Shaped by the Progressive Writers’ Association, the poets of this movement sought to use art to increase social awareness about "the problems of hunger and poverty, social backwardness and political subjugation" (PWA manifesto, 1935). Faraz’s poetry represented a genre of progressive writing which offered a vision - provisional, fluctuating, tentative, yet powerful - of a utopia that was centered around the notions of egalitarianism and social justice. This tradition, initiated by Josh Malihabadi and Mohammad Iqbal, nurtured by Ali Sardar Jafri, Sahir Ludhianavi and Majrooh Sultanpuri, spurred by Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Kaifi Azmi, and inherited by Habib Jalib, Fehmida Riyaz, Kishwar Nahid and Ahmad Faraz, dominated the Urdu literary landscape of the 20th century. If Faraz’s lines strike a familiar note, it is because his work lies firmly within the tradition of progressive poetry in Urdu. Ahmad Faraz (1931-2008), in Muhaasara (The Siege),Ī poem written to protest the attempt of General Zia-ul Haq to silence writers. He really doesn’t understand this lesson of history: When I saw this proposal, I said to his emissary Shrug off your honor and walk away from it Or else, you will be the next target of the archers Lay down your paper and pen in the slaughter house So here then is the condition for your safety: To subah ek nayaa suuraj taraash laatii hai Ke raat jab kisii khurshiid ko shahiid kare Use khabar nahiiN taariikh kyaa sikhaatii hai Ye shart-naama jo dekhaa to ailchii se kahaa Vagarnaa ab ke nishaanaa kamaan daaroN kaaīas ek tum ho, so ghairat ko raah meN rakh do To apne lauh-o qalam qatl-gaah meN rakh do So shart ye hai jo jaaN ki amaan chaahte ho
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