Abstract

The evolution of Marxist-Leninist trends in the poetry of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is historically linked with post-October 1917 socialist realism, which was founded by Maxim Gorky (1890-1960). Sanubar Hussain Mohmand Kakaji (1898-1963) and Qalandar Mohamad (1930-2003) have translated progressive themes from Arabic, Persian, and Russian works of literature. This research explores the lives and works of these two progressive poets of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan, with reference to the existence of socialist realism in their work as well as progressive trends in their poetry. The selected themes and contents discussed in this paper clearly reflect a deep relationship with contemporary issues of the Pakhtun people and the manifest purposefulness in their nature. Like Vladimir Mayakovski, and Gorky, the two Russian poets, Kakaji and Qalandar introduced and progressed socialist realism in the Pashtu literature. In this paper, an effort is made to highlight the progressivism and purposefulness' in the selected poetry of these two poets, along with the presentation of excerpts from their poetry with English translation.

Key Words

Anti-colonial, Marxism, Socialist realism, Progressive, Ghazal, Pashtu

Introduction

Socialist Realism, which is a literary product of Marxist ideology, had significant impacts on the content and form of the poetry of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially Pashtu poetry (Ayaz, 2022b).  Historically speaking, the post-October 1917 socialist realism, which was founded in 1932 by Maxim Gorky (1890-1960), had a deep impression on Urdu and Pashtu works of literature (Coppola, 1974). Socialist realism has been defined as a literary strategy to smash the colonial system by adhering to socialist ideology (Kelly, 1983). It was an attempt to use literature for political action.

 For example, Kakaji, Qalandar, had translated progressive themes and contents from Russian, Persian, and English pieces of literature. The selected poetry of the 1950s up to the 1970s supports the argument that the literature developed in USSR in the 1930s had a profound influence on Pashtu. At the same time, we can also see the imprint of local traditions that made it possible for leftism to succeed, in the works of people like Kakaji Sanubar Hussain in the early twentieth century, or even the working-class poet Sayid-ul- Abrar Ghar in the 1960s and 70s (Ayaz et al., 2023).

Being a contemporary of Sayid Sajjad Zaheer, the founder of the Progressive Writers Association (PWA), Kakaji established Olasi Adabi Jirga (People's Literary Association) on the lines of PWA in 1950. The Olasi Adabi Jirg (OAJ was therefore considered the Pakhtunkhwa branch of PWA (Jamal, 2020). The anti-colonial revolutionary Progressive literary figures like Molvi Fazal Mehmud Mekhfi (b.1885), Molvi Abdul Rahim Popalzai (b.1890) and progressive poets, like Amir Hamza Shinwari (b.1907), Mirza Raza Hussain Hamdani (b.1910), Dost Mohammad Kamil (b.1915), Farigh Bukhari (b.1917), Ajmal Khattak (b.1926), and Qalandar Mohammad (b.1930), would take part in the meetings and literary activities of OAJ.

Thus, OAJ served as a pioneer organization which introduced socialist realism in the short stories, drama genre, and poetry.  These activities of OAJ proved impactful in the development of progressive themes in Pashtu literature. The short story writers, poets and critics, who were impacted by the literature produced by OAJ during the 1950s up to the period of 1970s, had reflections of socialist realism in their works. Their major works had a high degree of resemblance with Russian poets, like Vladimir Mayakovsky, Maxim Gorky, and Chekhov, and (Jangfeldt, 2021).

Thus, the literature developed under OAJ was viewed as a reaction to the romanticist trends in Pashtu literary works, in which love and liberty were presented as the objects of their Art and poetry. In their literary works, these poets would sacrifice life, and everything for their love (Marwat, 2015). Therefore, resistance in romantic literature developed as a way out to attain these objectives. The litterateurs in their work, thus, treated social development as political life, which emerged as the foundation of socialist realism in progressive literature (Ansari, 2015a).

The literature reviewed in this paper is even more interesting in the way that it allows us an insight into the thinking of those who were not necessarily elite activists or leaders.  Leaders are created in their moments, but the preservation of their legacies is created after the fact in papers and archives. It preserves immediate moments of expression, sometimes by elites but also sometimes by people whose lives would otherwise not be remembered by as many people (Azghar, 1968). In a study on leftism and particularly on leftist mass movements, this is especially important. At the same time, it also follows the logic that (Caron, 2019) discusses in “Border Historiography in Pakistan”: that of a Tazkira, which is organized around individual lives and their outward connections to each other and to wider worlds including international leftism, and national formal communism, but also Islamic histories and local life. 

