Adil Najam

This is not an ATP Photo Quiz (here, here and here). This is more of a continuation from earlier ATP posts over the last few days (here, here, here, here, and here).

Well it started with an earlier post on the new music video of Mehdi Hassan’s ‘yeh watan tumhara hai‘ and this picture on the left above. Adnan Siddiqi suggested that it was poet Munir Niazi (when you are talking about Munir Niazi, you do not have to put the prefix ‘famous’ before poet; it is understood). This sequence comes late in the song when the gentleman in white (seemingly, holding a pen, which adds credence to the idea he might be Munir Niazi) is with a young boy, he verse goes, ‘yeh watan amanat hai, aur tum ameen loogo’, and he hands the pen to the youngster and presses his hand tightly as only a grandfather figure can. (See video here, read earlier ATP post here).

My immediate thought when I first saw this picture was also that it was Munir Niazi – despite the fact that my memories of him are always with his thick flowing hair, his ‘devil may care’ attitude, and an ‘angry young man’ look that never aged.

This post really continues from a previous (here) and a future (here) post.

Folloiwing from the earlier ATP post on the new music video on Mehdi Hasan’s ‘yeh watan tumhara hai,‘ I just wanted to share a few still images from the music video to show what is making so many of us think of Mehdi Hassan, the grandeur of his music, and his current battle with illness.

Also, given the discussion that started through the comments on the earlier post, and is continued in the next post, I did want to post a sampling of Munir Niazi’s poetry. Like Roshan, one of my favorite verses from Munir sahib is this famous Punjabi quatrain:

kujh unj we raawaN aukhiaN sann
kujh gall icch gham da tauq ve see
kujh shehr dey louk ve zalim sann
kujh sanouN marran da souq ve see

Yes, the path I chose was tough to traverse
Yes, there was the noose of grief around my neck
Yes, the citizenry was also so cruel
But, ultimately, we too wanted to get killed
(coloquial for the last line: ‘we were suckers for punishment’)

Adil Najam

By way of an Independence Day Special, ATP has dug up for you some historic video footage from 1947.

In fact, we have three separate newsreels; the first two from 14 August, 1947 and the third from July of that year. These should be of interest to subcontinental history buffs and also include some fascinating video clips of what Karachi used to look like.

This first video is from 15 August, 1947 and shows the opening session of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly. Produced by Gaumont British News, it is placed for public viewing by the Germany-based GandhiServe Foundation.

click on the play (arrow) button on the image below:

Please note in particular the Chairman (Speaker) of the Assembly (in the robe-like garment). This is Jogindar Nath Mandal (1904-1968), a Hindu Dalit from Bengal, who later became Pakistan’s first Law Minister (and then resigned from in protest, but that is a post that will come later).