The Department of Posts, Government of India, issued a commemorative stamp, a first day cover (FDC) and a brochure a few months ago to pay its tributes to well-known Urdu poet Israrul Haq Majaz. Issuing commemoratives to honour eminent Indian and foreign personalities on the eve of their birth or death anniversary has been one of the golden traditions of the Indian Department of Posts. The commemorative stamp, FDC and the brochure on Majaz was released by the honourable Vice President Muhammad Hamid Ansari in the presence of Majaz's younger sister Hameeda Salim who used to call him Jagan Bhayya. The Vice President, who was also the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) a few years ago, is an alumnus of AMU, like Majaz. The tribute to Majaz revives his memory and his views. One of the couplets printed on the commemorative describes his political views: Bakhshi hain ham ko Ishq ne woh jurratein Majaz Darte nahin siyasat-e ahle jahan se ham (Love's prodigal opulence has bestowed upon us a new daring, Releasing us from the rules and constraints imposed by the politics of the people) The opening verse and two couplets from the Aligarh University anthem (popularly known as Tarana-e-Aligarh) which Majaz had penned are printed on the FDC, while two stanzas of his well-known poem ‘Awara' are printed on the brochure. The FDC shows the Stachy Hall in the background, while the stamp shows the grand mosque in the AMU campus. Interestingly, this is not the first time the Indian Department of Posts has honoured an Urdu poet or writer. The department has been issuing commemoratives on Urdu poets and writers since 1952: Mirza Ghalib was the first to be honoured followed by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. Zakir Husain, Munshi Newal Kishore, Syed Ahmad Khan, Mir Anees, Ameer Khusrau, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Syed Mohammad Zamin Ali, Munshi Premchand, Mazharul Haque, Mohammad Iqbal, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Asif Ali, and Firaq Gorakhpuri. Among them, some were also freedom fighters, thinkers and philosophers, educationists, religious leaders, musicians and journalists. Majaz wrote for about 25 years and has left behind only three published collections ‘Ahang' (1938), ‘Shab-e-Taab' (1945) and ‘Saaz-e-Nau' (1945). Majaz was linked to the progressive movement and his poems were both revolutionary and romantic. His poem ‘Raat aur Rail' encourages people to reach for their destiny, ‘Khwab-e-Sahr' provokes people to fight against wrongs, ‘Sarmayadari' pitches the poor against the rich on one hand and reveals the struggle among the rich for superiority in richness and wealth, ‘Naujawan Khatoon se Khitab' inspires women to fight age-old practices. His poem ‘Aawara' earned him trememdous fame. In this lyrical poem he rebels against the rich and invites the unemployed and underprivileged to rise up against injustices and encourages them to remain undaunted. Jee mein aata yeh murdah chand tare noch loon Is kinare noch loon aur us kinare noch loon Ek do ka zikr kya saare ke saare noch Ae gham-e-dil kya karoon; ae wahshat-e-dil kya karoon Two stanzas of this poem are printed on the brochure. ‘Nazre Aligarh' is a tribute to his alma mater. Many lyric writers in the Hindi film industry benefited from the Majaz's poems and he himself wrote some songs for ‘Shikayat' and ‘Panna'. Playback singer late Talaat Mahmood's rendition of the poem ‘Awara' in the film ‘Thokarein' still enthralls listeners. Another Urdu poet-writer Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was honoured on July 18. The Government of India has decided to commemorate the Maulana's birth day November 11 as National Education Day. The Maulana was a religious scholar, freedom fighter, eminent educationist and the first union education minister of independent India. Urdu was never a neglected language. It has sustained, crossed borders and won over people across countries. The two-day international Urdu conference organized in June by the Indian consulate general in Jeddah proves this contention without any doubt. Prof. Gopi Chand Narang in one of his speeches rightly said: “Urdu is stable and capable of snatching its dues.” The administration in India at every level benefits from Urdu – public awareness advertisements are published in Urdu on the Meghdoot post cards which reach people at grass root levels and are the cheapest source of communication among Indian masses. Today, even students appearing in competitive examinations can opt for Urdu as an optional subject, like Sarah Rizwi – a Mumbai girl – who passed the IAS examination with Urdu as an optional subject. __