In the following pages, we will discuss the lives and works of Sanubar Hussain Mohmand, and Qalandar Mohmand, along with themes, and contents of the selected progressive poetry. The selection of poetry, which espouses progressive lines of action, is critically analyzed and reproduced with translation. To understand the historical background and evolution of leftist politics in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it is cogent to study contemporary progressive literary works. This allows the researcher to point out the specificity of leftist history in NWFP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Rather than a picture in which trends from outside or on the national scale shape the history of a static frontier region, instead with literature as with biography we can emphasize the indigenous aspects of leftism in a globalizing region between the British empire and the Soviet Union.




Sanubar Hussain Mohmand, Alias Kakaji (1898-1963)

Hometown: Kaga Wala, Kohat Road, District Peshawar. 




Biography

Sanubar Hussain Mohmand is popularly known as Kakaji in the literary and academic circles of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Kakaji was born in 1897 in a village named ‘Kaga Wala which is located at Kohat Road Peshawar in the house of Gul Faraz, whose ancestors migrated from Mohmand Agency (present-day District Mohamad of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and were settled here. Kakaji received formal education (traditional Islamic knowledge) in his hometown (K. Khalil, 2011). He was later admitted to a Government School from where he passed Matriculation (High School) Examination in 1914. 

Due to financial constraints, he could not continue further education and left his studies for a government job as a primary school teacher in 1915. He taught for several years at Government Primary School, Tehkal, Peshawar, where he met Pan-Islamist activists. Besides his mother tongue Pashto, he was well versed in Arabic and Persian languages and developed an interest in the translation of literary work into Pashtu, which shall be discussed in the later part of this paper, especially his poetic translation. 

Due to the influence of Pan-Islamist ideology, Kakaji developed anti-colonial feelings by coming close to revolutionary literature. He could not bear the deteriorating social conditions in the politically charged scenario of the Khilafat Movement and resigned from his job in 1920.  Kakaji participated in the Khilafat movement of 1920 and its offshoot Migration movement Hijrat to Afghanistan, Tashkent, and beyond to Soviet Turkistan (Ayaz & Islam, 2022). He was so impressed by the progressive literature developed under the Soviet Writers Union (SWU) that started to learn the Russian language. He translated the literary works of Maxim Gorky (a Marxist poet of the USSR) into Pashto (Jamal, 2020).

 Like Barkat Ullah Bhopali (1859-1927), and Obaid Ullah Sindhi (1872-1944), Kakaji shifted his political position from Pan-Islamist to a Marxist-Leninist ideology of class struggle. This change occurred through a long process of transformation, which started with increasingly anti-colonial sentiments first, and upon Hijrat, and migration to Afghanistan and up to Soviet Turkistan, shaped into a Bolshevik program of emancipation through socialist revolution in colonial India. Building upon this new ideology, Kakaji laid the foundation of Anjuman Nawjawanan-i-Sarhad (ANS) in 1926, which was a Marxist group of anti-colonial revolutionaries. 

It is said that the Naujawan Baharat Sabha (NBS), which was a Marxist political party of undivided India, was established after the ANS foundation.  This initiative of Kakaji was fully endorsed by his comrades, like Maulana Abdul Rahim Popalzai (1890-1960), Khushal Khan of Bahadarkhel (1882-1962) and other notable figures. In those days, Kakaji was also in close touch with the Kirti Kisan Party of Punjab. In 1932, Kakaji edited the weekly Sailab (The Flood) and published it from Peshawar. This was a revolutionary Marxist magazine, and the British colonial government reacted sharply by issuing an arrest order for Kakaji and the confiscation of all copies of the magazine (H. Khalil, 2010).

