Not fair to involve Faiz Ahmad Faiz in matters of religion: Gulzar

New Delhi: After IIT Kanpur formed a panel to inquire into a complaint against the recitation of Faiz Ahmad Faiz's noted poem Hum Dekhenge on its campus during the protests against CAA and NRC, veteran lyricist and poet Gulzar asserted that the poet's lines were taken 'out-of-context' and it is wrong on the part of people to call his poem "anti-Hindu."

Condemning the controversy, Gulzar said: "A poet of that stature who is the founder of progressive writers movement, it is not fair to involve him in matters of mazhab (religion), whatever he has done, he has done for the people, the world knows him and his work. He has written poems in Zia-ul-Haq's era, and it is not right to show his work in the wrong context, it is their mistake, who is doing so. His work- poems and couplets, need to be seen in its true sense."

On Wednesday, the daughter of the famous Urdu poet said her father's words would always appeal to those who need to express themselves. She added that calling his poem anti-Hindu is not sad but funny.

"It is not sad but funny to call Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Hum Dekhenge anti-Hindu. A group of people investigating the poem's message is nothing to be sad about, it is very funny. Let's look at in another way, they may end up getting interested in Urdu poetry and it's metaphors. Never underestimate the power of Faiz," Saleema Hashmi said in an interview.

Lyrist Javed Akhtar also termed the controversy "absurd and funny" and difficult to be taken seriously. Reacting to the controversy, Akhtar told a news agency: "Calling Faiz Ahmad Faiz 'anti-Hindu' is so absurd and funny that it's difficult to seriously talk about it."

On December 22, following a complaint that students of IIT-K made allegedly communal statements during an event held in solidarity with Jamia Millia Islamia, a panel was formed to inquire into the recitation of Faiz Ahmad Faiz's noted poem Hum Dekhenge on its campus.

With agency inputs