Music has historically been at the forefront of resistance around the world. During the 1940s, Urdu poetry took centre stage as protests erupted across British India, with calls for Independence louder than ever.
During the Pakistan Movement (1940-47), amid calls to join the Muslim League, Fateh and Mubarak Ali Khan sang the Qawalli, “Muslim Hay tou Muslim League Main Aa” - it not only became a hit but also became a slogan for the Muslim League.
Kaifi Azmi penned the poem: Aurat. It centres female agency, and the participation of women in the Pakistan movement. Both revolutionary and romantic, it is reminiscent of what Jinnah thought and said about the political participation and agency of women.
Josh Malihabadi became known as the Poet of the Revolution. EIC ke Farzandon se Khitab is a scathing poem addressing the coloniser. His couplet, Kaam hai mera taghayyur, naam hai mera shabab, inquilab-o-inquilab-o-inquilab went on to become a popular protest slogan.
Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna was written after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, as an ode to the young freedom fighters of the independence movement by Ram Prasad Bismil, who was later executed. It turned into a revolutionary anthem against British colonial rule.
Last but not least, Iqbal. Amongst one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century, It was his vision which set the prelude for the Pakistan movement:
کوئی اندازہ کر سکتا ہے اس کے زور بازو کا نگاہ مرد مومن سے بدل جاتی ہيں تقديريں
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