Those were the last days of the British Empire, sailors of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) had captured HMIS Hindustan, berthed at Karachi harbour and military installations established on Manora Island. Processions were taken out on the roads of the city and a song written by a young man was sung:
‘Hila do samaj ko, gira do samraj ko
Lao naya nizam, jo pasand kare avaam
Inquilab, inquilab, gao inqilab, gao inqilab’
(Shake the foundations of society, topple imperialism
Usher in that new system which the people want
Revolution, revolution, sing revolution sing revolution)
This young revolutionary would later become famous as Shaikh Ayaz. Aslam Khawaja, author of The Role of Sindh in the 1857 Uprising, writes that the supporters of the naval mutiny were communists who were led by Sobho Gianchandani and A.K. Hangal, the famous Indian actor. Shaikh Ayaz had composed this poem under the influence of this very mutiny.
Shaikh Ayaz was born in Shikarpur on March 2, 1923, in the home of Ghulam Hussain Shaikh and he passed away on the evening of December 27, 1997. His father served in the Department of Revenue and married three times. Ayaz’s mother was a Hindu widow who fell in love with his father and abandoned her family to come to him and performed nikah.
Shikarpur is identified with pickles, preserves and chutney these days but before the Partition of India, this city was known in the region as a centre of trade, learning and literature – and inter-religious harmony. If the trade relations of this city extended to Samarqand, then its spiritual relations spread till Guru Nanak and Kabir. The Seva-panthis here built welfare hospitals and educational institutions.
In the days when Ayaz was studying at C&S College, Shikarpur, when the movement for Hindu-Muslim unity was on; theatre groups used to present dramas to make the movement effective. At that time, children’s journals were also issued from Shikarpur.
Under the influence of communists in Karachi
In 1940, Shaikh Ayaz took admission in D.G. College Karachi to do a B.A. Here he remained in the company of left-wing writers and politicians Sobho Gianchandani, Gobind Malhi, Ibrahim Joyo and the founder of the modern nationalist ideology of Sindh, Hashoo Kewalramani.
Sobho Gianchandani had been educated at the Shantiniketan of Tagore and upon his return he was active in practicing law along with many trade unions. Ibrahim Joyo had returned from Bombay after being trained in B.T., where he was influenced by the founder of the Communist Party of India and philosopher M.N. Roy and was working with people associated with the Radical Party in Karachi.
In Karachi, Nagindernath Vyas and his wife Sushila were associated with these ideas; they used to issue Agi Qadam (Fire Step), the party journal, in Gujarati. Shaikh Ayaz became close to them and issued a journal of the same name in Sindhi, Agti Qadam, which was the first progressive journal in Sindhi.
Gujral gave him the title of ‘Chandra Shekhar’
Shaikh Ayaz writes in his autobiography that comrade Sobho once took him to the communist leader I.K. Gujral, who used to live near Nishat Cinema (and later elected as the prime minister of India) and introducing the former said, “Meet him, he is our red poet”.
“Gujral said that recite a Sindhi poem so that I can guess its flow and music. I recited ‘O Baghi O Raj Drohi’ to him, he was really happy and said that you are the Chandra Shekhar Azad of poetry.”
Chandra Shekhar Azad was the comrade of Bhagat Singh and a revolutionary.
The eminent politician and writer of Sindh Rasul Bux Palijo wrote in one of his essays on the death of Shaikh Ayaz,
“Shaikh Ayaz was fortunate that he found an era when there was the Progressive Writers Association, the march of Gandhi, the 1930 ‘Quit India Movement’ against the British. He inherited all of these things, the poetry of Tagore, Krishan Chander, the poetry of Faiz, was an all-comprising whole. History was restless for change and it was ordained by history to keep pace with this change.”
Resistance within One-Unit
In 1954, when all four provinces of then-West Pakistan were declared to be One-Unit, a popular reaction against this came to the fore in Sindh. Writers, journalists and lawyers kept pace with political parties, and the poetry of Shaikh Ayaz provided fuel to this movement.
The song ‘Sindhri par sar kon qurban…’ (I sacrifice my life for Sindh) echoed in the lanes and quarters of Sindh and people began to come out to heavily oppose One-Unit. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) too was an admirer of this song. It is said that one evening he had the singer of this song, Ustad Ghafoor, and the sarangi player Ustad Abdul Majeed summoned via helicopter to listen to this song four times.
