Angarey

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Angarey
Author
Original titleAngarey
CountryBritish India
Language Urdu
PublisherNizami Press (Lucknow)
Publication date
1932 (first edition)
Media typePrint

Angarey or Angaaray (translated alternatively as "Embers" or "Burning Coals") is a collection of nine short stories and a one act play in Urdu by Sajjad Zaheer, Rashid Jahan, Mahmud-uz-Zafar and Ahmed Ali first published in 1932 and generally considered to have marked the beginning of the Progressive Writers' Movement in Indian literature. The release of the book was marked by protests and it was subsequently banned by the government of the United Provinces a few months after publication. [1] [2]

Contents

Content

The volume consists of nine short stories and a one-act play. [3]

Themes

Sajjad Zaheer, Rashid Jahan, Ali Ahmed and Mahmud-uz-Zafar were all educated in Oxford and were heavily inspired by the writings of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence and in some cases from Marxist writings. They were not only critical of conservative elements within the Muslim community but also of the corrosive effects of British imperial rule in India. [2] The stories of Zaheer related enslavement to social and religious practice based on ignorance. They protested against the prevailing social, religious and political institutions and the economic inequality of the society. [4] Zaheer's stories also dealt with sexual desire and sexual repression and highlighted the ways that religious and social restrictions unnecessarily damage the human psyche. [5] The stories of Rashid Jahan dealt with oppressive worlds of Muslim women and the outdated religious and social dogma their societies. [6] [4] Ali's stories delved primarily on the condition of women like poverty, domestic abuse, sexual desire and longing experienced by widows. [5]

Controversy

Reception

Angaray was first published in December 1932 by the Nizami Press, Lucknow. [7] The book created controversy in the Muslim community of the British India upon its release and was met with outrage from both the religious and civil authorities. Newspapers and journals wrote angry editorials denouncing the book. Hindustan times carried an article ‘Urdu Pamphlet Denounced: Shias Gravely Upset' quoting a resolution passed by the All India Shia Conference Lucknow condemning the publication of the book. [4] Agitations were held in Lucknow and Aligarh and the copies of the book were burnt in public. [8] The book was reviewed by scholars and critics like Akhtar Hussain Raipuri, Munshi Daya Narain Nigam and Muhammad Mujib of Jamia Millia Islamia who wrote detail critique on the book. [4] [8]

Ban

Four months after publication, on 15 March 1933, the book was banned by the government of the United Provinces under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. All but five copies were destroyed by the police, two of which were sent to British Library’s Oriental and India Office Collections. [1]

However, even after Angarey was proscribed, the four authors refused to apologize for it. On 5 April 1933, Mahmud-uz-Zafar wrote an article, ‘In Defence of Angarey’ for The Leader , a newspaper published from Allahabad. [9] [8] The piece was also reproduced in some other papers, including the Hindustan Times. Subtitled ‘Shall We Submit to Gagging?’ it read:

The authors of this book do not wish to make any apology for it. They leave it to float or sink of itself. They are not afraid of the consequences of having launched it. They only wish to defend 'the right of launching it and all other vessels like it' ... they stand for the right of free criticism and free expression in all matters of the highest importance to the human race in general and the Indian people in particular... Whatever happen to the book or to the authors, we hope that others will not be discouraged. Our practical proposal is the formation immediately of a League of Progressive Authors, which should bring forth similar collections from time to time both in English and the various vernaculars of our country. We appeal to all those who are interested in this idea to get in touch with us. [4]

Impact

The banning of Angaaray directly led to the formation of the All India Progressive Writers’ Association, which later attracted writers like Saadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. [10]

Republication

In 1987 the microfilm of the book was found to have been preserved in the British Museum in London and was brought back to India by Qamar Rais, the head of the Urdu department of Delhi University. The stories were then edited by Khalid Alvi and the book was published as Angarey in Urdu by Educational Publishing House, Delhi, in 1995. [9]

Translation

The book has been translated into English twice. The first translation, "Angarey" printed by Rupa, is authored by Vibha S. Chauhan and Khalid Alvi. The second book titled "Angaaray" is translated by Snehal Shingavi, an academic at the University of Texas and printed by Penguin. Both books were released in 2014. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faiz Ahmad Faiz</span> Pakistani Urdu poet and author

Faiz Ahmad Faiz was a Pakistani poet and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated, popular, and influential Urdu writers of his time and his works and ideas remain widely influential today in Pakistan and beyond. Outside of literature, he has been described as "a man of wide experience" having worked as a teacher, army officer, journalist, trade unionist, and broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ismat Chughtai</span> Indian Urdu writer and filmmaker (1915–1991)

Ismat Chughtai was an Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker. Beginning in the 1930s, she wrote extensively on themes including female sexuality and femininity, middle-class gentility, and class conflict, often from a Marxist perspective. With a style characterised by literary realism, Chughtai established herself as a significant voice in the Urdu literature of the twentieth century, and in 1976 was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

Urdu literature refers to the literature in the Urdu standard of the Hindostani language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ghazal غزل and nazm نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of the short story, or afsana افسانہ. Urdu literature is mostly popular in Pakistan, where Urdu is the national language and India, where it is a recognized language.

Ahmed Ali was a Pakistani novelist, poet, critic, translator, diplomat and scholar. A pioneer of the modern Urdu short story, his works include the short story collections: Angarey (Embers), 1932; Hamari Gali, 1940; Qaid Khana, 1942; and Maut Se Pehle, 1945. His other writings include Twilight in Delhi (1940), his first novel in the English language.