Evading a potential arrest, Kakaji escaped to Tribal Areas on the Anglo-Afghan border, from where he continued his anti-colonial work with enthusiasm and dedication. He edited Shola and Sarfaroosh in the 1930s as part of his continued literary resistance. Kakaji, along with the Deobandi social and religious reformer, educationalist, and militant pir Haji Sahib Tarangzai, carried out the mission of émigré revolutionaries in the Anglo-Afghan borderland during the Mohmand resistances. He already had ample borderland experience since even before he and Bhagat Ram Talwar had helped Subash Chandra Boss in his historical escape from Afghanistan to Europe and then Japan (Talwar, 1976). For eighteen years he lived away from his hometown in a self-imposed exile, until independence, and finally returned to Peshawar in 1948.

By this point at least some of his goals and objectives were accomplished—driving out the British imperial masters from the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent—and like many, he had cautiously expected a life of dignity in post-colonial Pakistan and devoted the rest of his life to literary activities. However, he was arrested in 1951, then placed under house arrest in 1956, and was again arrested during the first military regime of Gen. Ayub Khan, all for continuing to work toward the cause of egalitarian socialist reform. He was treated harshly and was denied giving the status of a political prisoner in jail terms; rather he was kept in cells formerly assigned to Bolsheviks and terrorists in the colonial period, but now in independent Pakistan. He suffered from various health issues and developed asthmatic symptoms in the custody of jail authorities. Unable to live longer with these various miseries, and still without any proven crime or violation of the state, Kakaji died in 1963 and was buried in his hometown in Peshawar (Jamal, 2020). Many progressive poets of the OAJ paid tribute to him in their poems for his outstanding contributions to the national liberation movement as well as to the progressive literary movement in Pashtu literature (Bacha, 2017).




Literary Contributions

Alongside the anti-colonial revolutionary struggle against British imperial power Kakaji devoted much of his time to literary activities. He was an accomplished writer, a progressive poet, and as well as a Marxist critic. He translated dozens of prose and poetry works from Arabic, Persian, and English languages, which include the following:




Magazines and Newspapers

Kakaji edited the Tri-lingual weekly Sailab (Flood) which was published from Peshawar in 1930. This was a progressive magazine, having essays and poetry in Pashtu, Urdu, and Persian languages. When Sailab was confiscated, Kakaji escaped to Tribal Areas in 1931, and from there he started monthly Shola. He also released bi-lingual Sarfaroosh from the Tribal Areas in 1932.

Books and Unpublished Manuscripts

Kakaji wrote Tareeh-i-Islam (The History of Islam), a biography of Hazrat Umar, the second caliph, and a biography of Hazrat Abu Zar Ghafari—one of the Prophet’s companions who introduced agrarian reforms in the Khilafat of Hazrat Usman, the third Caliph in Islamic history. This egalitarian work was later appreciated by the Iranian thinker Ali Shariati as the first progressive work developed in the early Islamic period. This Islamic history, stretching from Prophet Mohammad to the first caliphate period, is written in a simple and progressive method for the understanding of common people. Besides these books, Kakaji wrote numerous research papers on the nationalist and progressive poets of Pashto, like, Abdul Hameed Mohmand, Ali Khan, Kamgar Khattak, Khushal Khan Khattak, Misri Khan Gigyani and other several literary figures. Building on these Kakaji completed a treatise on literary development in the Pashto tradition and developed a special pedagogical booklet on the grammar and language of Pashto (K. Khalil, 2011). 




Translation work from other Literature and Short Stories/Fiction

Kakaji translated Fitnat-ul-Kubra: a work authored by the reformist-Salafi Egyptian scholar Taha Hussain, into the Pashto language. He also produced a poetic translation of Persian poet Umar Khayyam's work, of around 263 poems, into Pashto. Dwaro Ka Waro (Both, or All?) was also a poetic translation of a Persian poet, Lahoti, who was considered a prototypical Marxist poet. Da Abqaryano Haal (Life of Genius), is a translation of English poet Hanzlik Wolf, and Da Akhlaqo Mubaligh, Waghiz (The Reformer of Ethics) was a translation from Russian, originally authored by Maxim Gorky (Jamal, 2020).




Selected Progressive Poetry

Besides, poetic translations from other languages, Kakaji composed his own poetry on rare occasions. He has devoted less time to his own poetry and thus, rare collections of his Pashtu poetry can be found in progressive publications, like Monthly Aslam, Bang-i-Haram, and some poetry in the published work Anwar Khan Dewana (Dewana, 1997). His poetry has two major genres: ghazal, and short poem. A few couplets from a poem introducing Kakaji tell us about his poetry, especially his ghazal work:

?????? ?? ?? ??? ????? ???? ???

