Inquilaab zindaabaad
Posted on: January 26, 2023
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Today is the 74th Republic Day of India, i.e. Bharat. I congratulate all Atulites on this occasion. हार्दिक बधाई और अभिनंदन ।
Have you ever wondered why we have both Independence Day and Republic Day – 2 days of national celebrations ? How many of us really know the difference between these two days ? Let me explain….
After a long British rule, India became an Independent Nation on 15 th August 1947. The British handed over reins of the country to the people of India ( but not before promoting hatred and dividing the Akhand Bharat into 2 Nations on the basis of Religions). When we became Independent, we did not adopt any form of Government and India continued to take Queen Elizabeth as its head of country and also continued following the British Constitution, as we did not have our own Constitution by then. India still had a Governor General appointed by the British Government, of course on the advice of the Government of the newly formed Independent Dominion of India from 21-6-1948 to 26-1-1950. C. RajGopalachary took over as India’s first native Governor General of the Dominion of India from 21-6-1948 onwards.
After independence, India started work on its own new Constitution from 29-8-1947 to 26-11-1949. The total period was 2 years 11 months and 18 days, including 141 days for final drafting. The Constitution Committee was presided by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and it had 6 other members, namely K. M. Munshi, Mohd. Saadullah, A. K. Iyer, G. S. Ayyangar, N. Madhav Rao ( replacing B. L. Mittar who resigned due to ill health) and D. P. Khetan.
India accepted the new Constitution on 26-1-1950 declaring the nation as the Democratic Republic of India. From 15-8-1947 to 26-1-1950, the head of the country was the Prime Minister but from 26-1-1950, the Head of the country is the President of India. The post of Governor General was abolished and the British rule ended finally ! So, on Independence day, India came from the hands of the British to our hands ( actually it came to the hands of the ruling Congress party ) and on Republic Day India became a form of Government ruled by the Representatives of the people of India.
One more interesting thing which many people are not aware of. On the 15 th August 1947,being the head of the Government the then Prime Minister of India hoisted the Indian Flag. Therefore on every Independence day, the Prime Minister hoists the Flag and because from 26th January 1950, the President became the head of the Government, on every 26 th January the President unfurls the flag. On Independence day the flag is hoisted from below to the top of the pole, but on Republic day the flag is tied at the top and is only unfurled (not hoisted). In spite of so many years of Independence, people do not understand this and the flag is hoisted even on the 26th January in many places !
Today’s song is an inspirational song from the film Hum bhi kuchh kam nahin-1958. It is sung by Asha bhosle and chorus. The mukhada of the song is “Inquilab Zindabad”.
” Inquilab Zindabad ” was first coined by Maulana Hasrat Mohani in 1921 and it soon became a favourite with freedom Fighters. It is an Urdu word, which comes from the Arabic root of ” Inqlab” – which means change, transformation. The Freedom Fighters shouted this slogan to demand change in the governance of the country i.e. Independence.
The first song in a Hindi film using this slogan as its mukhda was in the film ” Shah E Misar “-1946, a film of actor Ajit’s Debut in his real name of Hamid. For reasons best known to Nehru and the Congress, ” Vande Mataram ” was not selected as the National Anthem. Instead, “Jan gana man” became India’s National Anthem. The first film song having ” Jan Gan Man ” in its music was the film ” Insaan ya Shaitan “-1933.
The Hindi film industry was never famous for making Patriotic films in a sizable number. Infact, when I started counting films made on national heroes, I was not only shocked but was utterly unhappy to find a miniscule number of patriotic films on Indian Heroes. For example, I found 6 films were made on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose-in 1947, 1950,1962,1966,1978 1nd 2004. 5 films were made on Shaheed Bhagat Singh and 3 films were made on Chhatrapati Shivaji. Few films were made on Rana Pratap, Gandhi ji, Padmini, Jhansi ki Rani, Kargil and Udham Singh. These are my cursory observations. There must be some more Patriotic films made in general, but not many on individual Heroes. This, when from 1931 to June 2017, a total of 12891 Hindi films were made !
Similarly, patriotic songs in Hindi films were also much less in number. Apart from films on specific Heroes, some songs were included even in social and family genre films. One can understand the helplessness of filmmakers in making Patriotic films and songs before Independence, due to fear of British backlash. After talkie films started, till Independence in 1946 it was only 16 years, while after 1947 till today, it is more than 70 odd years now. Therefore the reluctance to make films on different Patriotic Heroes and themes is not understandable.
Making patriotic songs before Independence was too risky to invite action from the British government. We all know how Kavi Pradeep had to go underground to avoid arrest by police for the song ” door hato aye duniya walo” in the film Kismet-1943. However, there was atleast one Music Director – Master Mohammed in the early years of Talkie films, who was a specialist in making Patriotic songs in his films and he was never stopped or punished by the British.
Master Mohammed started his career as an actor and composer in Krishnatone’s ” Harishchandra”-1931-one of the earliest Talkie films in the first year itself. He composed 20 songs in ” Seeta swayamvar”-1933. Same year he acted and composed music for India’s First Talkie Fantasy film “Lal E Yaman”-33. He used to sing songs in his films. He was MD of many films of Fearless Nadia, from her First big film ” Hunterwali ” -1935 to ” Sher E Baghdad”-46. He gave music to 24 films, composing 217 songs and sang 41 songs in 18 films. He also acted in 23 films.
