Chanchal Manohar Singh
Chandigarh: Students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur (UP) had in December last organised a protest rally in support of the Jamia Millia University, Delhi, where students were allegedly beaten by the police inside the University library without any provocation while they were busy studying at the time of protests on the campus against CAA.
The protesting IIT, Kanpur (UP), students unitedly recited the poems of Faiz Ahmad Faiz to raise the morale of the protesting students and to provide their protest a flavor of rhythm and unity. Singing songs and for charging the students during the protest rallies is a very common practice in universities, various institutes and colleges in India.
The poem reads—‘Lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhenge. Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se. Sab but uthwaye jayenge, Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm. Masnad pe bithaye jayenge. Sab taaj uchale jaenge. Sab takht giraye jayenge. Bas naam rahega Allah ka. Hum dekhenge.’ It was the last line that has turned into a bone of contention. Translated into English, it means, ‘When thrones will vanish, only Allah’s name will remain’, implied the translation by the professor.
But this time in the charged anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim atmosphere the reciting of Faiz’s poems have been taken notice of and also taken a different turn after an institute’s senior faculty member made a written complaint to the IIT authorities that the students recited anti-national poems of Faiz Ahmad Faiz during their protests at the institute campus. The faculty member has stated that “organisers and masterminds must be identified and also expelled immediately”. Over a dozen students reported having also signed the complaint filed by the professor against the protesting students.
The institute authorities have set up a committee to study and decide whether the poem ‘Hum dekhenge lazim hai ki hum bhi dekhenge’, penned by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, is anti-Hindu or not.
The panel has been set up in response to a complaint filed by a faculty member who claimed that the students, during a protest, sang the poem, which is anti-Hindu.
The panel will also probe among other things, whether the students violated prohibitory orders clamped in the city on the day of the protest march, whether they posted objectionable content on social media and whether the Faiz poem is anti-Hindu.
The poem reads—‘Lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhenge. Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se. Sab but uthwaye jayenge, Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm. Masnad pe bithaye jayenge. Sab taaj uchale jaenge. Sab takht giraye jayenge. Bas naam rahega Allah ka. Hum dekhenge.’
It was the last line that has turned into a bone of contention. Translated into English, it means, ‘When thrones will vanish, only Allah’s name will remain’, implied the translation by the professor.
The IIT-Kanpur students had taken out a peaceful march on the campus on December 17 in support of the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and during the march the students sang the Faiz poem.
According to IIT deputy director Manindra Agarwal: “In the video, the students are seen reciting the Faiz poem, which can also be perceived as being anti-Hindu.” The IIT faculty member, in his complaint, has alleged that the students made anti-India and communal statements during their demonstration in solidarity with the Jamia students, according to the report of IANS.
The complaint was based on two lines of the poem, which have obviously been misinterpreted— “When all idols will be removed, only Allah’s name will remain.”
Meanwhile, IIT students have said that the faculty member who lodged the complaint has been banned on a social networking site for posting communal content.
In an article published on the IIT-Kanpur student media portal, the students clarified what exactly what had happened on the day of protest on December 17 last, and how their song was twisted and given a “communal and misleading” turn. They stated that they had recited a few lines of the Faiz poem in reference to the police crackdown on the Jamia students.
K