Tag: feudalism
Pak sar zameen?
by arsalan on Sep.23, 2009, under Politics
Jagannath Azad was an Urdu poet, born in a small village in West Punjab in what is now Pakistan. His father, Tilok Chand Mehroom, was also an Urdu poet with nearly 200 poems to his name. Both father and son were critically acclaimed poets. Jagannath had an illustrious career: He was a teacher, professor of English and Urdu, Journalist, Head of the Urdu Department at Jammu University, held important positions at various journalist’s associations and was recognized as a Doctor of Letters by the Universities of Kashmir and Jammu. Jagannath was also recognized as an authority on the works of Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
But perhaps his greatest achievement is that he was requested by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to pen Pakistan’s first national anthem. This is a documented fact, recent history and not open to debate, unlike other such or similar ideas like “Jinnah was a drinker” or “Jinnah was secular” or even “Jinnah and Nehru betrayed Gandhi”. Jinnah wanted a Hindu to come up with Pakistan’s anthem. That is really strange, considering how Pakistan has always been touted as a safe haven for Muslims escaping persecution from Hindu (or Hindutva) extremists. But that is not the premise of this article.
