The Progressives

Abstract

Several Urdu poets drew their inspiration from revolutions in Russia and China and advocated similar transformation in India. The Progressive Writers’ Movement, established by Mulk Raj Anand and Sajjad Zaheer, held its first conference in 1936. The ghazal had been marginalized for quite some time due to a misconception by some progressives that the ghazal was anti-progressive. Thankfully, poets like Faiz Ahmed Faiz kept writing ghazals using love and Sufi phraseology with new revolutionary import. Faiz reframed concepts of love and beauty to be in tune with the needs of changing times. This chapter makes the point that literature and fine arts are social acts, and if creativity is impeded and freedom of the mind is compromised, poetry will lack freshness and spontaneity. Thus, in spite of the harsh criticism of some mistaken people, the ghazal reappeared in a decade or two and thrived together with the wave of rising social consciousness and revolutionary zeal.