Absurd to call Faiz’s poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’ anti-national: Javed Akhtar

Reacting to the decision taken by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to set up a committee to decide whether a poem recited in their premises is “anti-national”, noted lyricist Javed Akhtar dubbed the move “absurd”.

On January 2, IIT-K authorities constituted a panel to determine if legendary Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’ is anti-Hindu and hurts national sentiments, after a student of the premier educational institute recited it during the anti-government protests.

Commenting on the action taken by the IIT authorities, the Bollywood veteran termed the decision “absurd” and “funny”. Stating it is ridiculous to even have a serious discussion over the incident, he told news outlets that Faiz had written the poem in a show of impudence towards Pakistani dictator Zia ul Haq’s “communal, regressive, and fundamentalist” rule.

He said: “Faiz Ahmed Faiz was like a leading star of the progressive writers who emerged in undivided India. He began writing poems after he moved to Pakistan following the partition, to express his grief over the division of the country.”

Akhtar added: “The man who wrote a poem to express his sorrow over the division of India is now being termed as anti-India… He lived half his life outside Pakistan and was called anti-Pakistan there.”

#WATCH Javed Akhtar:Calling Faiz Ahmed Faiz 'anti-Hindu' is so absurd&funny that its difficult to seriously talk about it.He lived half his life outside Pakistan,he was called anti-Pakistan there.'Hum Dekhenge' he wrote against Zia ul Haq's communal,regressive&fundamentalist Govt pic.twitter.com/nOtFwtfjQ9

— ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2020

The controversy over the famous poem/song started when a complaint was filed by Dr Vashimant Sharma (temp) and 16 more faculty members and students against the IIT-Kanpur students who recited ‘Hum Dekhenge’.

The protesting students, however, had only recited the lines during their peaceful march inside the campus in solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia University. Students were also protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 17, claiming it to be discriminatory.

The complaint from the group of faculty members and some students to the IIT Director said that the poem has certain lines that hurt Hindu sentiments.

Responding to this claim, Akhtar explained that ‘Goonjega an-al-haq ka naara’, which some people may find offensive, actually means ‘aham brahma’. The latter highlights the oneness of the creator and the creation, which is not a thought inherent to Islam.