In search of home in a pandemic — Gulzar’s new poem likens migrant crisis to Partition

Between Partition and the migrant exodus, Gulzar says he doesn't know which is worse. Read the poem and translation by Rakhshanda Jalil.

Lyricist and poet Gulzar compares the migrant exodus to Partition | ThePrint

Poet, writer and lyricist Gulzar knows what Partition was like. Born in Punjab’s Dina (now in Pakistan) in 1934, he and his family moved to Bombay in the wake of the great migration, where he made his name in Hindi cinema.

He also extensively wrote about the scarring event in Footprints On Zero Line, a collection of fiction, non-fiction and poems, and in a novel called Two.

Now, as the Covid-19 pandemic and the humanitarian crisis of labourers trying to get home in lockdown continues, he has done what he does best — write about it.

Through the lockdown, Gulzar has written and recorded a number of poems documenting different aspects of the pandemic, but while many have been messages of hope and solidarity, his latest is perhaps his most searing.

He draws a parallel between the mass exodus of workers from the cities to their homes and Partition, which is the largest mass migration of humans in history. Read the original and the translation by Rakhshanda Jalil, and watch the video.

मज़दूर, महामारी – II

कुछ ऐसे कारवां देखे हैं सैंतालिस में भी मैने
ये गांव भाग रहे हैं अपने वतन में
हम अपने गांव से भागे थे, जब निकले थे वतन को
हमें शरणार्थी कह के वतन ने रख लिया था
शरण दी थी
इन्हें इनकी रियासत की हदों पे रोक देते हैं
शरण देने में ख़तरा है
हमारे आगे-पीछे, तब भी एक क़ातिल अजल थी
वो मजहब पूछती थी
हमारे आगे-पीछे, अब भी एक क़ातिल अजल है
ना मजहब, नाम, जात, कुछ पूछती है
— मार देती है

ख़ुदा जाने,. ये बटवारा बड़ा है
या वो बटवारा बड़ा था

Migrating/Covid-19 – II

I had seen similar caravans in ’47 too

They are fleeing to their villages in their own country

We had fled from our village setting out for our country

Calling us refugees, our country had kept us

Given us refuge

They are stopped at the borders of their states

There is danger in giving them refuge

Then, too, there was a murderous Death around us

It asked us our religion

Now, too, there is a murderous Death around us

But it doesn’t ask us our religion or caste or name

It simply kills!

God knows if this Partition is great

Or that one was greater

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