Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Faiz Ahmad Faiz MBE, NI (Urdu: فَیض احمد فَیض ‎), (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984) was a Pakistani Marxist, poet, and author in Urdu. He was one of the most celebrated writers of the Urdu language in Pakistan. Outside literature, he has been described as "a man of wide experience" having been a teacher, an army officer, a journalist, a trade unionist and a broadcaster.[2] Among other accolades, Faiz was nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature and won the Lenin Peace Prize.[3] Born in Punjab, India, Faiz went on to study at Government College and Oriental College.[4] He went on to serve in the British Indian Army. After Pakistan's independence, Faiz became the editor to The Pakistan Times and a leading member of the Communist Party before being arrested in 1951 as an alleged part of conspiracy to overthrow the Liaquat administration and replace it with a left-wing government.[5] Faiz was released after four years in prison and went on to become a notable member of the Progressive Writers' Movement and eventually an aide to Bhutto administration, before being self-exiled to Beirut.[5] Faiz was an avowed Marxist, and he received the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union in 1962. His work remains influential in Pakistan literature and arts. Faiz's literary work was posthumously publicly honoured when the Pakistan Government conferred upon him the nation's highest civil award, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, in 1990 Early life Faiz Ahmad Faiz was born into a Tattla Jutt family[7] on 13 February 1911, in Kala Qader (present-day Faiz Nagar), District Narowal, Punjab, British India.[8][9] Faiz hailed from an academic family that was well known in literary circles. His home was often the scene of a gathering of local poets and writers who met to promote the literacy movement in his native province.[9] His father Sultan Muhammad Khan was a barrister[8] who worked for the British Government, and an autodidact who wrote and published the biography of Amir Abdur Rahman, an Emir of Imperial Afghanistan.[9] Education Although his family were devoted Muslims, Faiz was brought up in a secular tradition of Islam.[8] Following the Muslim South Asian tradition, his family directed him to study Islamic studies at the local Mosque to be oriented to the basics of religious studies by Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Ibrahim Mir Sialkoti, an Ahl-i Hadith scholar.[10] According to Muslim tradition, he learned Arabic, Persian, Urdu language and the Quran.[8][9] Faiz was also a Pakistan nationalist, and often said "Purify your hearts, so you can save the country...".[8] His father later took him out of Islamic school because Faiz, who went to a Madrassa for a few days found that the impoverished children there, were not comfortable having him around and ridiculed him, as much as he tried to make them feel at ease. Faiz came to the Madrassa in neat clothes, in a horse-drawn carriage, while the students of the school were from very poor background and used to sit on the floor on straw mats[11] In 'Faiznama', his close friend Dr. Ayub Mirza recalls that Faiz came home and told his father he was not going to attend the Madrassa anymore. His father then admitted him in the Scotch Mission School, which was managed and run by a local British family. After matriculation, he joined the Murray College at Sialkot for intermediate study.[9] In 1926, Faiz enrolled in Department of Languages and Fine Arts of the Government College University (GCU), Lahore. While there, he was greatly influenced by Shams-ul-Ulema, Professor [[Syed Mir Hassan|Mir Hassan] who taught [Arabic] and Professor Pitras Bukhari .[9] Professor Hasan had also taught the renowned philosopher, poet, and politician of South Asia, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. In 1926, Faiz attained his BA with Honors in Arabic language, under the supervision of Professor Mir Hassan. In 1930, Faiz joined the post-graduate programme of the GCU, obtaining MA in English literature in 1932. The same year, Faiz passed his post-graduate exam in the 1st Division from Punjab University's Oriental College, where he obtained a master's degree in Arabic in 1932.[9] It was during his college years that he met M. N. Roy and Muzaffar Ahmed who influenced him to become a member of the Communist Party Marriage In 1941, Faiz became affectionate with Alys Faiz, a British national and a member of Communist Party of the United Kingdom, who was a student at the Government College University where Faiz taught poetry.[12] While Alys opted for Pakistan citizenship, she was a vital member of Communist Party of Pakistan, played a significant role in Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case when she brought together the communist fwa .Together, the couple gave birth to two daughters Salima and Moneeza Hashmi Academia and literacy In 1935 Faiz joined the faculty of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Amritsar, serving as a lecturer in English and British literature.[9][13] Later in 1937, Faiz moved to Lahore to reunite with his family after accepting the professorship at the Hailey College of Commerce, initially teaching introductory courses on economics and commerce.[9] In 1936, Faiz joined a literary movement, (PWM) and was appointed its first secretary by his fellow Marxist Sajjad Zaheer.[8] In East and West-Pakistan, the movement gained considerable support in civil society.[8] In 1938, he became editor-in-chief of the monthly Urdu magazine "Adab-e-Latif (lit. Belles Letters) until 1946.[8] In 1941, Faiz published his first literary book "Naqsh-e-Faryadi" (lit. Imprints) and joined the Pakistan Arts Council (PAC) in 1947.[8] Faiz was a good friend of Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko who once said "In Faiz's autobiography... is his poetry, the rest is just a footnote".[14] During his lifetime, Faiz published eight books and received accolades for his works.[14] Faiz was a humanist, a lyrical poet, whose popularity reached neighbouring India and Soviet Union.