The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind or Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh was a progressive literary movement in pre-partition British India. Some branches of this writers' group existed around the world besides in India and Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashid Jahan</span>

Rashid Jahan was an Indian writer and medical doctor known for her Urdu literature and trenchant social commentaries. She wrote short stories and plays and contributed to Angarey (1932), a collection of unconventional short stories written in collaboration with Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmed Ali, and Mahmuduz Zafar.

Syed Sajjad Zaheer was an Indian Urdu writer, Marxist ideologue and radical revolutionary who worked in both India and Pakistan. In the pre-independence era, he was a member of the Communist Party of India and the Progressive Writers' Movement. Upon independence and partition, he moved to the newly created Pakistan and became a founding member of the Communist Party of Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qurratulain Hyder</span> Indian Urdu writer (1928-2007)

Qurratulain Hyder was an Indian Urdu novelist and short story writer, an academic, and a journalist. One of the most outstanding and influential literary names in Urdu literature, she is best known for her magnum opus, Aag Ka Darya, a novel first published in Urdu in 1959, from Lahore, Pakistan, that stretches from the fourth century BC to post partition of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Malihabadi</span> Pakistani poet (1898–1982)

Josh Malihabadi popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab was a Pakistani poet and is regarded as one of the finest Urdu poets of the era of British India. Known for his liberal values and challenging the established order, he wrote over 100,000 couplets and more than 1,000 rubaiyat in his lifetime. His wrote Yaadon ki Barat, his autobiography which is noted for its frank and candid style. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru held him in high esteem and frequently attended the mushaira at Lala Kishan Lal Kalra's United Coffee House where Josh performed.

Ali Sardar Jafri was an Indian writer of Urdu language. He was also a poet, critic and film lyricist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Majid Daryabadi</span> Indian Islamic scholar and philosopher (1892–1977)

Abdul Majid Daryabadi was an Islamic scholar, philosopher, writer, critic, researcher, journalist and exegete of the Quran in Indian subcontinent in the 20th century. He was as one of the most influential Indian Muslim scholar and was much concerned with modernism and comparative religions and orientalism in India. In his early life, he became sceptical of religion and called himself a "rationalist". For almost nine years, he remained away from religion but repented and became a devout Muslim. He was actively associated with the Khilafat Movement, Royal Asiatic Society, Aligarh Muslim University, Nadwatul Ulama, Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy and several other leading Islamic and literary organisations. He was disciple of Ashraf Ali Thanwi and Hussain Ahmed Madani.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Jawad Zaidi</span>

Syed Ali Jawad Zaidi was an Indian Urdu poet, scholar, and author of over 80 books in several languages. He was also an Indian independence activist, lawyer and later, a civil servant, but is best known for his work in Urdu literature.

Javed Siddiqui is a Hindi and Urdu screenwriter, dialogue writer and playwright from India. He has written over 50 storylines, screenplays and dialogues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raja Mehdi Ali Khan</span> Indian poet, writer and lyricist

Raja Mehdi Ali Khan was an Indian poet, writer and a lyricist.

Kausar Chandpuri was an Indian Unani physician and Urdu writer who gained repute as a novelist, short story writer and literary critic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalid Alvi</span>

Khalid Alvi also known as Khalid Mustafa Alvi is a professor at the University of Delhi, critic, and Urdu poet. He has written twelve books and edited the English journal Furtherance and the Urdu monthly Shahkaar. Some of his works have been translated into German, Persian and Uzbek Languages.

Razia Sajjad Zaheer was an Indian writer in the Urdu language, a translator, and a prominent member of the Progressive Writers Association. She won the Uttar Pradesh Sahitya Akademi Award as well as the Soviet Land Nehru Award.

Noor Zaheer is an Indian left leaning feminist author. Zaheer is member of Delhi Urdu Academy chaired by Arvind Kejriwal.

References

Notes

  1. Jawanmardi was originally written by Mahmud-us-Zafar in English and was translated by Sajjad Zaheer to Urdu for this book .
  2. Muhavatton ki Ek Raat was first published in the literary journal Humayun in January 1932 .

    Citations

    1. 1 2 3 Ravi, S. (23 May 2014). "Blaze of two translations". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 26 December 2020.
    2. 1 2 Pioneer, The. "A cut above the rest". The Pioneer. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
    3. "The literary forest fire that censors failed to extinguish". www.sunday-guardian.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
    4. 1 2 3 4 5 Mahmud, Shabana (May 1996). "Angāre and the Founding of the Progressive Writers' Association". Modern Asian Studies. 30. No.2 (2): 447–467. doi:10.1017/S0026749X0001653X. JSTOR   313015. S2CID   145341513 via JSTOR.
    5. 1 2 "Banned Urdu short-story collection now in English". The Economic Times. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
    6. "Syed Sajjad Zaheer – Sangat Book Review" . Retrieved 26 December 2020.
    7. Jalil, Rakhshanda (5 November 2017). "Remembering writer and Progressive Writers' Association founder Sajjad Zaheer". National Herald. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
    8. 1 2 3 Kumar, Girja (1997). The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India. Har-Anand Publications. p. 124. ISBN   978-81-241-0525-2.
    9. 1 2 Ẓahīr, Sajjād (2014). Angarey: 9 Stories and a Play. Rupa Publications India. ISBN   978-81-291-3108-9.
    10. KK, Satyavrat. "Why 'Angaaray' was banned (and what it could teach an Indian author about writing of women and sex)". Scroll.in. Retrieved 26 December 2020.