Pakistan might call Iqbal its national poet but the fact is that in his path-breaking poetic journey, he has shown evolution of his thought process in phases. Gandhiji also said that he believed that the language of Sare Jahan se achcha was a good example of Hindustani, which was spoken and understood throughout the length and breadth of the country.
This poem gave Gandhiji solace when he was in prison. For instance, when the editor of a journal Jouhar asked Gandhiji to give his understanding of the poem, he said in a letter that he is overwhelmed with emotions whenever he reads Sare Jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara. “We organized the centenary of the writing of Tarana-e-Hindi in 2004 in Bombay and brought into light several things associated with this poem,” he says. When he recited this poem at a gathering for the first time it became an instantaneous hit. He says, Ai aaftaab! Hum ko zia-e-shaoor de/ Chasm-e-khird ko apni tajjaali se noor de (O Radiant One! Grant us the grace of wisdom/Let our eyes see reason in your resplendent glow.) Prof Dalwai says that Iqbal wrote Tarana-e-Hindi at the request of one of his friends Dayal Singh and titled it as Hamara Desh in 1904. In the translation of Gayatri Mantra into Aftab, Iqbal has brought out the depths of feelings of those who believe in the powers of Sun. In a couplet in Naya Shivala, Iqbal says, Patthar ki mooraton mein samjhaa hai tu Khdaa hai/Khaak-e-watan ka mujh ko har zarraa Devtaa hai (You think that God resides in the stone idols/Each speck of the motherland is God to me). Prof Abdus Sattar Dalwi, former head of the Urdu department of Bombay University, who has done extensive research on Iqbal (1877-1938) says that his poetry written between 19 could be termed as ‘patriotic’ and ‘nationalistic.’ That is the period during which he wrote poems like Tarana-e-Hindi, Naya Shivala, Ram and Aftab (Translation of Gayatri Mantra), etc. But fortunately, the Indian populace, including the three defence services, has never given up on Sare Jahan se achcha. Be that as it may, the event did bring into focus the poet who has been hijacked by Pakistan as its own. It beats one to figure out why at this point of time the West Bengal Urdu Academy wanted to remember Iqbal by organizing a three-day Jashn (festival) of Urdu. Being in frail health at 90 years, Javed Iqbal asked Waleed to represent him. The Academy invited Iqbal’s son Javed Iqbal, a former judge of Pakistan Supreme Court, to receive the award. The Urdu Academy of West Bengal decided to confer Tarana-e-Hind (the title of the poem Sare Jahan se achcha Hindustan hamara.) award to his grandfather Allama Iqbal posthumously. Waleed Iqbal’s visit to Kolkata has an interesting background. JIP leader Sirajul Haq, who is also one of the four senators of his party in the 342 member National Assembly, spewed venom against Waleed Iqbal and said, “If you want the friendship of Hindustan, then go to Hindustan, to Delhi and to Mumbai, there is no place for you in Islamabad.” Incidentally, Waleed Iqbal, a professor of law as well as a practicing lawyer, is a member of former international cricketer Imran Khan’s political outfit, Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf.
The JIP hated him most for his reciprocity of warmth and saying that there should be cordial relations between India and Pakistan. Hardliner Jamaat-e-Islam Pakistan (JIP) despised the warmth and affection showered on Waleed Iqbal and his grandfather Allama Iqbal by the people of Kolkata led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. After a heartwarming trip to Kolkata when Waleed Iqbal, grandson of poet-philosopher Allama Sheikh Mohammed Iqbal, returned to Pakistan earlier this week, he was struck by the rabidly anti-India rhetoric by a political party.
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