Inquilab Zindabad

{{Short description|Hindustani phrase meaning "Long live the revolution"}}

File:Tongi graffiti 5.jpg of Inquilab Zindabad slogan from Bangladesh, drawn by the students after the July Revolution]]

Inquilab Zindabad ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|اِنقلاب زِنده باد}}}}; {{langx|hi| इंक़िलाब ज़िंदाबाद}}, Bangla: ইনকিলাব জিন্দাবাদ) is a Hindustani phrase, which translates to "Long live the revolution".{{cite book |last1=Solomon |first1=John |title=A Subaltern History of the Indian Diaspora in Singapore: The Gradual Disappearance of Untouchability 1872-1965 |date=31 March 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-35380-5 |language=en |quote=... India newspaper in Singapore reported that at a Sunday parade, “the air was rent with lusty shouts of Hindustani phrases such as 'Inquilab Zindabad', 'Azad Hind Zindabad' and 'Netaji ki Jai'”.}}{{cite book|author=Amitav Ghosh|title=The Glass Palace|quote=This was followed by other shouts and slogans, all in Hindustani: "Inquilab zindabad" and Halla bol, halla bol!"|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|year=2001}}{{cite web |last1=Mehmi |first1=Vineet |title=Inquilab zindabad!: India’s farmers protest deserves our attention |url=https://sffoghorn.com/inquilab-zindabad-indias-farmers-protest-deserves-our-attention/ |publisher=San Francisco Foghorn |access-date=8 January 2025 |date=1 April 2021 |quote=In Hindi, the phrase “Inquilab zindabad!” means “Long live the revolution!” This was the rallying cry shouted by Indian revolutionary Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh in 1929 in front of the high courts of Delhi during the Indian Independence Movement.}} Although originally the slogan was used by Indian independence movement activists in British India,{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Shikha |title=Motivating Thoughts of Bhagat Singh |date=24 August 2023 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |isbn=978-93-5562-065-1 |language=en |quote=A beacon of inspiration and a founding member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, Bhagat Singh played a pivotal role in shaping the course of the Indian Independence Movement. His indomitable spirit and the resounding catchphrase "Inquilab zindabad” (Long live the revolution) became emblematic of the struggle for a free India.}} today it is used in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan by civil society activists during protests as well as by politicians from various ideological backgrounds.{{cite web | url=https://thewire.in/politics/arvind-kejriwal-delhi-assembly-elections-win | title=Arvind Kejriwal Calls His Win in Delhi Election the 'Birth of a New Politics' }}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRRtaqOQPjY | title=Pakistan में Inquilab Zindabad और Azaadi के Slogan क्यों गूंज रहे हैं? (BBC Hindi) | website=YouTube | date=29 November 2019 }}{{cite web | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-idealism-behind-inquilab-zindabad-indian-freedom-struggle-umar-khalid-delhi-high-court-7941740/ | title=Inquilab Zindabad slogan will stay relevant till people continue their struggle against diverse inequalities | date=29 May 2022 }}{{cite web | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-high-court-umar-khalid-speech-pm-modi-krantikari-northeast-riots-7928252/ | title=At Umar Khalid's bail hearing, Delhi HC deliberates on meaning of 'inquilab': 'Revolution not necessarily bloodless' | date=20 May 2022 }}

History

This slogan was coined by the Islamic scholar, Urdu poet, Indian freedom fighter, prominent leader of Indian National Congress and one of the founders of communist party of India, Maulana Hasrat Mohani in 1921.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4g1_BAAAQBAJ&dq=zindabad+mohani&pg=PA2|title=Indian Philately Digest|last=Pandya|first=Prashant H.|date=2014-03-01|publisher=Indian Philatelists' Forum|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://fp.brecorder.com/2005/06/20050618282881|title=LITERACY NOTES: Hasrat Mohani – a unique poet & politician|date=June 18, 2005|work=Business Recorder|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406065746/https://fp.brecorder.com/2005/06/20050618282881/|archive-date=April 6, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=http://zeenews.india.com/india/india-remembers-maulana-hasrat-mohani-who-gave-the-revolutionary-slogan-inquilab-zindabad_1963758.html|title=India remembers Maulana Hasrat Mohani who gave the revolutionary slogan 'Inquilab Zindabad'|date=2017-01-02|work=Zee News|access-date=2018-04-06|language=en}}

It was popularized by Bhagat Singh (1907–1931) during the late 1920s through his speeches and writings. It was also the official slogan of the

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association,{{Cite news|url=https://www.livehistoryindia.com/snapshort-histories/2017/08/06/inquilab-zindabad-a-war-cry-for-change|title=Inquilab Zindabad: A War Cry for Change|access-date=2018-04-06|archive-date=10 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110234242/https://www.livehistoryindia.com/snapshort-histories/2017/08/06/inquilab-zindabad-a-war-cry-for-change|url-status=dead}} and the slogan of Communist Consolidation as well as a slogan of the All India Azad Muslim Conference.{{cite web |last1=Ali |first1=Afsar |title=Partition of India and Patriotism of Indian Muslims |url=http://www.milligazette.com/news/15756-partition-of-india-and-patriotism-of-indian-muslims |publisher=The Milli Gazette |language=en |date=17 July 2017}}

In April 1929, this slogan was raised by Bhagat Singh and his associate Batukeshwar Dutt who had shouted this after bombing the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi.{{Cite journal|last=Habib|first=S. Irfan|date=2007|title=Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his Revolutionary Inheritance|journal=Indian Historical Review|volume=34|issue=2|pages=79–94|doi=10.1177/037698360703400205|s2cid=143159505}}

Later, for the first time in an open court, this slogan was raised in June 1929 as part of their joint statement at the High Court in Delhi.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/BhagatSinghSelectSpeechesAndWritingsD.N.Gupta/Bhagat%20Singh%20Select%20Speeches%20And%20Writing's%20-%20D.N.%20Gupta|title=Bhagat Singh: Select Speeches And Writings, Edited by D. N. Gupta|website=archive.org|access-date=2018-04-06}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/bhagat-singh/1929/06/06.htm|title=Full Text of Statement of S. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt in the Assembly Bomb Case|last=Singh|first=Bhagat|website=www.marxists.org|access-date=2018-04-06}}

Since then, it became one of the rallying cries of the Indian independence movement, with which the phrase has been most identified. In Indian political novels chronicling the independence movement, a pro-independence sentiment is often characterized by characters shouting this slogan.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j1Abhv0NUaUC&dq=inquilab+zindabad&pg=PA42 |title=Indian Political Novel in English |first=O.P. |last=Bhatnagar |publisher=Saruk and Sons |location=Delhi |year=2007 |isbn=9788176257992 |page=42}}

This slogan also became widely popular during the July Revolution in Bangladesh.{{cite web |date=2025-04-12 |title=Inquilab Zindabad: A timeless call for revolution |url=https://www.newagebd.net/post/opinion/252905/inquilab-zindabad-a-timeless-call-for-revolution |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=New Age}}

References

Category:1921 quotations

Category:Bangladeshi political slogans

Category:Indian political slogans

Category:Pakistani political slogans

Category:Memorials to Bhagat Singh

Category:Indian independence movement

Category:Communist Party of India