Progressive thinker of Sindh Ibrahim Joyo writes that,
“After the Partition of 1947, there was silence everywhere in Sindh and in such a situation because of the poetry and prose of Shaikh Ayaz, a clamour was created again. Sindhi literature had opened its eyes in the lap of unparalleled classical poets and prose writers; but had again closed its eyes after looking here and there and in this situation it again turned a side at the voice of Ayaz. Ayaz is the first confidant of this true morning.”
With the passage of time, Ayaz assumed the shape of challenging all negative forces and consequently three volumes of his poetry were banned from 1962 to 1964.
A traitor is not given a medical certificate
Shaikh Ayaz moved from Karachi to Sukkur where he remained associated with the law profession. When Pakistan and India came face-to-face in 1965 and war started, Shaikh Ayaz resisted it and wrote a poem using his poet friend Narayan Shyam as a metaphor:
‘Ye Sangram, saamne hai Narayan Shyam
Iske mere bol bhi vohi qaul bhi vohi
Is par kese bandooq uthaaun, kese goli chalaaun’
(This is Sangram, facing me is Narayan Shyam
His words and mine too are the same, promises too are same
How should I raise a gun upon him, how should I fire)
After the poem became popular, Shaikh Ayaz was arrested. He writes in his autobiography that he was in Sukkur Jail in 1965 and that a rumour was spread in the city that the wireless with which he was sending alleged messages to India had been found in the basement of his office.
He writes that the orders for house-arrest were for three months; in those days, his mother-in-law who also lived with them, developed cancer of the liver, and his wife Zarina lost her senses from this shock.
“In those same days I contracted malaria. Ghulam Ullah Awan who was the civil surgeon in Sukkur in those days came for inspection. I said to the surgeon to give me a certificate of illness so I can send the government the application for release, upon which the surgeon said to send my son. Anees (son) came for meeting so I asked him to meet the doctor. When he came again for meeting to the jail I asked him about the meeting with the doctor, so he cried and said that the doctor said that I cannot give a certificate to any traitor.”
Joining the party of Sheikh Mujib
At the request of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Shaikh Ayaz joined the former’s party, the Awami League, and remained in jail afterwards.
He writes in his autobiography that after release in the Agartala case, G.M. Syed organised a feast in a Karachi hotel for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Syed told Sheikh Mujib that he should include Agha Ghulam Nabi, Ayub Khoro and Ali Muhammad Rashidi in the central committee of the Awami League, in response to which Sheikh Mujib said that he would review these ‘feudal friends’ later, but that he first wanted poet Shaikh Ayaz for the central committee because his friends recognise him – owing to the translation of his poetry in Bengali – and are influenced by him.
“Sheikh Mujib clarified that the Awami League is a party of the middle class, not the feudal class. G.M. Syed did not like this thing. I said to Sheikh sahib that the One-Unit has not ended yet, communists, socialists, anarchists, nationalists, friends of Sindh all types of people are part of the movement. I am in touch with them all as a poet and writer. When the one-unit will break, I will join Awami League.”
Shaikh Ayaz writes that Sheikh Mujib went to Dhaka and after a while, Qazi Faiz Muhammad, who was a representative of united front within the Awami League, visited his house and said that Sheikh Mujib had insisted that he not go to his house and instead go straight to Shaikh Ayaz to remind him of his promise.
After this he joined the Awami League along with Rasheed Bhatti and several others, the next day Martial Law was enforced and Sheikh Mujib was arrested. Ayaz too was arrested for eight months.
Shaikh Ayaz’s arrest and Faiz’s invitation
Shaikh Ayaz also complained about his contemporary friends.
‘Mere deeda-varo, mere danish-varo
Paon zakhmi sahi, dagmagaate chalo
Apni zanjeer ko jagmagaate chalo’
(My connoisseurs, my intellectuals
Would that the feet are hurt, proceed unsteadily
Proceed with your chains dazzling)
He is also seen to be a critic. He writes in the diary of Sahiwal Jail of a night he was listening to the program Ghalib Ke Darbar Mein Aam (Mangoes in Ghalib’s Durbar). Presided over by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, many poets and writers read verses and essays on Ghalib and his affinity for mangoes. They had been invited to a mango party and many types of mangoes had been brought over.
