The life and times of Bangladesh's legendary Urdu progressive poet Naushad Noori

Bangladesh’s progressive Urdu poet Naushad Noori is celebrated in many circles across the country. He is also well known among Bengali literati. 

On the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary, it is prudent to return to his journey and once again bring to discussion a legacy unclaimed by a nation.

Throughout his life, Noori supported activities related to Urdu language and literature. Whenever a programme related to Urdu was organised, Noori’s participation was considered essential. 

Following the War of Independence in 1971, Urdu and its native speakers faced an exceptionally difficult period in Bangladesh. 

The language appeared to have been pushed to the margins of the country’s cultural and literary life. In these challenging circumstances, however, a small number of dedicated and enthusiastic individuals, including Naushad Noori, worked tirelessly to sustain Urdu literary activities. 

With the support and friendship of prominent Bengali literary figures, particularly Asad Chowdhury and others, Noori helped mobilise Urdu poets and writers, encouraging them to continue writing, preserve their literary heritage and present it as an integral part of Bangladesh’s diverse literary tradition. 

Noori played the role of a bridge between the Bengali and Urdu literary communities. Through his literary activities, personal relationships and commitment to cultural dialogue, he sought to reduce misunderstandings and divisions between the two communities.

Noori was not only an Urdu poet but also a person with extraordinary journalistic experience. Unfortunately, his journalistic career ended in 1971 following the division of East Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh on the basis of ‘Bengali nationalism’. 

He was so fond of the soil of Bangladesh that he made it the cradle of his worship, and he is buried in this land. 

Noori was known in literary circles across the Indian subcontinent, but he remains largely unknown in the wider Urdu literary world. 

The full extent of his talent and contribution to Urdu literature could not be assessed because his career was cut short in Bangladesh. It is a tragedy of history that people of great talent have to endure such trials. Naushad Noori’s name stands at the top of that list.

Noori’s real name was Muhammad Mustafa Masoom Hashmi. He was born in a village in Darbhanga district, Bihar, India, on 21 October 1926. 

He was the eldest son of Muhammad Abdul Kafi Hashmi and Awaisa Khatun. His father was a lawyer by profession. He passed his matriculation examination in 1945 from Government High School, Sitamarhi, Bihar. He later earned a BA from BN College, Bihar, in 1950.

Since his student days, Noori had participated in gatherings where poetry was discussed and debated. In this way, he developed a love for poetry. 

From 1945 onwards, he composed poetry regularly. In the tradition of Urdu poetry, it is customary for emerging poets to seek the guidance and mentorship of an established poet. Such a mentor is traditionally known as an ‘Ustad’, who plays an important role in guiding novice poets in the principles of poetic composition, metre, diction and literary expression. 

The relationship between the ‘Ustad’ and the emerging poet has long been regarded as an integral part of the classical Urdu poetic tradition. 

In the early stages of his poetic career, Noori received guidance from Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, a well-known revolutionary Hindi poet from Bihar.

In 1936, Sajjad Zaheer, the founder of the progressive movement in the Indian subcontinent, initiated the Progressive Writers’ Association in Lucknow, India. Writers, journalists and poets influenced by this ideology established branches throughout India. 

In this connection, a committee of progressive writers was also formed in Bihar. Naushad Noori was influenced by progressive ideology and actively participated in the movement.

At that time, he had the opportunity to meet many leading progressive writers, including fiction writer Sohail Azimabadi; poet, writer and critic Akhtar Urainvi; research scholar Qazi Abdul Wadud; poet and writer Akhtar Payami; fiction writer Anwar Azim; and Mukhtaruddin Arzoo, a prominent critic of Ghalib’s work. 

Noori was extremely popular among senior poets in Bihar because of his intelligence, integrity and wit. It is worth mentioning that Sohail Azimabadi introduced Noori to Krishan Chandra, Amrit Rai, Balwant Singh, Devendra Satyarthi, Siddiqa Begum Seoharwi, Ramanand Sagar and others. 

