The death of renowned Urdu poet Rahat Indori on 11 August 2020 is an irreparable loss to Indian literature and the composite culture of our country. Born in Indore in 1950, we lost this scholar, poet and lyricist to the Covid19 virus suddenly and untimely. He was 69.
At a time when the centuries-old harmony and composite culture of our country is being destroyed by the politics of communal fascism, Rahat Indori ceaselessly raised his voice through poetry for HinduMuslim unity. His poetry was well known and loved by ordinary people on the streets.
The anti-CAA struggle that swept across the country also got inspiration from Rahat Saheb’s poetry. His lines ‘Sabhi ka khoon shamil hai yahan ki mitti mein/Kisi ke baap ka Hindustan thodi hai’ (This is a soil sustained by the blood of all/Hindustan is not the inherited paternal property of anyone) resonated with the movement against the CAA/NPR/NRC tool the Modi Government is using to strip Indians of citizenship based on their whims and prejudices. People in the movement used these lines from the same poem to speak truth defiantly to the fascist regime:
‘Main janta hu dushman bhi kam nahi hai laekin/hamari tarah jaan hatheli par thodi hai…
Jo aaj sahibe masnad hai kal nahi honge/Kirayedar hai jaati makan thodi hai’
(I know the enemy is mighty/But he does not live fearless of death as I do…
He who sits on the throne today will not be there tomorrow/ He too is a tenant, it’s not his own personal dwelling)
His poetry also reflects the pain and resoluteness of Indian Muslims in the face of BJP leaders uttering threats of evicting Muslims. He wrote — ‘Ab ke jo faisla hoga who yai pe hoga/Humse ab doosri hijrat nahi hone wali’ (Whatever is the verdict will be given here itself/ There cannot be another migration for me).
Rahat Indori’s published ghazal collections include ‘Dhoop-Dhoop’, ‘Rut’, ‘Mere Baad’, ‘Do kadam aur sahi’, ‘Kalandar’, ‘Chand Pagal Hai’ and ‘Naraaz’. Dr Deepak Ruhani has written Rahat Saheb’s authorized biography released in 2019.
Rahat Saheb faced death as a friend, writing ‘Ek hi nadi ke hai ye do kinare doston/Dostana zindagi mein maut se yaari rakho’ (These are two banks of the same river, my friends/keep friendship with Death while living and loving Life). Truly, the legacy of such a people’s poet can never die.
