Sajjad Zaheer

Sajjad Zaheer
Born (1905-11-05)5 November 1905
Lucknow, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India
(now in Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died 11 September 1973(1973-09-11) (aged 67)
Alma Ata, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
(now Kazakhstan)
Occupation Marxist ideologue, writer and poet in Urdu
Nationality Indian, Pakistani (briefly)
Citizenship Indian, Pakistani (briefly)
Genre Ghazal, Drama
Literary movement Progressive Writers' Movement
Notable works Angaaray
Spouse Razia Sajjad Zaheer
Children Four daughters
(Najma Baquer, Naseem Bhatia, Nadira Babbar, Noor Zaheer)

Syed Sajjad Zaheer (Urdu: سید سجاد ظہیر ‎) ( 5 November 1905 – 13 September 1973) was an Urdu writer, Marxist ideologue and radical revolutionary who worked in both India and Pakistan. In the pre-independence era, he was a leading member of the Communist Party of India. Upon independence and partition, he moved with his family to newly-created Pakistan and became a founding member of the Communist Party of Pakistan. In 1951, he was caught and jailed for his involvement in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case, a soviet plot to overthrow the first prime minister of Pakistan. Upon being released, he moved back to India. He died in 1973.

Zaheer was the father of Nadira Babbar and uncle of Nurul Hasan, the Congress politician.

Background and family

Zaheer was born in Lucknow, India, into an affluent Muslim family. The family were not only rich landlords but also Syeds, claiming descent from prophet Muhammad. His forebears, who had come to India as part of invading armies from Afghanistan, had received a large estate in Avadh (Oudh) as a reward for their warlike services to the invader, and for over two centuries, the family had lived off landlordism. Zaheer's father, Sir Syed Wazir Hasan, had received an English education and become a Barrister. He had been made a judge by the British and retired as Chief Justice of Oudh, receiving a knighthood for services to the British Raj.[1] Zaheer's mother, Sakina-tul-Fatima, was a decent traditional lady and the matriarch of a large family. Zaheer was one of their seven children (five sons and two daughters). One of his brothers, Syed Ali Zaheer, would become India's Ambassador to Iran. Zaheer was the uncle of Nurul Hasan, the Congress politician.

Career

After initial education in India, Sajjad Zaheer went to England to study law and became a barrister. However, he never practiced law, and never earned a regular living, supporting his family instead on income from his share of the ancestral landed estate.

Revolutionary writer

A collection of short stories, Angaaray (embers), which had stories by Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmed Ali, Rashid Jahan and Mahmud-uz-Zafar was published in 1932 and banned in 1933 by the British Government of India "for hurting the religious susceptibilities of a section of the community."[2] This gave rise to the All-India Progressive Writers' Movement & Association of which both Sajjad Zaheer and Ahmed Ali were co-founders. The first official conference of the Association was held in Lucknow in 1936, which was presided over by Munshi Premchand.

Emigration to Pakistan and jail

In 1947, the British departed from India after Partitioning the country and creating Pakistan. The landlords of Oudh, led by the Raja of Mahmudabad, had been the most vociferous and aggressive supporters and financial backers of the Muslim League. Zaheer, who was a leading member of the Communist Party of India, now became one of the founding members of the Communist Party of Pakistan, which he founded along with Faiz Ahmad Faiz in 1948.

Zaheer and his comrade, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, were convicted and jailed in Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case along with Mohammad Husain Ata, Zafarullah Poshni and others. Major General Akbar Khan was allegedly the main conspirator.

Return to India

Sajjad Zaheer was extradited to India in 1954 by the Government of Pakistan, and revived his activities in India through Progressive Writers' Association, Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and Afro-Asian Writers' Association. Sajjad Zaheer was also a founder and leading figure of the three associations.

Personal life

Marriage and children

Sajjad's wife Razia Sajjad Zaheer was essentially a housewife, who also wrote some short stories in Urdu. These were published first in a women's magazine. Sajjad and his wife were the parents of four daughters, being:

  1. Najma Zaheer Baquer, eldest daughter, a Professor of Biochemistry at JNU and an expert on diabetes.
  2. Naseem Bhatia, second daughter, holds a PhD in History (ancient history) from a Russian university.[3] She became vice-chancellor of Jai Narain Vyas University. Her husband, Prof. Vinod Bhatia, is a Hindu who taught history at the Academy of Third World Studies in Jamia Millia Islamia.
  3. Nadira Babbar, a theatre artist. Married to bollywood star-turned-politician Raj Babbar, she has two children, Arya Babbar and Juhi Babbar, both small-time film & TV actors.
  4. Noor Zaheer, fourth and youngest daughter, is a communist activist especially committed to promoting atheism, "rationalism" and feminism. She is the author of the feminist tract My God is a Woman. Although never married, she has four children by two different men. Their names are Sanjog Gupta, Pankhuri Dasgupta, Anuran Dasgupta and Surdhani Dasgupta.
    • Pankhuri Dasgupta (who uses the name "Pankhuri Zaheer," being estranged from her father) is a communist activist at JNU. She was the organizer of the Kiss of Love event held outside the RSS office in Old Delhi in November 2014.

Death

Sajjad Zaheer died aged 68 on 13 September 1973 while attending a conference of Afro Asian writers at Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, which at that time was one of the Soviet republics.

Published writings

References

  1. ↑ Sir Syed Wazir Hasan Profile
  2. ↑ "Angaaray". Penguin Books India.
  3. ↑

Further reading

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