???? ??? ?? ????? ?? ? ??? ?????

????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ??

?? ??? ???? ??  ??  ??? ?? ???? ?????

??? ???  ?  ????  ???  ????  ?????

???  ??? ??   ?? ???  ??? ??? ?????

?? ??  ???  ?? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??

?? ?????  ???   ???  ??? ?????  ?????




Translation:

Laughter spread around the garden

People named him the flower of the Morning 

Pashtun never put down their shield before any power

Only for your love, would they put down their sword and shield

Singing in it, the music of your supreme love

Why else would one put excellence in writing a Ghazal

He, who never bowed his head (defeat) to the Fall

His mother rightfully named him Sanubar, indeed! (H. Khalil, 2010)







Like Ismat Chughtai of the PWA, who raised the issues of inequalities, poverty, and women’s status, Kakaji used poetry for reforming society. Analyzing class differences and the problems of poor people in a capitalist state, Kakaji lamented that the dignity and respect of the poor have always been sacrificed for paltry financial gain. A few couplets from a long poem by Kakaji explain this thought in the following way;

?????! ?? ????? ???? ??? ??  ?????

?? ? ???? ??? ?? ?? ???? ??? ??

? ???? ? ???? ??? ???? ?? ??? ????

??? ????? ?? ??? ? ???? ? ??? ??

???? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?? ????? ????

?? ?????  ??  ? ?????  ??  ??? ??

Translation:

May God destroy this bazar of infidels 

Where the cost of a poor person’s beauty is a handful of dry beans

They give off a frolicking scent of gunpowder 

Now Pashtun give off a scent like an apple's fragrance 

See them fallen all the time in the fields:

Every bird that uses the wings of others to fly




Kakaji was influenced by Marxist poets and literary intellectuals and his poetry, be it ghazal or Nazm, reflected communist and proletariat style of expression. In the following poem, Kakaji, explains the differences between the two classes:




?? ?????? ??? ????    ?????? ????? ?? ?? ???

??? ?? ????? ?????       ? ??????  ??  ?????

???   ?????    ?????

???   ????    ???  ??       ??   ?????   ???   ??

???  ?????   ???   ??       ? ???   ???    ???  ??

?????? ?????  ??  ????       ? ???  ????  ???   ??

? ??? ????  ?????       ? ??? ??? ?? ????

? ??? ??? ??  ????        ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ???

?  ??????  ????   ??          ?? ?? ????  ????   ??

?? ?? ?????  ????   ??

Translation:

You are searching for Khushal Khan? Khushal-the Afghan or the Khan

Which Mehmood are you waking up? The Muslim one or the King

My brethren litterateur!!! Their class is distinct from us 

Their school is different from us; Your struggle is different

Their intoxication is different; We have our own Kaaba

Their Kaaba is different; Their religion is government

Their nickname is Hazrat; Their lineage is high

Whatever they name themselves; To be called Musalman

Or be called Pathan; Or be called Afghan




Close comrade of Kakaji, Sahibzada Muhammad Aslam, who was fighting against British colonial power in 1930s in the Tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, was severely wounded in liberation war. To save his life, the injured comrade was taken to a hospital in bordering Jalalabad by Kakaji, for treatment. However, comrade Aslam could not survive and died at the hospital. After independence of Pakistan, the OAJ in 1952 issued a monthly literary magazine Aslam to memorize his sacrifices, which was published in three languages, Hindko, Pashtu, and Urdu.  In the following stanza, Kakaji recalled the memories of the martyrdom of Muhammad Aslam;

?? ?????? ???? ????? ?????     ?? ? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?????

?? ? ????? ?? ??? ???? ????      ?? ?? ? ???? ??? ? ?? ?????

? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ?????     ?? ?? ?????? ? ???? ?????

?? ? ???? ????? ??? ????            ???? ?? ???? ?? ??? ?? ?????

?? ??????? ???? ????? ?? ???     ?? ?? ????? ????? ?? ?????

?? ??? ??? ????? ?? ??? ????  ?? ?? ???? ? ??? ??? ?????

