Sajjad Zaheer: The Man Behind the Embers

The Progressive Writers’ Movement (PWM), launched by a group of anti-imperialist and left-oriented intellectuals, emerged as a highly radical movement in the 1930s. It sought to influence the masses with their writings, advocating equality and fighting against social injustice and backwardness. Among the many influential writers of the time was Sajjad Zaheer, one of the pioneers of the PWM. He is most commonly associated with the Urdu literary work Angaaray, which became instantly controversial when it was published. However, it also paved the way for Urdu realism as well as for the All-India Progressive Writers’ Association as a platform for radical political thinkers in India.

Sajjad Zaheer. Illustration by Tarun Kumar

Sajjad Zaheer was born on November 5, 1905, during the pre-Independence era. This was a time when ideas of nationalism had taken a radical turn in the subcontinent, beginning with the Swadeshi Movement of Bengal. It was during these turbulent times that Zaheer became famous for heralding the Progressive Writers’ Movement in the 1930s.

Zaheer completed his schooling in Lucknow before moving to England in 1927 to pursue his master's degree from Oxford University. However, shortly after arriving in England, he contracted tuberculosis and soon returned home to India. Back in India, Zaheer, along with Mahmuduz Zafar, Ahmed Ali, and Rashid Ali, formed the "Majlis-e-Talaba-e-Hind” group. It was here that they conceptualized the idea of a thought-provoking Urdu literary text destined to cause a massive stir among the public.

In 1932, Sajjad Zaheer and his companions published an Urdu anthology of nine short stories titled ‘Angaaray’, translating to ‘embers’ or ‘burning coals’. This publication immediately came under fire from the Muslim community, symbolically condemning the religious and social orthodoxy found among the Muslims of north India. Muslim circles responded with raging protests, demanding a ban on this ‘filthy’, ‘piety-destroying’ ‘shameless display’ of foul words. The British government of the United Provinces ultimately banned the book in 1933 under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. However, in the age of print, the fire lit by Angaaray could not be contained altogether. With Angaaray, these Progressive writers paved the way for a new Age in the Urdu literary world - one of realism, breaking away from its earlier image of a language associated merely with romance and courts.

After the controversy, Sajjad Zaheer returned to London in 1933, where he met several Indians, including Muhammad Din Taseer, Mulk Raj Anand, and others. On November 24, 1935, he and other Indian writers founded the Progressive Writers’ Association (PWA) at the Nanking restaurant in London. The first manifesto of the PWA in London affirmed its commitment to establishing progressive writers’ associations in different provinces of India to promote progressive ideas in vernacular languages like Urdu, Hindi etc. and encourage freedom of speech.

In 1936, Sajjad Zaheer returned to India, where he assumed the leadership of the All-India Progressive Writers’ Association, presided over by the renowned Hindi writer Premchand, in Lucknow. The association brought together some of the greatest intellectuals of pre-independence India, including Sadat Manto and Ismat Chughtai, united by their mutual desire to contribute to a greater cause and bring progressive change to society and literary trends in a country in its most struggling period. Sajjad Zaheer instilled the idea of progressivism in the literary world of India.

Sajjad Zaheer’s fame was not limited to the PWA alone. He was deeply inspired by communist ideals and notorious for his political involvement, as evident in the Rawalpindi Case of 1951. However, his literary works and the new style he infused into the Urdu language truly showcase his brilliance. Zaheer’s writing style is influenced by some of the best-known writers, including Virginia Woolf.

His writings wonderfully express his radicalism and his revolutionary mindset. One of his famous works, London ki Ek Raat, narrates a semi-fictional story about a British girl who falls in love with an Indian Marxist revolutionary who is fighting for his motherland. The backdrop of this Urdu novel captures the essence of the turbulence in the Indian scene, specifically the rise of many young political leaders who are driven by revolutionary socialist ideals.

Sajjad Zaheer was one of the pioneers of the Progressive Writers’ Movement; Image Source: National Herald