Hum Dekhenge
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Contains special characters|Urdu}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=April 2019}}
{{Short description|Revolutionary Urdu poem by Faiz Ahmad Faiz}}
{{Infobox poem
|name = Hum Dekhenge
|author = Faiz Ahmed Faiz
|original_title = ویبقی و جہ ر بک
|original_title_lang = ur
|written = 1979
|first = 1981
|publisher =
|lines = 21
|language=Urdu}}
Hum Dekhenge ({{langx|ur|{{nq|ہم دیکھیں گے}}}} - In english We shall see) is a popular Urdu nazm, written by the Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz.{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110102/jsp/nation/story_13381050.jsp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120911152854/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110102/jsp/nation/story_13381050.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 September 2012|date=2 January 2012|title=Faiz poetry strikes chord in Delhi|publisher=The Telegraph|location=Calcutta, India|first=Pheroze L.|last=Vincent}} Originally written as Va Yabqá Vajhu Rabbika (And the countenance of your Lord will outlast all),{{Cite journal|last=Kantor|first=Roanne|date=2016-07-02|title='My Heart, My Fellow Traveller': Fantasy, Futurity and the Itineraries of Faiz Ahmed Faiz|journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies|volume=39|issue=3|pages=608–625|doi=10.1080/00856401.2016.1189034|s2cid=148081857|issn=0085-6401}} it was included in the seventh poetry book of Faiz -- Mere Dil Mere Musafir.
Background
The nazm was composed as a medium of protest against Zia Ul Haq's oppressive regime.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AhJuAAAAMAAJ|title=On the Abyss: Pakistan After the Coup|last=Ali|first=Tariq|date=2000|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India|isbn=978-81-7223-389-1|pages=198|language=en}} It gained a rapid cult-following as a leftist{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/opinion/pakistan-pervez-musharraf.html|title=Opinion {{!}} The Dictator and His Death Sentence|last=Hanif|first=Mohammed|date=2019-12-19|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-23|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite journal|last=Dutt|first=Bishnupriya|date=2015-07-03|title=Performing Resistance with Maya Rao: Trauma and Protest in India|journal=Contemporary Theatre Review|volume=25|issue=3|pages=372|doi=10.1080/10486801.2015.1049823|s2cid=192583044|issn=1048-6801}} song of resistance and defiance,{{Cite journal|last1=Korpe|first1=Marie|last2=Reitov|first2=Ole|date=September 2010|title=Banned: a Rough Guide|journal=Index on Censorship|language=en|volume=39|issue=3|pages=36|doi=10.1177/0306422010381043|s2cid=145443811|issn=0306-4220}} after a public rendition by Iqbal Bano at Alhamra Arts Council{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2005/03/12/stories/2005031200770300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112075842/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2005/03/12/stories/2005031200770300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 January 2016|title=Husn-e-Ghazal|date=12 March 2005|work=The Hindu|accessdate=21 June 2018}}[http://www.dawn.com/news/944800/iqbal-bano-ghazal-personified Iqbal Bano ghazal personified] Dawn (newspaper), published 22 April 2009, Retrieved 21 June 2018 on 13 February 1986,{{cite news |last1=Hashmi |first1=Ali Madeeh |title=When Iqbal Bano Defied Zia's Dictatorship To Sing 'Hum Dekheinge' At Alhamra |url=https://medium.com/@nayadaurpk/when-iqbal-bano-defied-zias-dictatorship-to-sing-hum-dekheinge-at-alhamra-81f971eebe3d |access-date=20 February 2023 |work=Medium.com |agency=Medium.com |publisher=Naya Daur Media |date=Sep 4, 2019}} ignoring the ban on Faiz's poetry.{{Cite news|url=https://theprint.in/opinion/modi-india-unhappy-with-faizs-hum-dekhenge-zias-pakistan-was-too/343560/|title=Modi's India unhappy with protesters singing Faiz's Hum Dekhenge. Zia's Pakistan was too|last=Bamzai|first=Kaveree|date=2020-01-02|website=ThePrint|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-02}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/11/iqbal-bano-obituary|title=Iqbal Bano - Renowned Pakistani singer of Urdu ghazals|date=10 May 2009|publisher=The Guardian (UK)}}, Retrieved 21 June 2018{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8011930.stm|title=Pakistani singer Iqbal Bano dies|last=Khan|first=M Ilyas|date=22 April 2009|work=BBC News}}{{Cite journal|last1=Pirzadeh|first1=Saba|last2=Pirzada|first2=Tehmina|date=2019-05-04|title=Pakistani popular music: A call to reform in the public sphere|journal=South Asian Popular Culture|volume=17|issue=2|pages=197|doi=10.1080/14746689.2018.1512702|s2cid=149998949|issn=1474-6689}}{{Cite news|title=Archiving the nation-state in feminist praxis: a South Asian perspective|last=Chakravarti|first=Uma|author-link=Uma Chakravarti|date=2008|publisher=Centre for Women's Development Studies|hdl = 2451/34235}}{{Cite journal|last=Raza|first=Gauhar|author-link=Gauhar Raza|date=January 2011|title=Listening to Faiz is a subversive act|url=https://old.himalmag.com/component/content/article/3566-listening-to-faiz-is-a-subversive-act.html|journal=Himal Southasian|access-date=26 December 2019|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226145115/https://old.himalmag.com/component/content/article/3566-listening-to-faiz-is-a-subversive-act.html|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url=https://medium.com/@nayadaurpk/when-iqbal-bano-defied-zias-dictatorship-to-sing-hum-dekheinge-at-alhamra-81f971eebe3d|title=When Iqbal Bano Defied Zia's Dictatorship To Sing 'Hum Dekheinge' At Alhamra|last=Media|first=Naya Daur|date=2019-09-04|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2020-01-02}}
