Hum dekhenge by Iqbal bano
Iqbal Bano, the subcontinent's beloved ghazal singer, born in India and
trained in the Dilli Gharana by the legendary Ustad Chand Khan, . In the
hearts of all who knew and loved her music is the memory of that day:
when, in protest against the jailing of the subcontinent's foremost left
poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz by Pakistan's dictator General Zia-ul Haq, she
sang Faiz's immortal song "Hum Dekhenge" (We shall witness) at a Lahore
stadium full of 50,000 people, wearing a black sari in defiance of Zia's
ban on the sari. As her liquid voice reached the crescendo -- declaring
"Certainly we, too, shall witness that day ... When these high
mountains/Of tyranny and oppression turn to fluff and evaporate/And we
oppressed/Beneath our feet will this earth shiver, shake and beat/And
heads of rulers will be struck/With crackling lightening and thunder
roars/When crowns will be flung in the air — and thrones will be
overturned ...," people joined with slogans of "Inquilab Zindabad" (Long
live revolution!)