From 1946 to 1950, Noori served as the general secretary of the Bihar chapter of the Progressive Writers’ Association.

In 1947, the Indian subcontinent gained independence from British colonial rule. 

Shortly after India’s independence, the then Indian Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was scheduled to visit the USA in 1949 to seek American aid. Progressive writers protested against the prime minister’s visit. In Patna, they organised a protest rally. At the event, Noori expressed his feelings by reciting a famous poem titled ‘Bhikari’ (Beggar). 

When the poem came to the attention of the Government of India, an arrest warrant was issued against him. Left with no other option, he was compelled to leave his family behind and seek refuge in what was then East Pakistan.

When he arrived in this new land, he found himself in an unfamiliar environment. There, he witnessed a growing movement in which the people of East Pakistan were rising up to defend and preserve their mother tongue. 

He regarded the movement as both democratic and just, and was deeply impressed by the people’s determination to safeguard their linguistic and cultural identity.

He wrote an eloquent poem titled ‘Mohenjodaro’, in which he urged the Bengali people to preserve their alphabet by whatever means necessary, even if it meant inscribing it on copper, iron, leaves, stone, skin or papyrus. 

He described the decisions of Pakistan’s bureaucracy as an epidemic and a disaster. The poem was equally popular and well received among Bengali literary and cultural circles of the time.

In 1952, Noori applied for a government job in the Military Audit and Accounts Department. He successfully secured the position. From 1952 to 1961, he was posted in Dhaka, Karachi and Quetta. 

During his stay in Karachi, he became acquainted with well-known literary figures in Pakistan. Prominent among them were Hemayat Ali Shaer, Habib Jalib, Saqi Farooqi, Ibrahim Jalis, Sahba Lucknavi, Shayer Lucknavi, Mahshar Badayuni, Rasa Chughtai, Jameeluddin Aalee, Ghulam Abbas, Ada Jaafri, Ibn-e-Insha and Raees Amrohvi. He used to visit Josh Malihabadi regularly. 

On one occasion, when the legendary Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz was visiting Karachi, Noori learned of his presence and made an effort to meet him. His efforts were successful, and he had the privilege of spending several hours in Faiz’s company. 

The meeting proved to be a memorable and intellectually enriching experience for Noori, who greatly admired Faiz’s poetry and literary stature. When Noori was transferred to Quetta, the well-known poet Abdul Hameed Adham was his reporting boss.

A progressive theorist, Noori prioritised the rights of the people. He openly condemned dictatorial policies and was a man of strong convictions who remained committed to his ideology. The anti-people policies of the Pakistani government left him disillusioned. Subsequently, he resigned from his government job in protest against the government’s policies and moved to Dhaka. 

He was fully aware that his decision would expose his family to social and economic hardships, but he nevertheless took this step to uphold his principles. To meet household expenses, he established a library in New Market, Dhaka. 

At the time of its opening, an official literary event was being held in Dhaka. Noori took advantage of the occasion and invited Qudratullah Shahab, Ibrahim Jalis, Ibn-e-Insha and Jameeluddin Aalee to the library’s opening ceremony. Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi was also in Dhaka at the time and later visited Noori’s adda, or literary gathering place.

Naushad Noori joined journalism in 1961. Initially, he worked at Pakistan Feature Syndicate. His colleagues at the time included Salahuddin Mohammad, a patron of Urdu journalism, and Kamal Lohani, a prominent figure in Bangla journalism. 

In 1968, he took over as editor of the political Urdu weekly Roodad (Report). In the newspaper, he regularly published introductions to Bengali writers for Urdu-speaking readers. Among those he introduced were Sikandar Abu Jafar, Hasan Hafeezur Rahman, Laila Samad, Shahid Quadri, Shaukat Usman, Abul Kalam Shamsuddin, Jyoti Prakash Dutta, Abdul Ghaffar Chowdhury, Rahat Khan, Zaheer Raihan, Shamsur Rahman, Sardar Zainuddin and Al-Mahmud.

