Better war be avoided at all cost, wrote Sahir

Sahir Ludhianvi’s birth centenary is celebrated internationally on March 8 by fans of his poetry and lyrics who remember this poet, the messiah of love and peace with great benevolence. Sahir’s message through his poems despising war and advocating peace is of stronger relevance than ever before at this juncture of war fears everywhere in the world.

An eternal poem ‘Ai Sharif Insano, Jang Talti Rahe to Behtar hai’, was penned by Sahir at the time of the 1965 war. It goes thus:

‘Khoon apna ho ya paraaya ho, Nasl-e-adam ka khoon hai aakhir/ Jang Maghrib mein ho ke Mashriq mein, Aman-e-Aalam ka khoon hai aakhir/ Bam gharon par giren ke sarhad par, Rooh-e-taameer zakhm khaati hai/ Khet apne jalein ke auron ke, zeest faaqon mein tilmilaati hai/ Tank aage badhen ke peeche haten, kokh dharti ki baanjh hoti hai/ Fatah ka jashn ho ke haar ka shokh, zindagi mayyaton pe roti hai’. (Be it the our blood or theirs, it is blood bath to humanity on both sides. Peace is the first casualty with the killings of humans, be it East or West. Whether cannons fall on homes or borders, it is only the spirit of creation which is wounded. Whether it is their field or ours which burn by bombing, it is human life which is wrecked by starvation. War tanks, advancing or retreating, they only make the womb of Mother Earth barren. People have to mourn at the corpses of the dead, be it a victory celebration or the laments of defeat).

Sahir concludes this poem by saying: ‘Is liye ai shareef insaano, Jang talti rahe to behtar hai/ Aap aur hum sabhi ke aangan mein shama jalti rahe to behtar hai’ (Thus, listen o civilized humans, better war be avoided at all costs, as only such a resolve will ensure the fire of life continues to kindle in our courtyards and hearths intact).

Again, in the film Taj Mahal, one of the song exhibits Sahir’s dismay on war killings, ‘Khuda-e-Bartar teri zameen par zameen ki khatir yeh jung kyoon hai? Har ek fatah-o-zafar ke daaman pe khoon-e-insaan ka rang kyon hai? (Oh, all powerful Almighty, why on your land does this war rage to win land? Why, every conqueror’s garment is tainted by blood in this rage?)

After the catastrophe of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing, Sahir wrote: ‘Hiroshima ki jhulsi zameen ki kasam, Nagasaki ki sulgi fiza ki kasam, jin pei jangle ka kannon vi thook de-aitmi daur ke voh darindein hein ham’ (I swear of brunt fields from Hiroshima bombing, I swear of Ngasaki peace put on fire by atom bombs to only admit and say that we humans have become so dreadful that even the whole kingdom of jungle and its laws will spit on our face that we do our devastation ourselves).

Sahir reprimanded whole-heartedly all those who sowed the seeds of hatred to communally divide society on the basis of religion when he penned a beautiful song to bless a newborn child for the Bollywood film Dhool Ka Phool, which starts as ‘Tu na Hindu banega na Musalman banega, insaan ki aulad hai insaan banega’ (Oh newborn child, you shall put on the label neither of a Hindu nor a Muslim, but only of a good human, devoid of such labels, as you are the progeny of humankind).

A famous song of Sahir from the film Humraaz goes like this: ‘Neelei gagan ke taley, dharti ka pyar paley/ Aise hi jag mein aatin hei subhen, aise hi sham dhaley’ (Wish that under this blue sky, let the people prosper to live with love. Let live and let the dawn keep coming as usual, and so be the man’s evenings to retreat peacefully always).

‘Yeh kis ka lahoo hei, Kaun marra a rehbare mulko kaum bata? Ab koi gulshan na ujre’ are some famous gems from his other poems. In Parchhaiyaan (Shadows— A long poem), he extols the world’s youth for being steadfast in the struggle to preserve the heritage of civilization of peace as inherited from our ancestors, so that posterity may enjoy life in brotherhood to prosper. Sahir writes: ‘Chalo ki chal ke siyasi mukamron se kahein, ki ham ko jang va jadal ke chalan se nafrat hei/ Jise lahoo ke sivaye koi rang raas na aaye, hamein hyat ke us pehran se nafrat hei’ (Come on all, let us go tell the statesmen of the world that we hate the devastation done by war, we hate that outfit which is made by blood drenched).

Our college — the SCD Government College, Ludhiana, always celebrates the birth anniversary as well as death anniversary of Sahir Ludhianvi, who belonged to this city. It will be befitting if at least one of the universities in Punjab announces a research chair in the thought and philosophy of Sahir Ludhianvi, which may help all peace-loving fans of Sahir on both sides of the Indo-Pak fence sit together more often to talk sanity rather than war.

(The author of this piece is an alumni of SCD

Government College,

Ludhiana)