Hum Dekhenge


Hum Dekhenge is a popular Urdu nazm, written by Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Originally written as Va Yabqá Vajhu Rabbika , 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 at Alhamra Arts Council on 13 February 1986, ignoring the ban on Faiz's poetry.

Themes

The poem 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.

In popular culture

It was recreated in Coke Studio Season 11 on 22 July 2018, under the aegis of Zohaib Kazi and Ali Hamza. The poem gained importance in protests against Pervez Musharraf in the early 2000s. The poem has been quoted and sung widely across a variety of protests in South Asia.

Citizenship Amendment Act protests in India

During the Citizenship Amendment Act protests in India, a temporary faculty member of IIT Kanpur 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.