It is was this day, ten years ago when he passed away. He was my father. Professor Jagan Nath Azad was a stalwart of urdu poetry, an authoritative scholar and a giant of his era. The gene in him was of a literary genius; he was the son of Tilok Chand Mahroom, a towering poet of urdu and persian. Jagan Nath Azads biggest claim to fame is his urdu poetry. He was also the man who wrote Pakistans first National Anthem which was broadcast on Radio Lahore on 24th August, 1947. Sh Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted a hindu to write it. I narrate it as my father told me over the years. Father was in Lahore. He had decided not to leave his homeland even as grandfather and family migrated at partition. In the beginning of August, Officials of Radio Pakistan contacted him. They conveyed that the Qaid-e-Azam desired that Azad write the National Anthem of Pakistan, to be broadcast on 14th August, when part of power was to be transferred by the British to Pakistan. The Anthem was required very quickly since the Qaid-e-Azam had to approve the text first, the music had to be composed, the piece had to be recorded with music and voice. And then put up again for the final approval of Sh Jinnah. All in a few days before 14th August. Azad sahib expressed his anxiety that the time was too short. On insistance by the officials, he consented saying that the Qaid-e-Azams wish was a Hukm for him. He wrote it within days. Jinnah sahib approved it. The Anthem was recorded and broadcast on 14th August. It was broadcast for several months and taken off when Sh Jinnah died. The current Anthem came years later. I was a boy when dad told me about it. With awe, I asked, To Jinnah sahib ko woh anthem pasand aya? Fathers streak of honest, blunt, humility was obvious. He replied Zaroor pasand aya hoga, tabhi to woh sab aage barha. I asked, with the expectation of that age, Jinnah sahib ne apko bataya ki acha hai. kya unhon ne thanks kiya? He reply was without any pretension. It was someting like this. Nahin, nahin, unhon ne mujhse directly kabhi baat nahin ki. Woh to unhone apne afsaron ko keh diya hoga ki theek hai. Meri unse kabhi mulaquat nahin hui, main unko milne walon mein se nahin tha. Main unka koi dost thori tha. Main ek junior poet tha, woh qaid-e-azam the. Waise bhi un dino unke paas itna waqt kahan tha mujhse milne ka. He was a busy man. Darasal woh chahte honge ki Pakistan ka Anthem ek hindu shayar likhe. Un dino hindu shair wahan reh bhi kaun gaye the, mere siva? Waise bhi urdu adab ke bare mein woh utne jaankaar nahin the. Unhone apne ird-gird ke logon se mashwara kiya hoga. Unko bataya gaya hoga ki yeh shayar theek hai. Unhone hukm de diya. I would like my friends to view him recite his nazm in tarannum in a mushara, that I have uploaded.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 15:52:29 +0000
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