Struggle of Freedom in Kashmir |isbn=978-8183394666 |publication-date=1954 |pages=301|publisher=National Committee for Birth Centenary Celebrations of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan }}

When Sheikh Abdullah was appointed as the head of emergency administration in October 1947, an organisation called Cultural Front was founded, with notable faces such as Mahjoor, Rahi, Nadim, Kamil and Sadiq as its members. Azad too was invited to be its member, but he declined.

Among his published works are:

• {{Cite book |last=Azad |first=Abdul Ahad |title=کشمیری زبان اور شاعری |publisher=Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages |year=1959 |location=Srinagar|volume=1 |language=Urdu |trans-title=Kashmiri Language and Poetry}}
• {{Cite book |last=Azad |first=Abdul Ahad |title=کشمیری زبان اور شاعری |publisher=Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages |year= 1962| volume=2|location=Srinagar |language=Urdu |trans-title=Kashmiri Language and Poetry}}
• {{Cite book |last=Azad |first=Abdul Ahad |title=کشمیری زبان اور شاعری |publisher=Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages |year= 1963| volume=3|location=Srinagar |language=Urdu |trans-title=Kashmiri Language and Poetry}}
• {{Cite book |last=Azad |first=Abdul Ahad |title=کلیاتِ آزاد |publisher=Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages |year=1966 |language=Urdu |location=Srinagar |trans-title=Collected Works of Azad |editor-last=Nath Ganjoo |editor-first=Prem}}
• {{Cite book |last=Azad |first=Abdul Ahad |title=Aazaad, the Poet of Lool: English Translation of the Major Poems of Abdul Ahad Aazaad |date=2023 |publisher=Gulshan Books Kashmir |isbn=978-81-8339-494-9 |edition=2nd |location=New Delhi Kashmir |translator-last=Bhat |translator-first=R. L.}}

• {{Cite book |last1=Gauhar |first1=G. N. |date=1997 |title=Abdul Ahad Azad |edition=1st |location=New Delhi |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=81-260-0322-7}}

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Category:1903 births

Category:1948 deaths

Category:Kashmiri poets

Category:20th-century Indian poets

Category:Indian male poets

Category:20th-century Indian male writers