Urdu shaayari should be banned as being unislamic in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
What else should be done to a poetry whose greatest poet Mirza Ghalib writes :
”Masjid ke zer-e-saaya kharaabaat chaahiye”
i.e.
”Below a mosque there should be a wine shop ”
( Wine is haraam or strictly prohibited in Islam ).
Or consider this sher of Ghalib :
”Imaan mjujhe roke hai jo khainche hai mujhe kufr
Kaaba mere peeche hai, kaleesa mere aage ”
i.e.
”Faith is holding me back, disbelief in islam is pulling me forward
I have turned my back on the Kaaba, and looking towards the church ”
Or this sher by Ghalib :
”Kahaan maikhaane ka darwaza Ghalib aur kahaan waiz
Par itna jaante hain kal vo jaata tha ki hum nikle ”
i.e.
”A pub and a religious scholar are poles apart
But yesterday when I entered the pub he was leaving ”
Consider this sher ( couplet ) of Mir Taqi Mir, another great Urdu poet :
”Mir ke deen-o-mazhab ko poochte kya ho, unne to
Kashka kheencha dair mein baitha kab ka tark Islam kiya”.
i.e.
”Why do you ask Mir’s religion ?
He has put on a tika ( mark on the forehead which Hindus make ), and sat in a Hindu temple
And renounced Islam long ago ”
And what about this sher of the Urdu poet Aatish :
”Fasl-e-bahaar aayi piyo sufiyon sharaab
Bas ho chuki namaaz musalla uthaiye ”
i.e.
”The crop of spring has come, so Sufis drink wine
The namaaz is over, pick up the prayer carpet ( and drink ) ”
Another Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi writes :
” Aqaayad waham hai, mazhab khyaal-e-khaam hai saaqi
Azal se zehn-e-insaan basta-e-auhaam hai saaqi ”
i.e.
“Faiths are illusions, and religion is false imagination
Since eternity man’s mind has been bound by superstitions ”.
Numerous such examples of apostasy and blasphemy in Urdu poetry by well known poets can be given.
So I urge the Pakistan Parliament and Govt to quickly ban Urdu mushairas and study of Urdu poetry in educational institutions, and burn all Urdu poetry books, and declare all those who read or recite Urdu poetry as ‘murtads’ deserving the punishment meted out to murtads in Islam.
Justice Markandey Katju