His speciality was patriotic songs in his films. Some of his famous songs were, Hum watan ke-jai Bharat-36 and Zanda uncha rahe hamara-Lutaru Lalna-38. Another song from his film, “Jagat ka sapna” was based on Hindu-Muslim Unity. In his every film, there used to be a patriotic song. His last film as an actor was ” Flying Prince “-1946. His last film as a composer was Sati Seeta-46.
The music director of today’s song was S.D.Batish. I have a lot of respect for S D Batish,who did a marvelous job of promoting Indian Music in the UK and USA. He is one of those rare people who left the film world, but continued serving Indian Music, by turning a corner in Life. Such people are few in this world. The monumental work he did for Indian Music in foreign lands is unparalleled. An important point is that he did not do this service to Music for his personal gains. For his sustenance,he had opened a Restaurant in Santa Cruz,California,which was providing him enough for a comfortable living in the USA.
Now let us listen to this inspiring song….
Song- Inquilaab Zindabad (Ham Bhi Kuchh Kam Nahin)(1958) Singer- Asha Bhosle, Lyricist- Kaif Irfani, MD- S D Batish
Chorus
Lyrics
inquilaab zindaabaad
inquilaab zindaabad
inquilaab
inquilaab zindaabaad
inquilaab zindaabaad
inquilaab
inquilaab
zindaabaad
chalo watan ki raah par
ki tum watan ki shaan ho
watan ko tumpe naaz hai
ki tum watan ki jaan ho
chalo watan ki raah par
ki tum watan ki shaan ho
watan ko tumpe naaz hai
ki tum watan ki jaan ho
inquilaab
zindabad
badhe chalo bahaaduron
ke zulm ko mitaayenge
giraake mahal zulm ke
naya jahaan basaayenge
inquilwab
inquilawb zindawbawd
inquilwab zindaabaad
inquilaab
chalo watan ki raah par
ki tum watan ki shaan ho
wtan ko tumpe naaz hai
ki tum watan ki jaan ho
inquilaab
zindaabaad
kafan saron pe baandh lo zara
ke aaj jung hai
lahu bahe to mat daro
lahu bhi ek rang hai
inquilaab
inquilaab zindaabaad
inquilaab zindaabaad
inquilaab
chalo watan ki raah par
ki tum watan ki shaan ho
watan ko tumpe naaj hai
ki tum watan ki jaan ho
inquilaab
zindaabaad
kuchal do dushmanon ke sar
jala do zaalimon ke ghar
ke ?? baandh ke chalo
ke aayenge to jeet kar
inquilaab
inquilaab zindaabaad
inquilaab zindaabaad
inquilaab
chalo watan ki raah par
ki tum watan ki shaan ho
watan ko tumpe naaz hai
ki tum watan ki jaan ho
chalo watan ki raah par
ki tum watan ki shaan ho
watan ko tumpe naaz hai
ki tum watan ki jaan ho
inquilaab
zindaabaad
inquilaab
zindaabaad
6 Responses to "Inquilaab zindaabaad"
January 26, 2023 at 8:08 pm
Got to know about the hoisting n unfurling of the flag today thanks to this write-up. Thankyou.Read the whole article 👌👌🙏
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
January 26, 2023 at 1:54 pm
Deshmukh Sir,
I read the your post with interest and found it informative. About hoisting and unfurling of the flag, I have mostly seen it unfurled at both occasions. People are worried about correctly folding and tying it up so that it unfurls perfectly. Will be sure to share it with people.
About ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, I was about to elaborate in my post today, when I wrote of “Inquilabi shaayari”, but it slipped from my mind and I found that have explained about the origins “Inquilab Zindabad”.
In Urdu ‘Inquilab’ means ‘revolution’ as in ‘kranti’ in hindi. There is daily urdu newspaper published from Mumbai called ‘Inquilab’. It was founded in 1938 and is still in circulation. My parents, especially my mother reads it daily.
Thanks and regards.
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January 26, 2023 at 2:01 pm
I was also unaware of the difference between unfurling and hoisting even though I was doing it for nearly three decades. when I became aware of it some time back, I began noticing it. I was happy to note that in Railways, those organising the event know the difference between the two and they meticulously adhere to the correct procedure.
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January 26, 2023 at 5:18 pm
Atul ji,
Last year, in our Housing Society, on 26th January function, I saw that the flag was hoisted and not unfurled. I wrote to the secretary explaining the correct procedures and from that time the right things are done.
While writing this post, I made it a point to stress on this important issue, so that everywhere the right procedure is followed. I hope our readers make a note of this matter.
Thanks.
-AD
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January 26, 2023 at 5:11 pm
Mrs. Nahm ji,
Thanks for your comments.
I have an old dictionary ” The Popular Dictionary”
(English to Urdu and Urdu to English )
By The Rev.T.Craven,M.A.
Published on 1-4-1889, handed down to me from my father and from Grandfather to my father. Being in the state of Hyderabad Deccan, such books were necessary for us, as the official language of the state was Urdu. I too studied in Urdu Medium school till 4th standard. This book was originally published as ” The People’s Dictionary” in 1881.
Whenever I need authentic meanings of any Urdu word, I refer to this dictionary.
On page 82, 1st column, the word is spelled as INQILAB ( and not Inquilab) and there are 2 meanings- Revolution and Change.
Thanks.
-AD
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