“When they were sucking mangoes, at that time many lacs people, youth, children, aged and women in East Pakistan had crossed over the border into India and lacs of people had become homeless after leaving their homes. Then I took a cold sigh and thought that could poets too fall in such a manner in the ditch of humiliation as other people? When the touchstone of history will judge the good and the bad, at that time these dazzling coins will not even fetch a pittance.”
General Sharif Murre’s gift of a knife
He has also written about the journey to Quetta and meeting with the Baloch poet Gul Khan Naseer during the government of the National Awami Party (NAP).
Shaikh Ayaz writes that when he sent a card for meeting, he got the reply which asked him to send his address and that Naseer would visit him himself. But he did not come. After 15 days, they came face-to-face during a recording on Radio Pakistan. He said, while complaining, that he had gone to meet Gul Naseer who was his friend rather than ‘Gul Wazir’ (minister).
On the night of this complaint, there was a knock on the door of his room. He looked outside to see an aged man present along with armed people. He was told that, “I am Sher Mohammad aka General Sharif Murri, we are going to Britain from where I have to leave to meet the Palestinian Christian freedom fighter (leader of the Popular Front) George Habash, from whom arms for the struggle are to be procured. I have come to apologize to you on behalf of the Baloch nation. Gul Khan is not a real Baloch but Brohi.”
‘I offered him tea, he said that he does not drink tea but beer, and that too half a dozen. I said that its 9:30 pm at night, all the wine shops are closed so he said that nobody dares that the commandos of General Sherof go and shops are not opened. I gave my son Anees 200 rupees and said that if they can have a wine shop opened then bring half a dozen bottles of beer.’
‘He brought the beer, I did not drink because I had had dinner. He said that street warfare is easier where you are, mountain guerilla war is difficult, one has to walk for 20, 20 miles for places of refuge in mountainous areas. He drank 3 bottles, asked the commandos to pick the rest and took a knife from a commando and gifted me.’
‘The Voice of Sindh… Shaikh Ayaz Shaikh Ayaz’
When ZAB was appointed Chief Martial Law Administrator, he appointed Mumtaz Bhutto as the Governor of Sindh, on whose orders the release of Shaikh Ayaz was brought into effect.
Ayaz was such a rebel of his era and a non-traditional poetic revolutionary character who created fissures in the palaces of the then-prevalent ideas. He challenged the ideas, images and beliefs of his time which were the enemies of human happiness, progress and freedom. With him, human freedom was the most respected that is why he did not prefer any religion, philosophy and belief over humanity. This is the very reason that numerous traditional circles were upset with him. Allegations of sedition, allegations and cases of being anti-religion and anti-national were instituted against him and he was jailed.
The poetry of Shaikh Ayaz played a wholesome role in the nationalist, patriotic and progressive poetry of Sindh. This was the very reason that in the seventh decade of the last century the slogan of “Sindh ki aavaaz… Shaikh Ayaz Shaikh Ayaz” (The Voice of Sindh…Shaikh Ayaz Shaikh Ayaz) became common in Sindh. Actually in the decade of the 70s the flag of nationalist and progressive politics was in the hand of writers and poets.
The political character of the poetry of Shaikh Ayaz can be gauged from the fact that from those days till now, the following poem of Shaikh Ayaz has been made the anthem of Jiye Sindh Movement:
‘Sindh des ki dharti tum par apna sar main jhukaaun
Mitti maathe laaun’
(Land of Sindh, upon you I bow my forehead
I bring your earth to my forehead)
ZAB appointed Shaikh Ayaz as the Vice Chancellor of Sindh University during his government and he remained in this position even after the seizure of power by General Ziaul Haq. Nationalist circles expressed intense dislike at this appointment of his and writings against him came to light.
Shaikh Ayaz writes in his autobiography, ‘Had the Jiye Sindh lads not bothered me and not participated in that conspiracy under their watch, they could have made the university better.’ He found out about their requirements by visiting every class and fulfilled them; international journals were brought at the recommendation of every Dean. So many writers were given employment which had never been given before during the entire period of the university.
