Hundreds of people thronged the India Against Corruption rally in Hyderabad today. People, who were responsible adults and youth, in support of Anna Hazare 's Jan lokpal bill. The atmosphere was electrifying and slogans all around.
I was taken aback when I heard a guy of around my age ask his friend "What exactly does Inquilab zindabad mean?"
We have , of course, heard the slogan hundreds of times in patriotic movies. This might be the most commonly used ( or misused!) slogan in Indian History.
The slogan means "long live revolution". It is an Urdu phrase. Some people say it is Arabic in origin, which too is right, because Urdu itself originated from Arabic and Hindi, in the soldiers' camps around Babar's fort in Delhi.
It was Maulana Hasrat Mohani who used the term first but it was hugely popularised during the freedom struggle by members of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association including Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar Azad, Sukhdev, Ashfaqullah Khan and Ram Prasad Bismil. These names were immortalised in our youths' memory by Rakyesh om prakash mehra's movie Rang De Basanthi.
Hasrat Mohani was one of India's unsung intellctual heros.
Did you know that Maulana Hasrat Mohani was the first person in Indian History who demanded 'Complete Independence' ( Azadi-e-Kaamil) in 1921 as he presided over an annual session of All India Muslim League?
He was a protege of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, whom he admired very much.
Let us raise our heads today and say that we are proud to be born in this country....
Even if one in every thousand of us who uses this term, knows the name of Maulana Hasrat Mohani, it would make me immensely happy.
Hasrat Mohani Zindabaad..... Zindabad.
