ON THE EVE OF MAY DAY 2014 !

Faiz Ahmed Faiz [1911-1984] was one of the most prominent revolutionary intellectual of the sub continent.                                                           His political beliefs [Marxist-Leninist]                                 set him up as an natural critic of General Zia Ul Haq. In 1985, as part of Zia's programme of forced Islamicization, the sari, part of the traditional atire for women on the subcontinent was banned. That year, Iqbal Bano, one of Pakistan's best loved singers and artists, sang Hum Dekhenge to an audience of 50,000 people in a Lahore stadium wearing a black sari. The recording was smuggled out and distributed on bootleg cassette tapes across the country. Cries of "Inqilab Zindabad" ("Long Live Revolution") and thunderous applause from the audience can be heard on the recording onYouTube. Faiz was in prison at the time.

Hum Dekhenge was written in 1979. It is considered Faiz’s response to General Zia ul Haq’s repressive dictatorship and a critical commentary of Zia’s brand of authoritarian Islam.

LYRICS -HUM DEKHENGE ;

hum dekhenge,
laazim hai ke hum bhii dekhenge,
hum dekhenge,

woh din ke jis kaa waada hai,
jo lauh-e-azal pe likhaa hai,

hum dekhenge,

jab zulm-o-sitam ke koh-e-giraa.n,
roo_ii kii tarah uR jaayenge,
hum mahkoomo.n ke paa_oo.n tale,
yeh dhartii dhaR dhaR dhaRkegii,
aur ahl-e-hakam ke sar uupar,
jab bijlii kaR kaR kaRkegii,

hum dekhenge.

jab arz-e-Khudaa ke kaabe se,
sab but uThwaaye jaayenge,
hum ahl-e-safaa mardood-e-haram,
masnad pe biThaaye jaayenge,
sab taaj uchhaale jaayenge,
sab taKhth giraaye jaayenge,

hum dekenge.|

[Translation :-we will see,we are also duty bound to see,what happens on the day of promise,written on tablets of history,we will see.When massive mountains of cruelty and tyranny,when marching steps of downtrodden,will make the earth beneath their feet quake and shudder,when skies above the heads of tyrant rulers,by streaks of lighting are split asunder,we will see.When from the sacred square of the kaaba,idols of false gods will be uprooted,when to us rootless and unwanted,seats of power will be granted,all crowns will be tossed into the air,all thrones ground to dust,we will see].