Gently, like the breeze

In the nationwide turmoil that followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, his was a vicarious repentance on behalf of a silent maj...

In the nationwide turmoil that followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, his was a vicarious repentance on behalf of a silent majority. Jagannath 8220;Azad8221; had then rung up his Muslim friends to say: 8220;After this unfortunate incident, I will never ever be able to look you in the eye.8217;8217; They were the words of a man who professed the Hindu religion all through his life. The man who could tell the different between Hinduism and Hindutva lost his battle against cancer a few days ago.

With the passing on on July 24 of Professor Jagannath 8220;Azad8221; at the age of 85, yet another small spark of secularism has died out. Besides poetry, he inherited his respect for human values from his father, late Tilok Chand 8220;Mehroom8221;, a classical poet of great standing. Until recently, one could find patriotic poems by Mehroom in Urdu textbooks in schools.

He headed the department of Urdu in the University of Jammu till his retirement after which he was made president of the Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu, a national level organisation to promote the language. He was a great poet like his father and commanded respect within the country and abroad for his expertise on Iqbal8217;s poetry. In fact, one cannot imagine Iqbal without Azad as far as the interpretation and critique of Iqbal8217;s work is concerned. Having dozens of books to his credit, he was aptly called 8220;Mahir e Iqbaliyat8221; just as two other equally distinguished scholars 8212; the late Malik Ram and the late Kalidas Gupta 8220;Reza8221; 8212; are known as 8216;8216;Mahir e Ghalibiyat8217;8217;.

Azad was a genuine scholar, always striving to search out the latest aspects in research and his works will serve as the guiding light for future generations of researchers and critics alike. In fact, his stellar contribution to research on Iqbal cannot be ignored. It is a coincidence that Iqbal had his origins in Kashmiri Brahmins and his great admirer also lived and died in the paradise on earth.

Years ago, Azad had penned a couplet which best reflects the helplessness of a soul preoccupied with the daily grind that did not allow it to take pause and relish the very joys meant for it. The couplet was: Hamen the kaam bahut ruk sake na pal ke liye;/ Guzar gaye tere kooche se ham saba ki tarha So much work I had at hand, I couldn8217;t stop by for a moment; Like a gentle breeze, I went through your lane.