Debate over Hindu writing Pak's 1st anthem continues

[RPK]

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Debate over Hindu writing Pak's 1st anthem continues


Islamabad, Sep 27 (PTI) A lively debate over Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah commissioning an Urdu-knowing Hindu to write the country's first national anthem has erupted both in the real and virtual world after a write-up on the issue in a daily.

Long before Hafeez Jullundhri's Persianised lyrics were adopted as the national anthem in 1950s, Pakistan had an anthem written by Jagannath Azad, son of Lahore-based renowned poet Tilok Chand Mahroom. Azad was commissioned by Jinnah to write the anthem three days before the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Azad's lyrics "Ae sarzameene paak/Zarray teray haen aaj sitaaron se taabnaak/ Roshan hai kehkashaan se kaheen aaj teri khaak/Ae sarzameene paak" (Oh land of Pakistan, the stars themselves illuminate each particle of yours/rainbows brighten your very dust) ? were replaced barely six months after Jinnah's death in September 1948.

 

[qsaark]

What controversy? This is the fact of the matter that Azad was commisioned by Mr. Jinnah to write the first national anthem of Pakistan. This is not but another example of how the Jinnah’s vision and his ideology for the newly founded country were robbed by the ones who followed soon after his death.

In some other post, I have written that Mr. Jinnah was literally murdered when a beaten up ambulance with insufficient patrol was sent to receive him on the Maripur Airbase on his way from Quetta to Karachi. The founding father had to wait in the heat and the humidity of Karachi for full two hours until the next ambulance came to take him to the Hospital. Jinnah’s sister, Fatima blamed the PM Liaquat Ali Khan for the murder of his brother in her memoirs. Source:My Brother. Page 36-39. http://www.scribd.com/doc/6040278/My-Brother-by-Fatima-Jinnah

Days before his death last year, Azad recalled, in an interview, the circumstances under which he was asked by Jinnah to write Pakistan’s national anthem:

“In August 1947, when mayhem had struck the whole subcontinent, I was in Lahore working in a literary newspaper.

All my relatives had left for India and for me to think of leaving Lahore was painful. My Muslim friends requested me to stay. On August 9, 1947, there was a message from Jinnah Sahib through one of my friends at Radio Pakistan Lahore. He told me ‘Quaid-e-Azam wants you to write a national anthem for Pakistan.’”

Why him? “The answer to this question,” Azad said in the interview, “has to be understood by recalling the inaugural speech of Jinnah Sahib as Pakistan’s governor general. He said: `You will find that in the course of time, Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state.’

I asked my friends why Jinnah Sahib wanted me to write the anthem. They confided in me that ‘the Quaid wanted the anthem to be written by an Urdu-knowing Hindu.’ Through this, I believe Jinnah Sahib wanted to sow the roots of secularism in a Pakistan.”

The national anthem written by Azad was sent to Jinnah, who approved it in a few hours. It was sung for the first time on Pakistan Radio, Karachi.

The situation in Punjab was becoming worse. Azad’s friends told him in September 1947 that it would be better for him to migrate to India. The song written by Azad served as Pakistan’s national anthem for one and a half years. After Jinnah’s death, Hafiz Jallundhari wrote the national anthem." Source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_19-6-2005_pg7_31

 

[musalman]

LOL what debate in Pakistan????? We all know about the Jagath Nath Azad. His anthem was more like a poem, where has Hafeez Jalandhri's Tarana looks like an Anthem

 

[qsaark]

LOL what debate in Pakistan????? We all know about the Jagath Nath Azad.

Really? Following are comments from the Pakistanis on another forum. See for yourself how much they know about Jagan Nath azad and his contribution.

"As children we learnt that Pakistan didn’t have a national anthem until the 1950s. My journalist uncle Zawwar Hasan used to tell us of a reporter friend who visited China soon after Independence. Asked about Pakistan’s national anthem, he sang the nonsensical ‘laralapa laralapa.’

What is this by the way??? This also kinda flummoxes me"

"Btw nice post Sir it was news for me also as i read it in Dawn few days ago,one question why doesnt our anthem is in Urdu now?

Secondly can someone here post here the whole anthem by Mr.Azad?"

"Interesting Article all new to me, I can say this when my teacher in Aitchison asked me who wrote the National Anthem I said the Principal."

"Prior to "Pak sar zameen" anthem Pakistan used Iqbal's "Bachay ki duaa" as national anthem. Many schools in Punjab province did not accept Persian anthem for a long time and continued with Iqbal's poetry."

His anthem was more like a poem, where has Hafeez Jalandhri's Tarana looks like an Anthem

Is this the best explanation of replacing the Father of the Nation's approved and authorized national anthem with that of the present one you can come up with?

Is it not fact of the matter that the tune for the present national anthem was composed (by Ahmed Ghulamali Chagla) earlier (in 1950) than the lyrics (1954)? Subsequently the poets were invited to create the lyrics that could go along with the tune. The GoP was happy to play the tune without words for almost four years but not willing to make a tune for the Azad’s lyrics for whole six years?

 

[musalman]

Well who ever studied History in Pakistan knows that.

"Prior to "Pak sar zameen" anthem Pakistan used Iqbal's "Bachay ki duaa" as national anthem. Many schools in Punjab province did not accept Persian anthem for a long time and continued with Iqbal's poetry."

I doubt that

The GoP was happy to play the tune without words for almost four years but not willing to make a tune for the Azad’s lyrics for whole six years?

The poet left Pakistan may be they were embarrassed that his poem be Pakistan's Anthem.

BTW regarding Urdu anthem, lets make Dil Dil Pakistan

 

[qsaark]

The poet left Pakistan may be they were embarrassed that his poem be Pakistan's Anthem.

Yes, this is more plausible a reason.

 

[ppgj]

Yes, this is more plausible a reason.

if i am right bangladesh uses song by tagore as their national anthem.

 

[qsaark]

if i am right bangladesh uses song by tagore as their national anthem.

That is correct; after the independence, Bangla Desh adopted “Amar Shonar Bangla”, a song written by Great Rabindranath Tagore as their national anthem. However, before 1954, Bengalis used to sing another anthem in place of Jagan Nath Azad’s anthem. The anthem was written by a Bengali poet name Ghulam Mustafa.

Pakistan zindabad, Pakistan zindabad, Pakistan zindabad zindabad
Purobo Banglar Shamolimai, Pancho nodir tir-e oronimoy
Dhushoro Sindhu-r moru saharai, jhandai jage je azad
Pakistan zindabad, Pakistan zindabad, Pakistan zindabad zindabad