Translation:

As ascetics pray a thousand devotions on their beads

I count the dewdrops on the face of a rose

While facing accountability on the day of judgment

I will count the curls of my beloved’s hair

While the victims of your eyelashes demand appreciation 

I will count the wounds of Aslam (the Martyr)

When speaking a ghazal in front of Hamza (Amir Hamza)

I mean to say I consider myself less than him

Let Shah Jahan complain about Aurang

I will equally include the name of Behram too

I demand a ghazal, while he writes a nazm

How long I will count the trickery of my nation

Kakaji laid the foundation of OAJ which introduced progressive trends in Pashtu and thus, in one way, he could be called the founder of socialist realism in Pashtu literature. His translations of Gorky and others support such a contention. As we see, though, Kakaji worked in a much longer poetic and Islamic intellectual tradition. This included a dense allusion to the overlap of revolutionary and romantic desire that the ghazal form lends itself to, and also the hagiographic symbolism of Islamic works of literature as exemplified in his study of Abu Zar. Even others like Qalandar Mohmand, might be more solidly seen in such a realist light. Of course, Qalandar himself dedicated several poems and ghazals to the service of Kakaji. This shows the overlap between multiple different ways of relating to society, history, and their inequalities, which is part and parcel of NWFP leftist thinking and history.




Sahibzada Habib-ur-Rehman, Alias Qalandar Mohmand (1930-2003)

Hometown: Bazid Khel, District Peshawar.

Biography

Sahibzada Habib-ur-Rehman was born in village Bazid Khel, District Peshawar on September 07, 1930. He is widely known as Qalanda, as his pen-name in the literary works and history of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His father’s name was Sahibzada Saif-ur-Rehman, who migrated from the Tribal Areas of Mohmand (presently merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) during the British colonial period, to Peshawar. Qalandar was sent to a Maktab (School) for elementary education in his village, Bazid Khel. He passed the Matriculation examination (10th Grade), from Government High School Badaber. 

After intermediate, Qalandar got admission to Islamia College Peshawar, probably the same year when Pakistan got independence in 1947 (H. Khalil, 2010). Due to financial constraints, Qalandar interrupted his studies several times; however, he has to his credit Master of Arts degrees in English and Pashtu, and a Bachelor of Law, LLB, from the University of Peshawar (Toru, 2005).

It was during his studies at Islamia College that Qalandar met several members of the Olasi Adabi Jirga (OAJ) especially its founder Kakaji, Dost Mohammad Kamil, Amir Hamza Shinwari, Saif-ur-Rehman Salim, Wali Mohammad Tofan, Syed Mir Mehdi Shah Mehdi, and others. Due to the influence of these progressive nationalists, he took an interest in literary activities. Even at a young age, he earned a name in the ranks of ghazal poets like Hamza Shinwari (Caron, 2015) and Kamil. His literary contribution to OAJ, and later to 'Da Sahu Likonko Maraka (Forum for Activist Writers) which he founded in 1962, are both conspicuous, and the revolutionary and progressive trends, in his ghazal work as well as in his pioneering realist short stories, played a key role in the development of Pashto literature.

Qalandar also served the University of Peshawar as a faculty member in the Department of English until he was arrested by police in 1975 on account of alleged involvement in the assassination of Hayyat Khan Sherpao. He lost his teaching job at the University of Peshawar, however in the 1980s he got another job at Gomal University as Principle, of its Law College. Due to his attachment to progressive activities under the OAJ, he was not able to continue his job, although he was facing perennial financial and job-related problems in those days. He devoted the rest of his life to literary activities and intellectual work. He has a remarkable contribution to the development of progressive Pashtu literature. The writing of the first Pashtu dictionary, Daryab, under his supervision, is an example of his highest achievement in the literary development of Pashtu literature.




Literary contributions

Qalandar was a prolific writer, accomplished journalist, progressive poet, and literary intellectual. He was honoured with a Presidential award for his literary contributions in 1989, as well as Pakistan's highest cultural honour, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, in 1996. This came after nearly half a century of activity. Qalandar wrote his first editorial in the weekly Rahbar in 1950, along with Tofan and Mehdi as co-authors. In his later career, he took on the editorship of the monthly Lar, the daily Anjam, the daily Shehbaz, the daily Wahdat, the daily Inqilab and other progressive media publications. 

