MAULANA Chiragh Hasan Hasrat least deserved to be consigned to oblivion. He was a distinguished journalist and more than that. I will venture to say that in the history of Urdu journalism, he ranks second only to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. His column, Harf-o-Hikayat, still stands unparalleled in Urdu. But soon after his death in 1955, his name sank into oblivion. Sindbad Jahazi, his pseudonym, is now a forgotten name for readers of Urdu columns.
But now, after about half-a-century, the Idara-i-Yadgar-i-Ghalib of Karachi has come out with a research work on him, where we find a full account of the man and his achievements. The researcher is Dr Tayyab Munir who has collected facts about his lineage, his life, his different engagements and involvements and his journalistic activities. The facts about his father, who was a convert, a nau-Muslim, make an interesting story.
Maulana Chiragh Hasan Hasrat was fortunate in having come into contact at the very start of his journalistic career with the best brains of his time, such as Maulana Abul-kalam Azad and Nawab Naseer Husain Khyal. While in Lahore, he got the opportunity to come into contact with Allama Iqbal. He learnt much from them. In fact, these three personalities had been a great influence in his life. It is interesting to know that in his early years of writing career, he was much under the influence of the grandiloquent diction of Maulana Azad. But the company of Naseer Husain Khyal, who worked as a counter-influence, helped him to come out of this and to know the value of writing with ease and facility.
It was perhaps under the influence of these personalities that he felt inclined towards classical literature, both poetry and prose, and developed a fine literary taste. He expected the same kind of study of classics from the writers of his time. Every young writer who chanced to meet him had to face a challenging question from him.
“Maulana, have you read Tilism-i-Hoshruba?”
The reply, in general, came in the negative. Disappointed, he would heave a long sigh and say “Maulana, if you have not read Tilism-i-Hoshruba, you have read nothing.”
For those who were known for their study of western fiction, he had a question to ask.
“Maulana, have you read Tolstoy’s War and Peace?”
Getting a reply in the negative, he would again sigh and say: “Maulana, it is a pity you have not read it. War and peace is the greatest novel in the world.”
With this kind of study and a mature literary taste, he made an entry in the world of journalism. He tried his best to infuse this literary taste in contemporary Urdu journalism. While acting as editor of the Imroze, he strictly saw to it that what was published in the paper was in correct Urdu. Any sub-editor committing a linguistic error would find himself under threat of suspension.
The Maulana never wrote journalistic prose. He had evolved for himself a polished style, which could be a matter of envy for the contemporary prose writers belonging to the literary world. In fact, he has to his credit a number of writings, which fall under the category of literature. I would like to cite one such writing. It is a collection of mythological stories, which was published under the title Parbat ki Baiti. Taking into consideration the kind of stories he was writing, he attempted with great success a different kind of prose, which could be called as Hindized prose. In this style, he had only one rival among his contemporaries, Miraji.
The Maulana was, in fact, a journalist steeped in the best tradition of Urdu and Persian classics. His humour, too, had been nourished by the same tradition and so carried with it a dignified tone, knowing no vulgarity. He himself was a man of dignity. And so he had to face difficulties throughout his journalistic life. The way he resigned from the Imroze speaks of his sense of dignity and self-respect. Here, I may add a few words in respect of what Dr Tayyab Munir has said about his resignation. Frankly speaking, his research here has betrayed him. He is not right in saying that the Maulana was not expecting that his resignation would be accepted, that he tried to stick to the paper after his resignation was accepted. The true position is that in the heat of the battle with the management, he along with his editorial staff tendered his resignation, and within hours he along with the staff members left the office and were on the street. That he decided to leave office only when pressed by his friends is totally wrong.
He has also said that after being relieved from the Imroze Hasrat Sahib joined the daily Afaq for a brief period. Here, also, his research has failed him. If so, has he some evidence about this?
Except a few unauthenticated statements of this kind, the book is a reliable study of Hasrat’s life and his journalism, and is helpful in the understanding of his dynamic personality.
MAULANA Chiragh Hasan Hasrat least deserved to be consigned to oblivion. He was a distinguished journalist and more than that. I will venture to say that in the history of Urdu journalism, he ranks second only to Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. His column, Harf-o-Hikayat, still stands unparalleled in Urdu. But soon after his death in 1955, his name sank into oblivion. Sindbad Jahazi, his pseudonym, is now a forgotten name for readers of Urdu columns.
