August 09, 1947: Today was Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s second day in Pakistan. Sitting in his bungalow, Jinnah was thinking about the new form of Pakistan. Meanwhile, he remembered that after five days, the Pakistan of his dreams was going to come into existence and till now neither the flag of Pakistan had been discussed, nor had anyone talked about the national anthem. Meanwhile, a name flashed in his mind and that name was of Jagannath Azad, a Punjabi Hindu from Lahore.
Actually, while living in Delhi, Jinnah had read many poems written by Jagannath Azad. After reading these poems, Jinnah was impressed by Jagannath Azad’s command over the Urdu language. After reading Jagannath Azad’s poems, Jinnah thought that whenever Pakistan’s national anthem would be written, he would definitely give Jagannath Azad a chance. Today that day had come. Mohammad Ali Jinnah thought about calling Jagannath Azad and then suddenly stopped.
Actually, Jinnah thought that Jagannath Azad is a Hindu Kafir. In such a situation, it would be good to get the national anthem written by him. But then another thought came to his mind that if Jagannath Azad is a Kafir, what does it matter to me? If someone writes a good Nazm in Urdu, what else do I need? With this thought in mind, Jinnah sent an invitation to meet Jagannath Azad. On receiving the invitation, Jagannath Azad reached Jinnah’s bungalow before the scheduled time.
As soon as Jinnah first laid eyes on Jagannath Azad, his forehead wrinkled for a few moments. Actually, Jinnah had thought that the person who wrote such a wonderful Urdu poem would be a 50-year-old man, but this man was barely 30 years old. Anyway, after exchanging pleasantries, Jinnah asked Azad whether he had any poem worthy of being the national anthem of Pakistan. Although Azad did not have any such poem at that time, he recited a few lines that came to his mind (imagination).
These were the lines…
Oh land of heaven
I am yours today
awestruck by the stars,
is illuminated by the sky
Where is your fate today
on tundi-e-hasdaan
Ghalib is your voice,
The hem is stitched
which was there for ages
O pure land!
After listening to these lines, only one thing came out of Jinnah’s mouth, that’s it… that’s it, this is what I wanted. Jinnah liked this song so much that he entrusted the responsibility of writing Pakistan’s national anthem to a Punjabi Hindu. And thus, the national anthem of Watan-e-Pakistan was written by a Hindu.
Tags: 15 august, Independence Day
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 9, 2024, 11:49 IST