He has authored around ten books, including translated work from English, Persian and Arabic. Additionally, he published a number of critical papers, essays, and columns in various journals, magazines, and newspapers. The collection of his short stories, which is among the pioneering fiction work in Pashto, was published as Gajray in 1957 and is some of the earliest socialist-realist prose in Pakistan’s Pashto scene, in dialogue with Afghan work of the same era. A collection of his poems, Sabawoon, was published in 1988. In addition to his creative works, he also engaged in groundbreaking historical-cultural research. He compiled critical editions of the Khairul Bayan of Bayazid Ansari, and other classical Pashtu works. He also dismissed the discovery of the old manuscript Pata Khazana by A. H. Habibi and demonstrated its likely forgery, in his important work Pata Khazana fil Meezan which was published in 1980(Mohmand, 1986).




Selected Progressive Poetry with Translation

Being a member of OAJ and a close associate of Kakaji, Qalandar wrote numerous poems and ghazals which express the voice of the oppressed and downtrodden working class against imperial structures.  He was influenced by the Marxist perspectives and literary trends that pervaded Urdu and Pashto pieces of literature in the 1950s (Coppola, 1974), both Pakistani and Afghan ones, and therefore introduced new themes in his poetry. Internationalism was a rising feature in this. For example, some of his poetry work from Sabawoon includes Da Vietnam Charbeytta, (The Charbeytta of Vietnam), Da Mazdoor Rejz (The Anthem of Worker), Salam (Peace), and Sanda (Elegy) which all exemplify various Marxist and progressive trends.  

Some of his poems written in 1952 also serve as a self-narration of history and a voice of the difficult times and situations of communist leaders and their party (CPP). The top leadership of CPP was arrested after the alleged Rawalpindi Conspiracy case of 1951 and was put in jail. Like Russian poet Maxim Gorky, who wrote poems on the imprisonment of Bolshevik revolutionaries, Qalandar lamented in one of his poems, the arrest of Sanubar Hussain Kakaji;




???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???     ???? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??? ????

???? ?? ??? ?  ???????? ?? ???    ????? ? ???? ? ?? ???? ???? ??

???? ?? ??? ?? ?????  ???????        ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??

??? ?? ??? ????? ? ?????? ??      ??? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????

??? ?? ??? ???? ?? ????????        ??? ?? ??? ????? ?????  ?????

??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ??? ??????        ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???? ?????

??? ??  ??? ? ?? ???? ?????            ?? ???  ??  ??? ? ????  ??????

??? ?? ??? ???? ????? ???? ???            ? ??  ?  ???  ??????  ????? ?

??? ?? ?????? ????????? ??        ? ?? ?? ??? ??????? ? ???? ?

?? ? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ???      ?? ?? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?? ??

?????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??    ?? ?? ????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?? ??

??? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????       ?? ?????? ?? ? ???? ???? ??

Translation:

I hear the old story renewed again; I hear Mansur is being hanged again

I hear that the allies of Nimrud again; Are roasting our flesh in fire

I hear that these conman again; Flying the old kite with new strings

Look! the shackles clunking again; Look! the youth is ready to sacrifice again 

Look! the thorns have sprung again; Look! Majnun is going crazy again

Look! sharpening of daggers again for he; who’s diving into danger again unaware

Look! somebody’s old bones again; Have talked of wanting imprisonment

Look! the Darkness has spread again; Wounds of someone s heart have smoldered 

Look! someone’s forehead is wrinkled again; The owner of power and wealth trembled 

But I swear upon the cleansed foreheads; That their deal will remain only a deal

Khushal Khan breaks the good news to the masses; Neither Aurang nor Dara will remain 

At last the Present will shake hands with Past; And the future will belong to Kaka 

(Mohmand, 1986)







