‘Hum Dekhenge’ controversy: Was Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Anti-Hindu?

Faiz’s most famous poem “Hum Dekhenge” got both the writer and the singer in trouble. The year was 1985. A packed auditorium in Lahore, with more than 50,000 in attendance. It was the first death anni

This is followed by an immediate commotion in the crowd. The poem incited the passion of rebellion in the audience. This woman was none other than Iqbal Bano, one of the most beloved singers of Pakistan. “Hum Dekhenge”, was written by renowned Pakistani poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. As per reports, Iqbal Bano was later banned from singing anywhere in Pakistan. The immortal lines of ‘Hum Dekhenge’ were written in 1979 after the religiously conservative and repressive Zia rose to power through a coup in 1977. Since poetry is considered to be the best language of dissent, through this poem, the poet tried to criticise the dictatorship of former Pakistani general-turned president Zia-ul-Haq.