MIRZA Mahmood Sarhadi was a poet of Urdu and known for his satirical and humorous verses. As he was considered a dissident voice, he had to suffer a lot.

He was a government employee and during the days of Ayub’s martial law he composed some satirical poetry which was frowned upon and he had to quit his job. As a result, Sarhadi had to struggle to earn a square meal and did some odd jobs. But he was to blame himself partially for his plight as sometimes his satire was coarse and direct, lacking the subtlety that allows such dissident voices to disagree with the all-powerful establishment and yet survive.

Sarhadi was much inspired by Akbar Allahabadi, one of the foremost humorists and satirists of Urdu. In fact, he is often dubbed as the “Akbar of Sarhad’, or the Akbar Allahabadi of the Frontier province (now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). But he lacked the characteristic that had made Akbar Allahabadi a poet who skilfully criticised the British establishment that ruled India in those days and yet survived: subtlety, cheerfulness and double entendre.

Sarhadi’s satire is occasionally cynical and too direct, exasperating the powers that mattered. But at times his wit shines and he beautifully and succinctly sums up a social or political issue in a few lines that make you smile as well. Though he composed ghazals and nazms (poems) too, his art was at peak when he wrote qit’a, a brief poem which can have a minimum of four lines. And these four lines prove to be quite enough a space for Sarhadi to make his point and show you the other side of the coin, often quite wittily.

Sarhadi comments on the burning issues of his days, most of which remain unchanged even today, in a lighter vein but gives some food for thought as well. For example, on Kashmir issue he says in his qit’a titled ‘Kashmir’ that there has been much injustice in Kashmir and we ponder over what we can do about it. What we can do, he suggests, is to curse and protest together. Sound familiar? But do not blame Sarhadi for his telling something that is as true today as it was decades ago. From curse, protest and rhetoric, we have not moved an inch during all these years.

The moon-sighting has always been an issue in our country and especially the decision on the appearance of Ramazan moon or Eid moon is almost always a problematic affair. Back in the days of Sarhadi, too, say in the 1950s and 1960s, it was a bone of contention. On a few occasions, the government announced through deputy commissioners — who managed the districts — the moon had been sighted, but people followed what religious scholars decreed. In his qit’a ‘Deputy Commissioner’ Sarhadi is ironical when he says that we do not believe the fatwa issued by the sheikh (religious leader) and we would celebrate Eid as deputy commissioner must be a responsible person, inferring that deputy commissioners have to follow the orders of the government and even Eid is celebrated according to what suits the government. In another qit’a on the issue of moon-sighting, he says let us celebrate as some muftis can sight moon even at midnight.

Mirza Mahmood Sarhadi was born Mirza Abdul Lateef in Peshawar on Jan 1, 1913. Mahmood was his pen name and Sarhadi simply showed where he belonged. Even in his student days he was keenly interested in literature and wrote serious poetry, but he soon realised that humour writing came naturally to him. His satirical verses made him very popular at mushairas (poetry recital sessions) and he devoted himself to writing humour. His popularity rose when he began writing for Peshawar’s Urdu newspapers, such as Anjaam and Mashriq.

His fearless depiction of some issues cost him his job. Losing his job and doing some menial work made him experience some bitter truths, something that endows the writers and poets with an insight and depth. He then began versifying the difficult situations that the common people were going through. That is why his poetry sounds simplistic at times and is composed in brief poetic metres. But that is how he was and how he lived: a simple and minimalist life. So in brief metres and simple words he sometimes captures the crux of the matter. Sarhadi lets nobody skip his severe criticism, be it clergy or the westernised locals, be it government or the political leaders or corrupt officials.

Mirza Mahmood Sarhadi suffered from some health issues and died in Peshawar on Nov 12, 1968, at the age of about 56. Sangeene, a collection of his poetry, was published in 1956. After Sarhadi’s death his friend Faarigh Bukhari collected and edited his published and unpublished works and published a book named Andesha-i-Shahr.

Mirza Mahmood Sarhadi will keep reminding us that some political and social issues have not changed a bit — and are very unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2019