Delhi to pay Faiz tribute on birth centenary

NEW DELHI: His poetry spoke of romance and revolution. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, who was born on Feb 13, 1911, exactly 100 years ago, was respected equally on either side on the border. His birth centenary too will witness year-long festivities both in India and Pakistan.
In Delhi, celebrations include dramatized readings from his letters written in prison to his wife at the India Habitat Centre on Sunday (Feb 13).There'll be poetry recitation by Gauhar Raza and Sohail Hashmi on Tuesday also at the Habitat. On Feb 25, Jagjit Singh and Pakistan's Tina Sani will sing Faiz's poetry in a programme co-organised by Routes 2 Roots. This will be followed by a symposium and mushaira at FICCI auditorium on February 26.
The legend's older daughter, Salima Hashmi, is looking forward to a joint Indo-Pak celebration of her father's centenary. Speaking to TOI from Pakistan, Salima says the immense love for Faiz, in both India and Pakistan, lives on because of her father's very nature. "Despite being an Urdu poet whose poetry was classical and not easy for the common man to understand, he is loved for his absolute and unshakeable faith in our people. And by 'our people' I mean all the people of South Asia. He touched people's hearts. Despite our troubled history and trading of insults, Faiz remained above it all. Even in harshest of times, people have been able to quote from Faiz," says Salima, an author and artist in her own right.
Twenty six years after his death, Sialkot-born Faiz's poetry is more relevant than ever. Salima says despite a ban on most of his works during the decade-long dictatorship of General Zia ul Haq, Faiz's writings continued to inspire, notable among them 'Hum Dekhenge', which became almost an anthem for liberty from tyranny — ‘Sab taaj uchale jayenge, Sab takht giraye jayenge (all crowns and thrones will be tossed, thrown and brought down)’. “The subcontinent has seen dark moments and when people read a line of Faiz, they find hope for a new morning — be it in Gujranwala (Pakistan) or in Delhi, Kolkata or Bhopal. When people are lonely and want a voice for their pain, they've run to Faiz and that’s what he strived for all his life”. She goes on “one comes to love Faiz in different forms. There's a Faiz for lovers, there's a Faiz for those who lost their homeland and now there's a Faiz for the overriding passion of peace among the people of the subcontinent”.