Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was a low-profile yet iconic personality of an earlier period of independent India. I deem it a privilege to be invited by the Centenary Celebration Committee to talk about him and his work.
Abbas lived and worked at a critical period in the history of modern India. His ideas relating to the evolution of consciousness on societal matters, as it emerged in the independence struggle and in early decades after 1947, remain of relevance to all those who care about the less fortunate segments of society and who attach value to the concepts of creativity and artistic freedom.
Some initial questions would be in order. Who was Khwaja Ahmad Abbas? What social and ideological impulses motivated him? Why is his vision of continuing relevance?
Social etiquette no longer encourages mention of lineage, except of a certain kind. Thus, it would suffice to say that Abbas' genes exhibited scholarly traditions worthy of citation in any company. He has recorded for posterity his effort as a student in Aligarh to board a train just to talk to Jawaharlal Nehru in his railway compartment; the conversation - somewhat halting - ended with a request to sign the autograph book. A hurried inscription followed: "live dangerously. Jawaharlal Nehru". He took this to heart and described his relationship with Nehru as "a long love affair".
Abbas, in his own words, was "a communicator of ideas". He did this as a journalist, short story writer, a novelist, a film critic and film scriptwriter. He is considered one of the pioneers of Indian parallel or neo-realistic cinema having penned films such as Neecha Nagar, Jagte Raho, Dharti Ke Lal, Awara, Shri 420, Mera Naam Joker, Bobby and Henna.
As a journalist, his columns "Last Page" and "Azad Qalam" commenced in 1935 in the Bombay Chronicle and continued in Blitz till his death in 1987. Each was a pithy commentary on contemporary happening and had a wide following. His retort in early 1963 to US Senator Richard Russell's uncharitable criticism of India was characteristic of his passion for causes Indian.
A 16 minute documentary film made by Abbas in 1968 added a footnote to our legal history. Titled A Tale of Four Cities, it contrasted the life of luxury of the rich in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Delhi, with the squalor and poverty of the poor. Particularly the life of those whose hands and labour helped to build beautiful cities, factories and other industrial complexes. The documentary was silent except for a song which the labourers sang while at work. One minute of the film gave a fleeting glimpse of the red light district of Bombay and this was required by the Censor Board to be deleted for a 'U' certificate.
In the first case of the kind in the Supreme Court of India, it was argued on behalf of Abbas that pre-censorship of films is offensive to freedom of speech and expression, and that the rules relating to it were vague, arbitrary and indefinite. The Bench, headed by Chief Justice Hidayatullah, allowed the petition on the ground that treatment of motion pictures must be different from other forms of art and expression. He held that the clarifications and assurances given in the hearings by the Solicitor General and procedural safeguards accepted by the government "will make censorship accord with our fundamental law." This, in effect, curtailed the government's arbitrary exercise of censorship powers.
Interestingly enough, Abbas had written a letter to Gandhi ji in 1939, requesting him to reconsider his views on cinema being included among other evils like gambling, sutta, and horse racing: "You are a great soul, Bapu. In your heart there is no room for prejudice. Give this little toy of ours, the cinema, which is not so useless as it looks, a little of your attention and bless it with a smile".
Some of the short stories of Abbas, written in Urdu and published in English translation a few years back, allow the present generation to appreciate the depth and diversity of his talent as a storywriter. Khwaja sahib attached particular importance to his literary work. This was summed up in his will: "If you wish to meet me after I am gone just pick up one of the seventy odd books I wrote or view the films I have produced or written the scripts for. If you are not allergic to yellowing news-print then go to library and read any of the hundreds of columns I have written. I WILL BE THERE with you."
In an age, when being "progressive" was considered almost synonymous with being dubbed 'communist', Abbas consciously drew a line. This is summed up in a passage in his autobiography: "One of the persistent legends in Indian politics is that I am a communist, or at least a hidden communist, a fellow traveller or a stooge of the communists. All kinds of people seem to believe it - except the communists who think I am an un-regenerated 'petite bourgeoise'." He recalls Nehru's amusement at his distinction between communists, ex-communists and anti-communists in ascending order of undesirability and goes on relate his expulsion (rescinded nine years later) from the Progressive Writers Association and the Indian People's Theatre Association, and the ideological debate relating to conformity and dissent.
As a director, producer and scriptwriter, Abbas saheb was acclaimed by the public and critics alike. The older generation recalls his partnership with the legendary Raj Kapoor. Some of his films won the Nargis Dutt Award for National Integration. Another won the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes. Shehar Aur Sapna, depicting the struggle for survival in the brutalised environment of an urban slum, won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Yet another, Saat Hindustani, propagating patriotism and an aggressive secularism, will be best remembered for introducing the future superstar, Amitabh Bachchan to the Indian public.
The celebration of his centenary is to be viewed as part of our societal obligation to transmit the best and noblest in our tradition to the next generation.
An edited excerpt from the Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Centenary Lecture by M Hamid Ansari, vice-president of India, on "Literature, Art and Social Awareness" on June 7, 2014 at New Delhi