Hamid Mir
You must surely have heard this stirring anthem, sung by singer Alamgir, an anthem whose very opening line instantly captivates the listener.
“It is through you, O Mujahids (warriors), that the world finds its stability.”
A particular couplet from this anthem has attained the status of a proverb.
“The death of a martyr is the life of a nation;
The blood of a martyr is the “Zakat” (purifying offering) of a nation.”
This anthem has become synonymous not only with Alamgir but also with the Pakistan Air Force. During the Pakistan Air Force Day celebrations on September 7th, this anthem can be heard stirring the blood of the nation’s ‘falcons’ (pilots). While the anthem itself is widely renowned, its creator is rarely mentioned. It is the work of a poet whose primary identity was that of a journalist. This journalist was Abdul Majeed Salik, today, ‘Salik Road’ in Lahore’s Muslim Town stands in his honour, and he lies buried in a nearby graveyard.
Long before the establishment of Pakistan, Salik Sahib launched a newspaper titled “Inqilab” (Revolution). On July 13, 1931, 22 Kashmiris were martyred when the Dogra police opened fire outside the Central Jail in Srinagar. Abdul Majeed Salik composed this anthem as a tribute to those Kashmiri martyrs, and it was first published in “Inqilab”. During that era, Salik Sahib used to write a popular column titled “Afkar-o-Hawadis” (Thoughts and Events). It was also he who bestowed the title ‘Sher-e-Kashmir’ (Lion of Kashmir) upon Sheikh Abdullah at a time when the Sheikh had not yet aligned himself with the Congress and, much like Salik himself, was an admirer of Allama Iqbal. Some chroniclers suggest that Abdul Majeed Salik supported the Unionist Party rather than the Muslim League; however, many historians view this claim as only a half-truth. The full picture is that while the daily Inqilab was launched in 1927, Abdul Majeed Salik had already become the editor of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s newspaper, “Zamindar”, in 1920. On November 4, 1921, he was arrested for writing an editorial deemed seditious against the British government. When the case went to trial, Salik chose not to offer a defence, instead, he confessed to the charge and was sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment. Upon his return to Lahore after serving his term in Mianwali Jail, he faced financial hardship. As his salary at “Zamindar” was rarely paid on time, he along with Maulana Ghulam Rasul Mehr launched a new newspaper, “Inqilab”.
Recently, Shuja-ud-Din Ghouri compiled a book titled “Salik Sahib,” which has been published in Karachi. The book includes a self-written obituary column by Abdul Majeed Salik penned during his own lifetime in which he reflects upon himself. “Deep within Salik Sahib’s nature lay an ingrained aversion to politics. At one point, his convictions were so strong that he was prepared to go to prison for the sake of speaking the truth and, in fact, he may have even done so once yet he could not abide the conspiracies and futile squabbles of political figures. Throughout his life, he never became a member of any political organisation, nor did he ever accept any political office.” He further writes. “Within his literary and journalistic circles, Salik Sahib was not a first-tier figure. He was second-tier in journalism, second tier in prose writing, second tier in humour, second tier in poetry, and third tier in Persian poetry.”
In other words, he classified himself as a second-tier journalist. This was an act of both humility and courage more remarkable given that he was, simultaneously, a member of the inner circles of both Allama Iqbal and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. In an interview conducted by Shafi Aqeel for the weekly “Chattan”, Salik Sahib referred to Allama Iqbal and Maulana Azad as his heroes, describing them as the preeminent masters of verse and prose, respectively. Despite the vast differences in their ideologies, Salik Sahib maintained close ties with both men. He was, however, particularly close to Allama Iqbal; indeed, much of Iqbal’s previously unpublished poetry became a part of the historical record thanks to Salik Sahib. According to Jagan Nath Azad, Allama Iqbal remarked as follows regarding the massacre perpetrated by the British colonial government at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar:
“The soil of the garden speaks to every visitor:
Do not remain heedless of the turns of fate in this world.
Its seed has been watered by the blood of martyrs;
Do not, therefore, withhold your tears from this sapling.”
Salik Sahib recited this “qita” by Allama Iqbal to Jagan Nath Azad, who subsequently preserved it as part of history. Salik Sahib chronicled his twenty-five-year association with Allama Iqbal in a book titled “Zikr-e-Iqbal”. An intriguing aspect of this period is that while Allama Iqbal served as the president of the Punjab Muslim League, Salik Sahib’s newspaper, Inqilab, supported Sir Sikandar Hayat the Premier of the Unionist Party in undivided Punjab whereas Salik Sahib’s son, Abdus Salam Khurshid, opposed the Unionist Party through the platform of the Muslim Students Federation. An even greater contradiction was that, while Salik Sahib supported Quaid-e-Azam—the leader of the All-India Muslim League at the national level, he appeared to align himself with Khizar Hayat Tiwana, the Unionist Premier of Punjab. His rationale was that confronting the British would only benefit the Congress and lead to the partition of Punjab a division he staunchly opposed. This stance caused a decline in the popularity of his newspaper, as most Muslims in Punjab had by then become supporters of the Muslim League. During the riots of 1947, the offices of Inqilab in Lahore were attacked, and the newspaper ceased publication. Later, Shorish Kashmiri provided space within the offices of Chattan for the resumption of “Inqilab” however, the newspaper was forced to close again in 1949 due to opposition from the government of the time. By then, Salik Sahib had also incurred a significant amount of debt. When Khawaja Nazimuddin became Prime Minister in 1951, Salik Sahib was offered a government position with a monthly salary of two thousand rupees. Working from Karachi under the pen name “Abu Rashid Wajdani,” he engaged in journalistic labour, using his earnings to pay off the debts incurred by the newspaper “Inqilab”. On one occasion, Mahir-ul-Qadri subjected him to harsh criticism in an article titled “The Masked Journalist.” Later, in 1953, the Muslim League government revoked the declaration of the newspaper “Zamindar” a publication that had staunchly supported the Pakistan Movement leading to its closure.
Although these newspapers ceased publication, books about Zafar Ali Khan and Salik Sahib continue to be published to this day. In 1951, Salik Sahib resorted to writing under a pseudonym to make ends meet; in contrast, many contemporary journalists peddle falsehoods and sycophancy under their own real names. In this era of digital media, newspapers and television channels are simultaneously fighting for their own survival and grappling with threats to freedom of expression. Journalists who surrender to these pressures will vanish from the pages of history, while those who strive to confront these challenges will see their names endure. Though “Inqilab”, “Zamindar”, and “Chattan” have long since closed, the names of Salik Sahib, Zafar Ali Khan, and Shorish Kashmiri remain alive today and will continue to live on in the future.