Themes
Faiz employs the metaphor of traditional Islamic imagery to subvert and challenge Zia's fundamentalist interpretation of them; Qayamat, the Day of Reckoning is transformed into the Day of Revolution, wherein Zia's military government will be ousted by the people and democracy will be re-installed.{{Cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/the-story-of-faizs-hum-dekhenge-from-pakistan-to-india-over-40-years-caa-protest-6186565/|title=The story of Faiz's Hum Dekhenge — from Pakistan to India, over 40 years|date=2019-12-27|website=The Indian Express|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-27}}
In popular culture
= Media =
The song was recreated in Coke Studio Season 11 on 22 July 2018, under the aegis of Zohaib Kazi and Ali Hamza.{{cite news |author=Maheen Sabeeh |date=24 July 2018 |title=Coke Studio 11 announces itself with 'Hum Dekhenge' |work=The News International |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/magazine/instep-today/345654- |accessdate=29 July 2018}}{{efn-ua|The Coke Studio rendition however removed some lines, which were arguably the most controversial part of the poem.{{Cite news|url=https://theprint.in/opinion/what-coke-studio-did-to-faizs-song-pakistan-is-doing-to-its-people/88955/|title=What Coke Studio did to Faiz's song, Pakistan is doing to its people|last=Kaur|first=Harnidh|date=2018-07-26|website=ThePrint|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-06}}}} In the movie The Kashmir Files (2022), it was depicted as being sung by students of a left-leaning Indian university to as a song of protest Kumkum Chadha, [http://tehelka.com/the-kashmir-files-pedalling-a-half-truth/ The Kashmir Files: Pedalling a half truth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530153108/http://tehelka.com/the-kashmir-files-pedalling-a-half-truth/ |date=30 May 2023 }}, Tehelka, 1 April 2022.
= Protests =
The poem gained importance in protests against Pervez Musharraf in the early 2000s.{{Cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/433474|title=If mullahs usurp anti-imperialism should the secular fight be given up?|last=Naqvi|first=Jawed|date=2008-12-15|website=DAWN.COM|language=en|access-date=2020-01-01}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1070671|title=DAWN - Features; November 22, 2007|date=2007-11-22|website=DAWN.COM|language=en|access-date=2020-01-01}}
During the Citizenship Amendment Act protests in India,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/12/22/How-these-poems-have-defined-anti-CAA-protests.html|title=How these poems have defined anti-CAA protests|website=The Week|language=en|access-date=2019-12-23}} faculty members of IIT Kanpur took issue with Hum Dekhenge being sung by protesting students in the campus, and alleged it to be "anti-Hindu".{{Cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/whos-afraid-of-a-song-faiz-ahmed-faiz-iit-kanpur-6197024/|title=Who's afraid of a song?|website=The Indian Express|language=en|access-date=2020-01-03}}{{efn-ua|The line "sab but uṭhvāe jāenge" and "bas nām rahegā allāh kā" respectively translates to "when all the idols will be removed" and "only Allah will remain", from a very-literal reading. It was thus perceived to challenge idolatry and polytheism, which many Hindus adhere to.}} The IIT instituted a commission to look into the issue.{{Cite news|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/iit-kanpur-panel-to-decide-if-faiz-poem-is-anti-hindu-20077|title=IIT Kanpur panel to decide if Faiz poem is anti-Hindu|last=Service|first=Tribune News|website=Tribuneindia News Service|language=en|access-date=2020-01-02}} The student media body rejected the charges as being misinformed and communal, which divorced the poem from its societal context.{{Cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/do-not-communalise-iit-kanpur-students-respond-to-professor-who-accused-them-chanting-anti-india-slogans-1630553-2019-12-22|title=IIT Kanpur students respond to professor who accused them of chanting anti-India slogans}}{{Cite news|url=http://voxiitk.com/dont-communalise-the-peaceful-gathering-at-iit-kanpur/|title=Don't communalise the peaceful gathering at IIT Kanpur|date=21 December 2019|website=Vox Populi|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221165542/http://voxiitk.com/dont-communalise-the-peaceful-gathering-at-iit-kanpur/|archive-date=21 December 2019}} During the same period of early 2000s [https://www.amazon.in/Books-Madan-Mohan-Duklan/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AMadan+Mohan+Duklan Madan Duklan], a prominent actor, director and poet in Garhwali language translated 'Hum Dekhenge' in Garhwali language. Encouraged and directed by [https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/15162152-sunil-kainthola Dr. Sunil Kainthola], local artists who were participating in a production orientation workshop for '[https://www.pioneeredge.in/mukhjatra-recreating-the-zeitgeist-of-azadi/ Mukhjatra]' sang the [https://in.pinterest.com/pin/677721443912379274/#:~:text=%3Ciframe%20src%3D%22https%3A//assets.pinterest.com/ext/embed.html%3Fid%3D677721443912379274%22%20height%3D%22359%22%20width%3D%22345%22%20frameborder%3D%220%22%20scrolling%3D%22no%22%20%3E%3C/iframe%3E Garhwali version of Hum Dekhenge] in front of the Uttarakhand movement's martyrs monument in the court compound at Dehradun.
Notes and references
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External links
- For a translation and more on the IIT protest: {{cite web |last1=Naeem |first1=Raza |title=Calling Faiz's Hum Dekhenge 'Anti-Hindu' Is Both Laughable and Insulting |url=https://thewire.in/culture/faiz-ahmad-faiz-hum-dekhenge-anti-hindu |website=The Wire}}
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