Nazrul's Life
by Dr. Das
(Asian Dub Foundation)

Throughout the 1920s, Kagi Nazrul Islam was one of the cultural pillars of the Indian Independence movement. Through his poetry, songs, novels, plays and political and journalistic writing as well as political activities, he expressed protest against slavery, communalism, feudalism and colonialism. This earned him the wrath of the British authorities, who often hindered his activities and even threw him in jail, but gained him the love of those from all communities and classes whose struggles he highlighted and whose spirits he lifted.

He was born on 24th May 1899 into an extremely poor, Muslim working class family in the village of Churulia in West Bengal, north-east India. His father died when he was only nine and as a consequence of the need to provide for his family, he had a severely interrupted education.

At the age of ten he was teaching in his local school and later worked in a bakery. His nickname of “Dukhu” (“sorrow”) at this time reflected the hardship he had to experience. He also worked in a mosque where he learnt the principles and practices of Islam.

Whilst still a teenager, Nazrul joined a local folk-drama group. This was where he first learnt to, and started composing his own poetry and songs. He was exposed to the music of the Bauls - travelling Sufi minstrels. Sufis, though a sect of Islam, explored their spirituality and relationship with God through music, often reaching a trance–like state through their playing. They also expressed a humanist philosophy, bemoaning the divisions between Hindus and Muslims and questioning the established order of caste and class.

The young Nazrul both lived in a religiously mixed community and attended festivals frequented by Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. All this had a profound effect on him and later on, made him one of the staunchest fighters against communalism (conflict based upon religious bigotry and intolerance.)

At the age of seventeen, Nazrul joined the 49th Bengali Regiment of the (British) Indian army. He wanted to show that Bengalis were capable of fighting. Punjabis and Rajputs already had a martial reputation, but Bengalis were known only as terrorists! Whilst posted in Karachi (now in Pakistan) he subscribed to inspirational literary journals like “Shogat” and “Prabasi”. His first published pieces were written whilst still a soldier.

On being demobbed in 1920, he rushed to Calcutta to join the staff of Shogat. Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal was both a cultural centre and a hotbed of opposition to British rule in India. Nazrul mixed with students and intellectuals in bookshops and cafes and enthusiastically entered into discussions on literature, art and politics. His growing political awareness endowed him with an ‘all India’ mentality and a sense of patriotism.

In 1921, Nazrul wrote the poem “Bidrohi” or “The Rebel.” It made him an ‘overnight’ sensation. Not only did it herald a new type of dynamic and more aggressive poetry, a challenge to the great Tagore who had held sway and been imitated for decades, but it was a political and metaphorical call to arms - of Indians against the British and the underclass against their oppressors. No one had done anything like this before. The poem reached further than just the Hindu and Muslim intellectuals who showered him with plaudits.

Nazrul joined the “Swadeshi” (self-rule) Movement that involved the boycotting of British goods and non co-operation with the authorities. He started writing patriotic and marching songs of which there was hitherto no tradition in Bengali music. The political leader, Subhas Chandra Bose, who advocated violent as well as non-violent struggle said people would be singing Nazrul’s songs when they went to war against the British.

The increasing political nature of his poetry and journalism, some of which advocated armed insurrection, did not escape the notice of the police. In 1922, the offices of his recently established magazine “Dhumketu” (“The Comet”) was raided and materials seized. Some of his books were banned and he was jailed for ‘sedition.’ Within prison, he protested at his mistreatment there by going on a hunger strike that he maintained for forty days. He only terminated it when Tagore persuaded him that the people outside needed him alive. He was released in December 1923.

The following year, Nazrul married a Hindu woman - Pramila Devi. This lead to much criticism from outraged fundamentalists from both religious communities, including in magazines he had written for. But he counter-criticised both mullahs (Muslim religious leaders) and high caste Hindus for their bigotry. Others too from both sides, came to his aid.

