KARACHI, May 15: Speakers at a conference on Tuesday paid tribute to Hasrat Mohani, the great Urdu poet, journalist, politician and fearless freedom-fighter of the subcontinent.
“There was nobody like Hasrat in the history of the freedom movement. He was an amazing man of principles who never compromised on his perception of freedom,” eminent researcher and intellectual Dr Gopichand Narang said in his keynote speech at the conference held in the Arts Council auditorium.
“He was an older Congressman than Mr Gandhi and older Muslim Leaguer than Mr Jinnah. He was the oldest among the older socialists of the subcontinent and the greatest freedom fighter,” said Dr Narang.
He said the gravest injustice that Urdu critics did to Hasrat was that they mainly focused on his romantic poetry and avoided to explore his poetry in which he resists the British domination of India like a fearless rebel. He, however, did not compromise the very ingredient of his poetic genius – taghazzul, said the visiting scholar from India.
Dr Narang recited a number of ghazals and couplets of Hasrat’s and argued that they showcased Hasrat’s poetic brilliance. Even then such great critics like Niaz Fatehpuri and Majnun Gorakhpuri refrained from exploring Hasrat as a poet of resistance.
“Hasrat revived the tradition of romance in Urdu poetry and his poetry is matchless compared to that of his contemporaries. He was uncompromising in nature, which is evident from the taghazzul that we see in his political and nationalist verses,” said Dr Narang.
He spoke briefly on other aspects of the personality of the great poet and said as a politician he got Gandhi more than once to change some of historic decisions, including the civil disobedience movement.
He served jail sentence for more than five years and submitted his theory for total independence at the Ahmedabad session of the Congress Party for which he also emphasised guerrilla warfare.
Dr Narang also paid tribute to Nishat-un-Nisa Begum, Hasrat’s wife, and said she was the epitome of bravery and sacrifice.
Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, vice-chancellor of the University of Karachi, said in his presidential address that the new generations were unaware of great personalities such as Maulana Hasrat Mohani and stressed the need for making efforts to inform them about the wisdom, sincerity and bravery of those brilliant people.
He also appreciated the proposal made by some speakers about the establishment of a Hasrat Mohani chair at Karachi University and said it would soon become a reality.
Dr Khaleeq Anjum, secretary of the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu, India, shared with the audience various incidents of Hasrat Mohani’s life and said despite being a member of parliament and a leading politician of India with huge influence on both the mainstream political parties, he led a very simple life.
“He turned down many offers of favours and money-making. He never succumbed to temptations. He would refrain from getting closer to the wealthy. He did not go for minting money, which was why he was free from undue pressures from various quarters,” said Dr Anjum.
Sindh Ombudsman Yousuf Jamal spoke on the various aspects of the life of Hasrat Mohani and said a lot of things were there to be explored to make a realistic assessment of the giant figure of the neglected towering personality of Indo-Pakistan history.
Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui spoke about the political wisdom and poetic brilliance of Hasrat, and senior journalist Mehmood Sham suggested extensive research on his life and times.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Asghar Nadeem Syed, Raees Fatima, Romisa Mohani and
the adviser to the chief minister on information and archives, Salahuddin Haider.
Indian poet Khushbir Singh paid poetic tribute to the Hasrat.
KARACHI, May 15: Speakers at a conference on Tuesday paid tribute to Hasrat Mohani, the great Urdu poet, journalist, politician and fearless freedom-fighter of the subcontinent.
