Abdul Ahad Azad

Abdul Ahad Dar (1903 – 4 April 1948), popularly known as Abdul Ahad Azad, was a Kashmiri poet, historian and literary critic. Born in the Rangar village of Chadoora in Budgam district, Azad is considered to be the first revolutionary poet and is credited with laying the foundations of literary criticism in Kashmiri literature. He received his preliminary education in a madrassa, where he was taught Persian, Arabic and Islamic philosophy by his father. Azad passed Munshi Alim exam from University of the Punjab and was appointed by Dogra government as a primary school teacher in Zowhama, where he taught Arabic; he was later transferred to Tral. Azad married a village girl and had a son. In 1931 resistance, he was suspected of being an activist and transferred to farflung areas. His house was raided, searched and family members tortured. His dues were also withheld by the government and he was not permitted to visit his ailing son, who died at the age of four, while he was posted at Tral. Azad thought deeply over this incident and according to Bazzaz he became "a skeptic, a rationalist." Azad wrote various revolutionary poems and became a source of inspiration for the freedom fighters during the political awakening in Kashmir. Azad composed the first history of Kashmiri language and poetry from Lalleshwari to his time. Azad initially wrote prose in Urdu but was later inspired to write in Kashmiri after Mahjoor founded the journal, Kong Pos.

Braj Kachru has identified three poetic phases in Azad's poetry, which he asserts, are indicative of his maturity and development. These phases coincide with the pen names Azad adopted throughout his career. The first phase was the poems of love and devotion written under the pen name, Ahad. Poems in this phase were influenced by Urdu and Persian poets. The second phase is characterized by his poetry on nature under the pen name of Janbaz. Prem Nath Bazaz argues that shift happened because Azad drew inspiration from Mahjoor's poetry on nature. Azad was the first Kashmiri poet to include new themes like war and religious fanaticism and champion the cause of peace and universal brotherhood. Azad is also credited with infusing Marxist themes in Kashmiri poetry, which is reflected in his poems such as Inqalab ("Revolution"), An Inqalab ("Bring revolution"), and Payami Inqalab ("Message of the revolution").

Moving on from Mahjoor's plain and straightforward patriotism, Azad communicates not only his egalitarian beliefs and strong belief in all-encompassing equality of mankind, but also emphasizes the need for a socialistic, classless, and global human society. As a result, he made a name for himself as the first Kashmiri poet, prominently expressing three different and unifying themes in his poetry: action advocacy, egalitarianism, and social equality.

Shikwa-i-Iblis and Dariyav In his famous poem of seventy three verses, Shikwa-i-Iblis ("Complaint of Satan), Azad criticised the existence of God. "I know only blind people believe in your existence," states Satan in the poem. The poem was considered blasphemous by Orthodox Muslims and there were talks of issuing fatwa against him and declaring him apostate. Trilokinath Raina asserts that "Azad courageously preached scientific humanism" and that "Azad's ideological commitment was deep." He further asserts that "he remained a radical Marxist throughout his life."

When Sheikh Abdullah was appointed as the head of emergency administration in October 1947, an organisation called Cultural Front was founded, with notable faces such as Mahjoor, Rahi, Nadim, Kamil and Sadiq as its members. Azad too was invited to be its member, but he declined.

Published works Books authored Among his published works are:

Books on Azad