He became more involved in direct political activity, attending rallies and meetings and joining the Bengal Provisional Congress Committee. He also helped form a workers’ and peasants’ party. His songs started to reflect a greater awareness of class issues, with songs not only about patriotism, but also dealing with equality and social justice.

By 1927, he had an extensive body of songs promoting Hindu- Muslim unity. Nazrul was, at the same time, developing the Bengali version of the “ghazal” - a type of song inspired initially by Persian poetry and sung hitherto only in Urdu and dealing primarily with personal love and yearning. He had succeeded in creating inclusive and accessible music, for the masses. It can truly be said that he was writing songs of ‘love and revolution.’

Throughout the 1930s, Nazrul’s second active decade, his work was dominated by his song writing. He was very innovative, drawing upon Indian classical, folk and middle-eastern traditions and dragged Bengali music into the 20th century. His music was extensively recorded by gramophone companies and his songs performed by many artistes. Nazrul himself diversified into broadcasting, musical directing, play writing and even acting.

By the end of the decade communal tensions had risen, aided and abetted by the British (classic ‘divide and rule’) and Nazrul wrote several articles against “Partition.” Even though India had not existed as an official entity before, he was passionately against the division of ‘British’ India into the Islamic state of Pakistan and Hindu state of India when independence might eventually be achieved.
In 1940 Nazrul’s family received a tragic blow when his wife, Pramila was afflicted with paralysis from the waist downwards. They had already suffered the loss of their second son.

In 1941 he became the chief editor of “Nabajug” (“New Age”) magazine. It is ironic that just as Nazrul had re-entered the journalistic arena that perhaps the ultimate tragedy struck. In July 1942, whilst conducting a children’s radio broadcast, he suddenly became silent. He never spoke again. He had suffered a complete mental collapse. Though sound of body, no one could tell what he was taking in mentally for he gave no indication. No examination or treatment could reveal the cause of what had happened or reverse the condition.

Partition and the ensuing bloodbath in which millions of Hindus and Muslims died in religious violence would have undoubtedly caused him extreme grief had he been mentally aware. His beloved Bengal had once again been split into two (the British had done this before) with West Bengal remaining in India and East Bengal becoming East Pakistan, separated from West Pakistan by several thousand miles.
Throughout the fifties Nazrul faded into obscurity, living with Pramila on a meagre pension.

After yet more bloody conflict, East Pakistan in 1971 became the independent state of Bangladesh (“Land of Bengal”) and Nazrul was brought over to live there and given the honour of National Poet of Bangladesh. Whether Nazrul would have accepted leaving India in his right mind is a matter of conjecture. He would have no doubt been a thorn in the side of Bangladesh’s subsequent military government. Indeed, he would have been extremely critical of both India’s and Pakistan’s regimes.

The ordinary people of Bangladesh regarded him with much affection. When he passed away in 1976, he was given full state honours and hundreds of thousands filed passed his coffin.

He left an enormous body of music and literature, both religious and secular. (As a Muslim, he was the composer of the largest number of Hindu devotional songs.)

At a time where Indian statesmen once again stir up religious intolerance to satisfy their own political ends and the Indian and Pakistani governments are on the verge of threatening each other with nuclear weapons, his message of Hindu-Muslim fraternity remain as relevant as ever.

For the people of West Bengal and Bangladesh most affected by the soul destroying weather conditions that annually wreak fresh havoc and by corrupt and incompetent local and national governments, it is arguably his most revolutionary songs and poetry that carry the most resonance. The poem “Bidrohi” is as popular today as it ever was. For people in rural areas especially, Nazrul’s life story has passed into modern folklore and he is afforded a status similar to that of Bob Marley in Jamaica. For those people, Nazrul never stopped speaking and his messages of hope, humanity and unity will continue to affect their lives in a positive way.

Author:
Dr Das
Founding Member of Asian Dub Foundation
Please visit their website to find out
www.AsianDubFoundation.com
more about the author
ADBand their song