From 1969 to 1971, he edited the Urdu weekly Jaridah (Journal). The weekly was patronised by Mahmudul Hasan, a prominent Urdu-speaking businessman based in Chittagong. In 1969, when the Awami League announced its Six-Point Programme, Noori endorsed the demands and published a banner headline in his weekly: “Tumhari Nejat, Hamari Nejat—Che Nekat, Che Nekat” (Your Freedom, Our Freedom—Six Points, Six Points). It should be noted that Advocate Zahiruddin was also associated with the weekly. 

A member of the Urdu-speaking community, Zahiruddin was nominated by the Awami League as its candidate for the Dhaka constituencies covering Ramna, Tejgaon and Mohammadpur in the 1970 general election. He was subsequently elected as a member of parliament.

In 1969, the Urdu-speaking community organised a two-day ‘Mohajir Convention’ in Rangpur. The aim was to adopt a resolution concerning the community’s participation in the forthcoming national elections. As a politically conscious individual, Noori wanted to support the community in its endeavour. 

He planned to obtain a statement from Maulana Bhasani of the National Awami Party (NAP) regarding the convention for publication in the weekly Roodad. He sent his close associate Ahmed Ilias, the weekly’s assistant editor, to meet Maulana at Santosh and request a statement supporting the cause of the Urdu-speaking community. Maulana agreed and called on the Mohajirs to unite with the working class. The weekly Roodad published the statement on the eve of the convention.

After the War of Independence in 1971, Naushad Noori, like many other members of the Urdu-speaking community, had to contend with social and economic hardships. 

At the time, some of his well-wishers suggested that he move to Pakistan, but he rejected the idea and remained attached to the soil of Bangladesh. During this period, he worked for several commercial companies to support his family.

Noori had a wide literary circle in Dhaka. Prominent among his associates were Ahsan Ahmed Ashk, Afsar Mahpuri, Yunus Ahmar, Andalib Shadani, Kameel Kalkatvi, Asif Banarsi, Hanif Fauq, Nazir Siddiqui, Arshad Kakwi, Suroor Barabankvi, Ataur Rahman Jameel, Dr Syed Yusuf Hasan, Zainul Abedin, Ahmed Ilias, SM Sajid and Shamim Zamanvi. All these writers and poets shared a close bond with Naushad Noori.

He had deep sympathy for the Urdu-speaking community, especially those living in dire conditions in makeshift camps across the country. He played an active role in seeking a permanent solution to the community’s complex problems. 

In the early 1980s, he joined MI Farooqui, a senior advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, Ahmed Ilias and several others in raising awareness among Urdu-speaking people and establishing Al Falah Bangladesh, a non-governmental organisation. The organisation pledged in its constitution ‘to work for the Urdu speaking to rehabilitate them socially, economically and culturally in the mainstream of the Bangladeshi society’.

During this period, he also wrote a compelling poem titled Qibla Awwal (The First Sacred Direction of Prayers), which called on the younger generation of the community to remain steadfast and maintain their attachment to the soil of Bangladesh. He urged them to build new lives in the country.

Naushad Noori also had an in-depth understanding of international affairs. He had a strong command of geographical and historical issues, and whenever he witnessed the oppression of humanity, he felt compelled to write poetry. His poems on these subjects have considerable historical significance.

In 1948, Noori wrote the poem Usha (Dawn) against the backdrop of the growing intensity and popularity of the independence movement in China. In 1949, inspired by a poem by Mao Zedong, he composed Fateh-e-Nanking (The Conquest of Nanking). In 1965, on the eve of the peace treaty between India and Pakistan, he wrote Tashkent. When war broke out between in the Middle East in 1967, Noori was moved to write Aasmani Basharat (Divine Vision). During the military action against the Bengali people in 1971 and the subsequent independence movement in Bangladesh, he wrote numerous poems, including Lahu MeiN Sharabor Din (Days Drenched in Blood), Musallah Afwaj (Armed Forces) and Birangana (Heroic Women).

