Poet of the masses Ali Sardar Jafri dead

MUMBAI, AUG 1: Renowned Urdu poet and freedom fighter Ali Sardar Jafri, who used his exceptional talent to fight social inequality, died t...

MUMBAI, AUG 1: Renowned Urdu poet and freedom fighter Ali Sardar Jafri, who used his exceptional talent to fight social inequality, died today after a prolonged illness. He was 86. Jafri was admitted to Bombay Hospital with a brain tumour that had been detected last March. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Popularly known as a poet of the masses, he was one of the beacon lights of the Urdu progressive literature movement. Influenced by the philosophy of Karl Marx and Jawaharlal Nehru and in his capacity as a member of the Communist Party of India, he championed the cause of secularism, social justice and equality.

His strong, creative voice protested against the discrimination and poverty faced by much of society in nine volumes of poetry which fetched him many accolades. Two drama collections and a short anthology of stories on these lines carved a niche for him in Urdu literature. He had 14 poetry books to his credit, including four as a critic, and had edited works of Kabir, Meera and Iqbal.

He was honoured with a number of awards, including the Jnanpeeth Award (1998), and was the first recipient of Sant Dnyaneshwar Award given by the Maharashtra government for his contribution to Urdu literature and society. He was honoured with a D Lit by Aligarh University from where he had been rusticated in his student days for taking part in the freedom movement. He was among those to be awarded by the Harvard University, besides Nelson Mandela, for his struggle for peace.

Jafri also worked as a producer in 1960 for K A Abbas’s Gyarah Hazaar Ladkiyan, as a script writer for Sohni Mahival and as a lyricist with his Sham-e-gam ki kasam.

Born in Gonda district of UP, a passionate, patriotic Jafri went to Mumbai in 1942. His zeal and commitment to India’s freedom struggle saw him join scores of other freedom fighters in jail where he penned much of his early poetry, including Pathar Ki Deewar and Avadh Ke Fake Haseen. Also well-known are Khoon Ki Lakeer (1949), Asia Jaag Utha (1951) and Lahoo Karta Hai (1978) besides editing works of Mir, Ghalib, Kabir, Meera, Raidas and Kumar Sambhav of Kalidas.

Deeply disturbed by communal violence, Jafri wrote Ai watan khake watan who bhi thujhe de denge, bach gaya hai jo lahoo abke fasadat ke baad (Oh my country’s soil, I will dedicate to you whatever blood is left in me after the latest riot). Disgusted with communal politics, he wrote Aasteen khoon mein tar, pyaar jatate ho magar, kya gazab karte ho, khanjar to chupao saheb (Your sleeves are soaked in blood, yet you Express love, strange are your ways, at least hide you dagger).

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Jafri’s first album based on his poetry, Sarhad, was presented by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his Lahore visit. A firm believer in cultural unity of the sub-continent, Jafri once floored his Pakistani audience when they asked him why he did not come over to Pakistan by saying he cannot do without eating the arhar daal of his native place.