Sajjad Zaheer

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Sajjad Zaheer
Born(1905-11-05)5 November 1905
Urdu
Political partyCommunist Party of India
SpouseRazia Sajjad Zaheer
Children4, including Nadira Babbar and Noor Zaheer
Writing career
GenreGhazal, Drama
Literary movementProgressive Writers' Movement
Notable worksAngarey
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Syed Sajjad Zaheer (

independence and partition, he moved to the newly created Pakistan and became a founding member of the Communist Party of Pakistan
.

Early life and education

Zaheer was born in

Oxford University with a degree in BA in 1931.[2]
After finishing his studies at Oxford he travelled through Germany, Italy, Denmark and Austria on his journey back to India in 1932.

In December 1932, Zaheer along with a group of friends published his first book

British India and was subsequently banned by the government.[4] Following the uproar due to the release of Angarey, he was sent to London by his father in March 1933 to study law at Lincoln's Inn.[2][5]

Political career

In 1935, he and novelist Mulk Raj Anand went to Paris to attend the International Congress for Defense of Culture organised by André Gide. Influenced by the conference he established the Indian Progressive Writers' Association in London.[5] The first conference of the association was held on 9 and 10 April 1936. After returning to India, he organised the first conference of the Progressive Writers’ Association in Lucknow on April 9, 1936, and started working as its general secretary. He along with Sohan Singh Josh started the first Marxist journal in Urdu, Chingari, in Saharanpur.[6]

He became Uttar Pradesh state secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) as well as a member of the working committee of the Congress in 1936. He was nominated in-charge of the Delhi branch of the CPI in 1939 and was jailed for two years during the Second World War for opposing Indian participation in it. After his release in 1942, he became the editor of the CPI newspaper Qaumi Jung (People's War) and Naya Zamana (New Age) in Bombay.[5][7] He also helped to organize the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and the All India Kisan Sabha.[8][7]

After

Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case along with Faiz Ahmed Faiz. He remained in jail for four years and upon release was given Indian citizenship by Jawaharlal Nehru.[9]

While in India he continued to work in cultural activities organized by the Communist Party of India.[8] He revived the All India Progressive Writers’ Association, became secretary of the Indian chapter of the Afro-Asian Writers' Association, and also worked as editor of Awami Daur (People's Era)[8] and the daily Hayat[9]

He died in 1973 while attending a literary conference in

Alma Ata, Kazakhstan.[8]

Literary career

Zaheer stated his literary career with a collection of short stories,

vers libre called Pighla Neelam (1964).[6]

In addition Zaheer also served as the editor of a number of papers and magazines throughout his career including Bharat, Chingari, Qaumi Jung, Naya Zamana, Awami Daur and Hayat.[8][5] He was also an avid translator, producing Urdu versions of Tagore's Gora, Voltaire's Candide and Shakespeare's Othello.[8][7]

Personal life

Sajjad and his wife Razia Sajjad Zaheer had four daughters, including Naseem Bhatia, who holds a PhD in history (ancient history) from a Russian university.[12]

Published writings

The published works of Zaheer include.[5]

  • Angarey (Nizami Press, Lucknow, 1932)
  • Beemaar (Jamia Press, Delhi)
  • London Ki Ek Raat لندن کی ایک رات - (Halqaye-e-adab, Lucknow, 1942)
  • Urdu, Hindi, Hindustani (Kutab Publishers, Bombay, 1947)
  • Letters: Naquoosh-e-Zindaan (Maktaba Shahrah, Delhi, 1951)
  • Zikr-e-Hafiz زکرِخافظ (Anjuman Tarraqui-e Urdu, Aligarh, 1956)
  • Roshnai روشنائی Roshnai (Maktaba Urdu, Lahore, 1956)
  • Pighla Nilamپِگھلا نیلم (Nai Roshani Prakashan, Delhi, 1964)
  • Meri Suno (Star Publishers, Delhi, 1967)
  • Mazzamein-e-Sajjad Zaheer (published posthumously by the UP Urdu Academy, Lucknow, 1979)
  • A translation of Shakespeare's Othello
  • A translation of Candide
  • A translation of Gora (novel written by Tagore)
  • A translation of
    Khalil Gibran
    )

References

  1. ^ Coppola 1981, p. 57.
  2. ^ a b c Jalil 2014, p. 192.
  3. ^ a b Jalil 2014, p. 111.
  4. ^ Jalil, Rakhshanda (5 November 2017). "Remembering writer and Progressive Writers' Association founder Sajjad Zaheer". National Herald. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-81-291-3108-9
    .
  6. ^ a b "Sajjad Zaheer's Progressive Ideas Live on in Writers' Dissent". The Wire. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  7. ^ a b c NOORANI, A. G. "A versatile communist". Frontline. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-93-5118-695-3
    .
  9. ^ a b InpaperMagazine, From (7 November 2010). "Column: Voice of the poor". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Angaaray". Penguin Books India.
  11. OCLC 913850929.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  12. ISBN 9788175330634
    .

Cited sources

Further reading

External links

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