Article by EIH Researcher and Writer
Srushti Sharma
People were sitting on the stairs, the floors, wherever they could find some space. Iqbal Bano appeared and started singing to loud cheers.She sang many Faiz poems but the loudest cheers were reserved for Hum Dekhenge. The clapping and cheers were so thunderous that it felt at times that the roof of Alhamra hall would blow off.Bano had to stop repeatedly to allow the cheers and loud slogans of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ to subside before she could carry on singing,
Ali Madeeh Hashmi, grandson of Faiz Ahmed Faiz who was present in the crowd when the popular ghazal singer Iqbal Bano sang Hum Dekhenge
It is often being said that literature and art transcends political boundaries and social units. Universality of art is a defining characteristic of it- innumerable people identify with the same piece and interpret it in their own ways, associating diverse sentiments with it. Isn’t this one of the most fine achievements in the history of human civilization? This point is most evident in Faiz’s nazm Wa yabqa wajh-o-rabbik, a verse from the Quran that means ‘the face of your Lord’, which is popularly known as Hum Dekhenge. The history and contexts of the writing, political positions of the writer and major political happenings of the time are extremely important in interpreting this piece of fine work.
Hum Dekhenge was written in 1979, 2 years after the military coup led by the dictator Zia Ul Haq established its presence in Pakistan. What characterises the nazm is the tone of political dissent against the undemocratic rule of the dictator. Though it may seem to be a call for anarchy, the song aims for the establishment of a socially and economically just regime, granting ample rights to its citizenry. Another major myth associated with the song is its alleged fundamentalist nature, favouring Islam. One gets a better clarity on this aspect when they analyse Iqbal Bano’s singing of the nazm during the dictatorship of Zia Ul Haq. Bano sang the nazm amidst a cheering audience, wearing a black saree- something that was banned in the fundamentalist regime of Pakistan. An air of dissent and political fervour ran across the crowd craving for basic political rights which were denied to them in a seemingly democratic world of the twentieth century. Post this episode, Bano was banned from singing in public occasions and distributing the recordings of the song was strictly supervised by the then Government of Pakistan. However, it is believed that the private performances of Iqbal Bano still maintained a fine audience including military commanders of eminent positions.
Coke Studio’s rendition of Hum Dekhenge brought an element of queer identity and diversity in the cultural landscape of Pakistan. From contemporary rappers to the classical tonalities of Abida Parveen,Coke Studio’s Hum Dekhenge was an ode to the inclusiveness of the Pakistani music industry. Hum Dekhenge, a nazm that was written as a means for political dissent has evolved to represent the popular sentiments of various people of the subcontinent. It has become the South Asian language of resistance.
