International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Faiz Ahmed Faiz is to Pakistan what Pablo Neruda is to Chile. Considered one of the greatest Urdu-language poets, Faiz Ahmed Faiz was an avowed Marxist, trade unionist, journalist, and thinker. He never held formal membership in the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP), yet he played an active role in the Progressive Writers Movement, the Progressive Papers Limited, and the Pakistan Trade Union Federation, and was incarcerated for his alleged role in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case. Faiz was born on February 13, 1911 in the village Kala Qadir, in the district of Sialkot in the Punjab. He was educated at Murray College, Sialkot, and Government College, Lahore, receiving his master's degree in English literature from Government College in 1932, and a master's degree in Arabic from Oriental College, Lahore the next year. He took up a job at Muhammedan Anglo Oriental College, Amritsar in 1935 and moved to Hailey College of Commerce in 1940. A year later he married British-born Alys George, who was also a poet and human rights activist. In 1942 their first daughter Salima was born, and in 1945 their other daughter Moneeza. During this time Faiz became active in the Progressive Writers Movement, which was founded in 1936. As Moscow supported the Allies during World War II, the Communist Party of India also extended cooperation to British rule. Faiz joined the army as a captain in 1942, ... log in or subscribe to read full text