"Here richly, with ridiculous display,/The Politician's corpse was laid
away/While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged/I wept: for I had
longed to see him hanged", was prolific English author Hillaire
Belloc's caustic send-off to an unnamed politician. The verse also
exemplifies the vibrant, universal tradition of political satire that
exists alongside organised government - from the plays of Aristophanes
in ancient Athens to TV shows like "Yes Minister" and "Saturday Night
Live" now. And closer to home, both Hindi and Urdu literature used it to
devastating effect.
While the Hindi tradition has Manohar
Shyam Joshi ("Netaji Kahin") and Hari Shankar Parsai among others,
satire entwined with humour - "tanz-o-mizah" - has an older existence in
Urdu where Mughal-era poet Mirza Muhammad Rafi "Sauda" (1713-81) was
perhaps the first exponent.
Political satire started with Akbar
Hussain Rizvi "Akbar Allahabadi" (1846-1921) , and his barbs at both
colonial rule and his compatriots' craze for western habits and
forsaking their own roots.
"Chhorh 'literature' ko apni,
'history' ko bhul ja/Sheikh-o-masjid se ta'alluq tark kar 'school'
ja/Chaar din ki zindagi hai koft se kya faida/Kha 'double-roti' 'clerki'
kar khushi se phuul ja" is perhaps the earliest attack on those
following the Macaulay-inspired educational system, while desultory
efforts at political reform were captured in: "Reform ka hai shor par
uska asar nahi aata ghayab/Plateon ki saada sunta hoon par khaana nahi
aata" (or words to that effect).
This cause was taken much
further by the late 19th-century Lucknow newspaper "Awadh Punch"
(influenced by the iconic English journal) which provided some of the
trenchant satirists of their day a platform. Through both words and
images - its cartoons were no less than those of the original Punch - it
pulled no punches. An attack on a colonial policy went: "Mehnga kar
gehun, sasta kar afeem/Bismillah ir-rehman- ir-rahim".
But these
examples were somewhat uncharacteristic as they were intended as form
of protest/dissent unlike pure political satire, which occasionally may
have an agenda or seek to influence a political process, but is largely
aimed at entertainment.
Thankfully, in an independent subcontinent, there was no shortage of opportunities and targets.
Pakistani
poet Abdul Majeed Chauhan (1913-57) who wrote as "Namak Lahori" but is
popularly known as "Majeed Lahori" wrote about a minister's pretensions
in a delightful lyric which bears comparison with Gilbert and Sullivan's
"The Modern Major-General's Song" ("The Pirates of Penzance") - as far
as expertise is concerned.
"Murghion par bhi kar sakta hoon
izhar-e-khayal/Aur saandon par bhi hoon mehfil mein
sargaram-e-maqaal/Race ke ghorhon pe bhi taqreer kar sakta hoon
main/'Akbar' o 'Iqbal' ki tafseer kar sakta hoon main..."
And
after a whole lot of things including the philosophy of Plato, the
poetry of "Dagh Dehlvi", the secrets of the atom bomb, the minister
declares - quite modestly: "Jitne bhi shaube hain un sab par hoon main
chaya hua/Hoon Minister mustanad hai mera farmaya hua".
More
recently, there is Syed Aijazuddin Shah "Popular Meeruti", a figure
well-known to those who attend mushairas for his rib-splitting verse
delivered deadpan.
"Umeedvar main bhi hoon" about an aspiring
candidate, who has just one request: "Ticket mujhe bhi dila do assembly
ke liye". For this, he can do anything: "Ticket ke vaaste ghairat bhi
bech sakta hoon/Main khandaan ki izzat bhi bech sakta hoon/ Bhikhe to
apni sharafat bhi bech sakta hoon/Mujhe sukoon hain darkar zindagi ke
liye/Ticket mujhe bhi dila do assembly ke liye".
And he knows his
capability: "Main sangreze se jauhar bana diya jaaon/Ek ek qatre se
samandar bana diya jaaon/Ajab nahi ke 'minister bana diya jaaon/Main har
tarah hoon munasib 'ministry' ke liye/Ticket mujhe bhi dila do assembly
ke liye".
'Popular' is unrelenting about politicians. "Is
martaba bhi aaye number tere to kam/Rusvaiyon ka kya meri daftar banega
tu?/Bete ke sar pe deke chapat baap ne kaha/Phir fail ho gaya hai
Minister banega tu?" or take "Ajab nahi hai jo kutta bhi pir ho
jaaye/Phatte jo doodh to phir voh paneer ho jaaye/Mawaalion ko na dekha
karon hikarat se/Na jaane kaun sa goonda wazir ho jaaye."
Rafiq
Shadani follows the same tradition, weaving in folk rhythms and dialect
of central Uttar Pradesh but is as aggressive: "Desh ma mahangai,
bekari/Nafrat ki phaili bemaari/Dukhi hai janata bechaari/Bhikhi jaat
hai lota-thaari/Jiyo Bahadur khaddar-dhari!"
And "Tan se gora,
man se ganda/Mandir-masjid nam pe chanda/Sab se badhiya tohra dhanda/Na
to namaazi, na to pujaari/Jiyo Bahadur khaddar-dhari!" and more in this
vein.
Another goes: "Neta logan ghoom lage apan apan jajmaani
ma/Utho kahilon, chorho khichri, haath maaro biryani ma/Aur yehi varta
hot rahi kal Ramdaas aur Ramzaani ma/Dudh ki matki dharo na bhaiyya,
billi ki nigrani ma".
Never underestimate poets' role as sentinels of democracy!
(27.01.2015
- Vikas Datta is an associate editor at IANS. The views expressed are
personal. He can be contacted at [email protected])
