Ahmad Faraz, RIP; حق مغفِرت کرے، اجب ازاد مرد تہا

If there was every a time to to invoke the old line "Haq maghfirath karay, ajab azaad mard th-haa", it is today, as we mourn the passing of a titan.

From The News:

Legendary poet Ahmed Faraz passes away
Updated at: 1720 PST, Thursday, July 17, 2008

CHICAGO: Renowned poet and literary figure of Pakistan Ahmed Faraz died of kidneys failure here at a local hospital on Thursday.

He was under treatment at a hospital in Chicago.

Update: The news report was inaccurate. The rumours of his death, to quote another great writer, were greatly exaggerated. Please see here.

Azad Karachi Radio Program 010, February 20, 2008 - آزاد کراچی ریڈیو پروگرام شمار ۱۰

Program 10 of Azad Karachi Radio is now online, the first of 2008 has guest Mehdi Hasnain join iFaqeer and Cemendtaur to discuss the American Elections, the Pakistani situation and events with Ayesha Siddiqa in California as well as a media item.

The program mentions, amongst other things:

• ABN Chicago's Urdu Talk Radio Show
• ...and of course, Cemendtaur and iFaqeer's own blogs and the Karachi Photoblog and سمندطور کی اردو دنیا (Cemendtaur ki Urdu Duniya)
  

Program 10 of Azad Karachi Radio is available here:

http://azadkarachiradio.blogspot.com/2008/02/program-010-february-20-2008.html

Formally speaking, Azad Karachi Radio is produced out of Silicon Valley and is a service of Azad South Asia, a collaborative media effort initiated by yours truly and Cemendtaur. You can reach the team at iFaqeer@gmail.com or leave comments on either this blog or at Azad Karachi Radio.

Again, please leave comments, feedback, suggestions, and other input by posting comments on our blog pages or via email at iFaqeer@gmail.com.

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Urdu - Hindi - Urdu Podcast - Pakistani Podcast - Indian Podcast - Hindi Podcast - Moderate Muslims - Progressive Muslims - Benazir - Pakistani Elections - US Elections - Barack Obama - Hilary Clinton

Poetry of Revolution

Before I forget or get distracted. I just found a post by Zaheer "Zak" Kidvai on his blog that is just a jewel for lovers of Urdu and Urdu poetry. You have just got to read it:

http://www.kidvai.com/windmills/2007/11/long-night-and-riot-of-memories.html

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan - Emergency - CrisisPKUrdu Pakistan - Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Aaj bazaar main, pabajaolaan chalo...

... so said Faiz Ahmed Faiz, probably the most popular poet of revolution in the latter half of the 20th century in South Asia; Pakistan, India, and particularly on the Left.

South Asia has a very rich tradition of poetry, one which draws on both the spiritual tradition that gave the world Rumi and Khayyam, and the revolutionary spirit of the last century or two. And because of the Sufi tradition it is steeped in, allegory, depth of meaning, and multi-faceted verbiage is the norm, rather than the exception. The words "Aaj bazaar main pa-bajaolaan chalo..." are probably some of the most recognized word. The "jewels" being described are, for the uninitiated, the ball and chain of oppression. Here's the poet himself reciting the poem, with English sub-titles, followed by one of the best renditions of the poem with music, in this case with an overlay of dramatic video:


[You can read the piece by Dr. Adil Najam, where I first found this video, here.]

But wait, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists has sent out a poster that puts these words above a poster that just needs to be seen to be believed. You couldn't, as we say, make this stuff up:

Please check in regularly at WikiPakistan's Emergency 2007 pages:

http://pakistan.wikia.com/wiki/Emergency_2007

for updates. And contribute what input you can, participate in whichever way you can.

[My previous post on the issue, introducing the Emergency 2007 wiki pages, by the way, is here.]

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan - Emergency - CrisisPKUrdu Pakistan - Faiz Ahmad Faiz