[15][self-published source] Indian biographer Amaresh Datta, compared Faiz as "equal esteem in both East and West".[15] Throughout his life, his revolutionary poetry addressed the tyranny of military dictatorships, tyranny, and oppressions, Faiz himself never compromised on his principles despite being threatened by the right-wing parties in Pakistan.[15] Faiz's writings are comparatively new verse form in Urdu poetry based on Western models.[15] Faiz was influenced by the works of Allama Iqbal and Mirza Ghalib, assimilating the modern Urdu with the classical.[14] Faiz used more and more demands for the development of socialism in the country, finding socialism the only solution of country's problems.[15] During his life, Faiz was concerned with more broader socialists ideas, using Urdu poetry for the cause and expansion of socialism in the country.[15] The Urdu poetry and Ghazals influenced Faiz to continue his political themes as non-violent and peaceful, opposing the far right politics in Pakistan Faiz believed in Internationalism and emphasised the philosophy on Global village.[8] In 1947, he became editor of the Pakistan Times and in 1948, Faiz became vice-president of the Pakistan Trade Union Federation (PTUF).[8] In 1950, Faiz joined the delegation of Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan, initially leading a business delegation in the United States, attending the meeting at the International Labour Organization (ILO) at San Francisco.[8] During 1948–50, Faiz led the PTUF's delegation in Geneva, and became an active member of World Peace Council (WPC).[8] Faiz was a well-known communist in the country and had been long associated with the Communist Party of Pakistan, which he founded in 1947 along with Marxist Sajjad Zaheer and Jalaludin Abdur Rahim.[21] Faiz had his first exposure to socialism and communism before the independence of State of Pakistan which he thought was consistent with his progressive thinking.[14] Faiz had long associated ties with the Soviet Union, a friendship with atheist country that later honoured him with high award. Even after his death, the Russian government honoured him by calling him "our poet" to many Russians.[14] However his popularity was waned in Bangladesh after 1971 when Dhaka did not win much support for him.[14] Faiz and other pro-communists had no political role in the country, despite their academic brilliance.[21][self-published source] Although Faiz was a not a hardcore or far-left communist, he spent most of the 1950s and 1960s promoting the cause of communism in Pakistan.[21] During the time when Faiz was editor of the Pakistan Times, one of the leading newspapers of the 1950s, he lent editorial support to the party. He was also involved in the circle lending support to military personnel (e.g. Major General Akbar Khan). His involvement with the party and Major General Akbar Khan's coup plan led to his imprisonment later. Later in his life, while giving an interview with the local newspaper, Faiz was asked by the interviewer as if he was a communist. He replied with characteristic nonchalance: "No. I am not, a communist is a person who is a card carrying member of the Communist party ever made. The party is banned in our country. So how can I be a communist?.. The Liaquat Ali Khan's government failure to capture Indian-administered Kashmir had frustrated the military leaders of the Pakistan Armed Forces in 1948, including Jinnah. A writer had argued that Jinnah had serious doubt of Ali Khan's ability to ensure the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan.[23] After returning from the United States, Ali Khan imposed restrictions on Communist party as well as Pakistan Socialist Party. Although the East Pakistan Communist Party had ultimate success in East-Pakistan after staging the mass protest to recognise Bengali language as national language. After Jinnah founded it, the Muslim League was struggling to survive in West-Pakistan. Therefore, Prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan imposed extreme restrictions and applied tremendous pressure on the communist party that ensured it was not properly allowed to function openly as a political party. The conspiracy had been planned by left-wing military officer and Chief of General Staff Major-General Akbar Khan. On 23 February 1951, a secret meeting was held at General Akbar's home, attended by other communist officers and communist party members, including Marxist Sajjad Zaheer and communist Faiz.[24] General Akbar assured Faiz and Zaheer that the communist party would be allowed to function as a legitimate political party like any other party and to take part in the elections.[24] But, according to communist Zafar Poshni who maintained, in 2011, that "no agreement was reached, the plan was disapproved, the communists weren't ready to accept General's words and the participants dispersed without meeting again".[24] However the next morning, the plot was foiled when one of the communist officer defected to the ISI revealing the motives behind the plot. When the news reached the Prime minister, orders for massive arrests were given to the Military Police by the Prime minister. Before the coup could be initiated, General Akbar among other communists were arrested, including Faiz.[25] In a trial led by the Judge Advocate General branch's officers in a military court, Faiz was announced to have spent four years in Montgomery Central Jail (MCJ),[26] due to his influential personality, Liaquat Ali Khan's government continued locating him in Central Prison Karachi and the Central Jail Mianwali.[27] The socialist Huseyn Suhravardie was his defence counselor.[27] Finally on 2 April 1955,[9] Faiz's sentence was commuted by the Prime minister Huseyn Suhrawardy, and he departed to London, Great Britain soon after.[27] In 1958, Faiz returned but was again detained by President Iskander Mirza, allegedly blamed Faiz for publishing pro-communist ideas and for advocating a pro-Moscow government.[25] However, due to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's