In 1976, he met Bangladesh’s revolutionary and national poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, in Dhaka and composed a poem titled Inquilab Ka Mujassama (Statue of Revolution). The Iranian Revolution prompted him to write Shab-e-Akhir (The Last Night).

Assessing Noori’s potential as an Urdu poet, the well-known Urdu short-story writer and journalist Zainul Abedin said, “Poetry elapses through creative factors, touches human hearts and stirs minds. That is why poetry not only represents its ages but also the reflection of his time. That was the creative life of Naushad Noori.”

Two poetry collections by Naushad Noori have been published. The first, Rah-O-Rasm-e-Ashnai (The Bond of Acquaintance), was published in Kolkata in January 2000. The collection was compiled by Aleemullah Siddiqui, a literary admirer and friend of Noori. A second edition of the same collection was published by the Bangla-Urdu Sahitya Foundation in January 2015.

As a literary guardian of Urdu literature in present-day Bangladesh, poet Shamim Zamanvi compiled Noori’s second poetry collection, Raozan-e-Diwar (A Window in the Wall), which was published by the Thomas Ansel Foundation in Dhaka in July 2002. A second edition was later published by the Bangla-Urdu Sahitya Foundation in 2017.

Noori’s third poetry collection, Takmil Ka Tasalsul (The Continuum of Fulfilment), is currently being compiled by me and has yet to be published. It is hoped that this latest collection will be made available to readers in the near future, offering them a deeper understanding of Noori’s poetry, literary vision and ideological outlook.

In recognition of the contributions of Urdu-speaking intellectuals to the Language Movement of 1952, the Association of Young Generation of the Urdu-speaking Community and the Shamsul Huq Foundation, Saidpur, jointly awarded him and four other distinguished personalities the ‘Bhasha Padak’ in 2008. Similarly, in 2009, the Bangla-Urdu Sahitya Foundation posthumously honoured him and four other prominent personalities in recognition of their contributions.

It is worth mentioning that numerous prominent intellectuals and scholars in Bangladesh have repeatedly called for the contributions of Urdu-speaking intellectuals to the Language Movement of 1952 and the Liberation War of 1971 to be formally recognised, including through their nomination for the Ekushey Padak or Swadhinata Padak, the country’s highest civilian honours. 

However, no substantive progress has been made in this regard so far. It is hoped that the government that emerges following the Monsoon Revolution will give serious consideration to this long-standing demand and take appropriate steps to recognise these contributions. Such recognition would represent an important step towards building a truly inclusive and pluralistic Bangladesh, where the contributions of all linguistic and cultural communities are acknowledged and valued.

Naushad Noori, who had been battling cancer, passed away on 18 July 2000 at the age of 74. He was laid to rest at Mohammadpur Graveyard in Dhaka on the same day. He was survived by his beloved wife, Shams Ara, who passed away in 2021. 

She remained a quiet and steadfast supporter of Noori throughout his literary and social activism. She devoted herself to raising their only son, MM Haikal Hashmi, and three daughters—Shabana Naved, Rizwana Hashmi and Sadaf Noori Chowdhury. With remarkable strength and dedication, she raised her children single-handedly in Dhaka, providing them with a nurturing and supportive environment. 

Noori also left behind a large circle of admirers, readers and fellow literary figures who cherished his work and remembered his commitment to Urdu language and literature.

His generosity, unwavering dedication and deep commitment to promoting Urdu language and literature, as well as to the welfare of the Urdu-speaking community, will always be remembered with honour and respect.

Mohammad Hasan is a founder of Urbaab-e-Adab International (an Europe based literary organization). He is living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He can be reached at hasanhr@gmail.com