He has also narrated an interesting incident of Sindh University, he writes that one night at 1 am, a crowd of youth gathered outside the V.C. House and began to shout ‘Jiye Sindh Jiye Sindh’.
‘The guard told me that the boys are trying to enter inside through the gate, if you permit can we fire two or three times. I disallowed him and loaded my revolver, hiding it beneath the chador went towards the gate, the boys said to me, have you come to sleep here? I responded that one can sleep even on the scaffold why have you come now?’
‘The boys said that a former soldier came to G.M. Syed and made the excuse that he has come influenced by Syed’s ideas, we suspected him so we caught him, a dagger was found on him. I asked then what did you do? They told that they bound him and beat him up so he said that I have been sent by Shaikh Ayaz to kill G M. Syed.’
The Sindhi operas of Shaikh Ayaz
Apart from poetry, Shaikh Ayaz wrote operas in the Sindhi language for the first time, which include Dodo Soomro ki Maut (The Death of Dodo Soomro), Ranikot ke Daku (The Dacoits of Ranikot) and Bhagat Singh. Naz Sahito has staged these operas. These operas have been written keeping in mind resistance, patriotism and political consciousness but unfortunately in the last 40 years, had not been staged; only in 1980, a drama was staged in Hyderabad, afterwards all the 3 operas were presented.
In ‘The Dacoits of Ranikot’, there is a village named Sindh near Ranikot, dacoits forcibly enter it, which is resisted by the local people, this illustrates the period of Martial Law and the resistance of Sindh, in which symbols had been utilised.
Shaikh Ayaz and Urdu literature
Shaikh Ayaz writes in his autobiography that after the creation of Pakistan he was appointed as the Vice President of the Progressive Writers Association; he was the only Sindhi and the reason for the appointment at this position was that he could write a lot better than those writers whose language was Urdu. Ahmad Saleem, the eminent writer translated the poetry of Shaikh Ayaz into both Urdu and Punjabi.
Very few people know about Shaikh Ayaz that he began his poetry with Urdu. His very first poetic collection Boo-e-Gul Naala-e-Dil (Fragrant Flower Crying Heart) was in Urdu. When he was a Matriculation student, he knew the whole of Divan-e-Ghalib by heart. He also had expertise upon Farsi.
He never maintained prejudice of language in poetry, and not only translated the poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Shah Jo Risalo into Urdu, but also translated many verses of Sachal Sarmast and ‘Sami’, the Hindu sufi poet of Sindh.
It is really sad that the custodians of the ‘national literature’ of Pakistan never gave Shaikh Ayaz any importance in his lifetime but despite this, he kept writing in Urdu. His last Urdu collection is titled Neel Kanth aur Neem ke Patte (‘Blue Jay and Neem Leaves’).
Considered a symbol of pro-communist political resistance, Sheikh Ayaz turned to religion in the last days of his life. Like Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Jalib, he also wrote prayers. In his collection ‘Sanjhi Samand Sapun’ which was published a year before his death, he writes that in the hospital room I thought a lot about man, universe, human values and destiny and frustrated with sharing, my tendency towards religion. It was necessary, but despite the concept of God and being different, I do not hate anyone.
According to Sheikh Ayaz, “It is clear from the book of prayers that while writing the prayers, I have kept the entire human race in mind. My songs do not belong to any right wing. I have not joined or intend to join any such party. In fact, I have left politics forever and I think that the political affiliation of poetry is suicidal.
Impressions are gained in a fluid, global, diffused way
Sheikh Ayaz gave Sindhi language and poetry diction, images, style, themes, writing style and mental imagery. He is still a source of encouragement for the youth of Sindh.
Ejaz Mangi writes that the influence of Sheikh Ayaz on the new writers of Sindh is more visible than that of Shah Latif. Ayaz was also aware of this, so he wrote that ‘the poetry that will be written after me in Sindh will be such that if the sugarcane crop is harvested, another crop emerges from its roots.
Translated from the author’s Urdu original, which appeared on BBC Urdu.
Note: This article replaces the originally published article under the byline of Raza Naeem, who used long translated extracts of Riaz Sohail’s article from BBC Urdu without attribution.