Hum Dekhenge ( ur, - In english ''We shall see'') is a popular
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' nazm
''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ''ghazal'' ().
is significantly ...
Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi:
فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Outsi ...
. Originally written as ''Va Yabqá Vajhu Rabbika (And the countenance of your Lord will outlast all)'', it was included in the seventh poetry book of Faiz -- ''Mere Dil Mere Musafir''.
Background
The nazm was composed as a medium of protest against Zia Ul Haq's oppressive regime. It gained a rapid cult-following as a leftist song of resistance and defiance, after a public rendition by
Iqbal Bano
Iqbal Bano ( ur, ; born 1928 in Delhi – died 21 April 2009 in Lahore) was a ghazal singer from Pakistan. She was known for her semi-classical Urdu ghazal songs and classical thumris, but also sang easy-listening numbers in the 1950s films. Iq ...
at
Alhamra Arts Council
Alhamra Arts Council (also known as the Alhamra Hall, Alhamra Cultural Complex, Alhamra Art Gallery and Lahore Arts CouncilIqbal Bano ghazal personified Dawn (newspaper), published 22 April 2009, Retrieved 21 June 2018 on 13 February 1986, ignoring the ban on Faiz's poetry., Retrieved 21 June 2018
Themes
Faiz employs the metaphor of traditional Islamic imagery to subvert and challenge Zia's fundamentalist interpretation of them; Qayamat, the Day of Reckoning is transformed into the Day of Revolution, wherein Zia's military government will be ousted by the people and democracy will be re-installed.
Ali Hamza
H, or h, is the eighth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''aitch'' (pronounced , plural ''aitches''), or region ...
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...
to as a song of protest
Protests
The poem gained importance in protests against
Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...
IIT Kanpur
The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) Hindi: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was ...
took issue with ''Hum Dekhenge'' being sung by protesting students in the campus, and alleged it to be "anti-Hindu". The IIT instituted a commission to look into the issue. The student media body rejected the charges as being misinformed and communal, which divorced the poem from its societal context.