Mohmand, 1986)Themes of beauty, romance, and liberty are present in the poetry of Qalandar, which can be an influence on the literary development under PWA but also build on older associations of the urgency of social emotion with individual desire. Nonetheless, this fits more closely with the realist agenda than the work of Kakaji, for instance. According to PWA, a poet was considered a mirror of society and therefore existing social issues must remain the object of his poetry. Thus, purposefulness and correlation in the poetry and social issue were integral in the practice of modern romantic poetry in which the poet sacrificed his life for his love and liberty for his art (Ansari, 2015b); and one's love could be simultaneously collective and individual. Revolt and resistance, in the romanticist literature, were considered a way to attain these objectives. Thus, love and romance in modern poetry were prioritized under OAJ, which led to an emergent fusion of revolutionary romanticism and realism. There are many glimpses of revolutionary romanticism in his poetry, as in one of his ghazals named ‘Hosan’ (Beauty), in which Qalandar simultaneously discusses notions of love, romance, and liberty:

??? ? ???? ???? ???? ? ????? ??? ??

??? ? ????? ????? ? ??? ??? ??? ??

??? ? ?? ?? ????? ????? ???? ?? ?????

??? ? ??? ??? ?????  ????? ????? ??? ??

??? ????? ?? ? ????? ?? ?? ????? ????

??? ?? ??? ??? ? ???? ? ??? ?????? ??? ??

??? ? ?? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ?????

??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ? ???? ??? ??

??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?????

??? ??? ???? ??????? ??? ? ????? ??? ??

??? ?? ?? ? ????? ??? ? ???? ??? ??

? ???????? ? ???????? ? ????? ??? ??

??? ???? ??? ????? ??? ????? ? ???? ??

? ?????? ? ?????? ??? ? ??? ??? ??

??? ? ??? ??? ??? ? ????? ???????

???????? ???? ???? ? ????? ??? ??

??? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ????? ???

?? ? ????? ? ??????? ? ????? ??? ??

??? ?????? ? ????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??

??? ????? ? ???????? ? ????? ??? ??

Translation:

Beauty is the name of black and curly hairs

Beauty is the name of the dawn of white cheeks

Beauty means intoxication of someone’s narcissus eyes 

Beauty is the name of the reddest wine-stained lips

Beauty is the spring of youth, which comes on its own

Beauty in the garden is the name of villages’ bursting hearts

Beauty, for someone, is a happiness given in the temporary present

Beauty which breaks like the dawn is also called yesterday

Beauty may be different things for others, and for me

It is bravery, courage, commitment, and a code of Pakhtunwali

Beauty is the intoxication of ego in the head of Pashtuns

That’s the name of the emergence of the feelings of liberty 

Beauty is Khyber, Lowaghir, Tatara and Krappa (places of K.P)

That’s the name of the birth of the stormy waves of Abaseen?

Beauty is an expressed anger in the eyes of Pashtuns?

Which is the name of change in the universe and in Fate?

Beauty exists in every page of our history

Beauty is the name of the poetic symbol of our social movement




While this expresses an analytical but also romantic analysis of how poetry relates to history and socialist progress, in numerous stanzas of his ghazals Qalandar presented with justification desires for a socialist transformation of state and society in Pakistan. For example, in his long poem-like ghazal, Salam (Peace), and Qaam Olasa Zama Khpal Watana (O Nation, O People, O my Own Homeland) he praised class struggle and called for abolishing imperial structures with particular reference to ongoing international struggle, in a rather more sloganeering mode:

???? ??? ? ????? ?? ?????? ???      ? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ???

? ?????? ? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ??           ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???

? ????? ? ??? ??? ?? ????? ???? ??             ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ????? ???

?? ????? ?? ?? ???? ????? ????? ???   ? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??? ??? ????? ???

?? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??        ? ?? ?? ???? ? ????? ?????? ???

?? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???         ?? ???? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???

? ???? ?? ???????? ??? ?????? ??              ?? ???? ?? ? ???? ?? ? ????? ???

? ???? ????? ? ????? ????? ?? ????          ???? ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ????? ???

? ?????? ?? ? ???? ????? ???? ??                 ??????? ?? ? ???? ? ?????? ???

??????? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ???             ???? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ???

???? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???        ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??” ????? ???

Translation:

Desertification has engulfed the gardens of Pashtuns

Nightingales are dying yearning for spring in their hearts  

We were still mourning Khushal’s demise 

While Kaka was dying of grief 

May God protect the young generation of Pashtuns 

When everyday they are losing such elders 

Who have shattered the hearts of Britain

And are dying in the battlefield field soaked with their blood  

Because of whom the imperialist could not absolutely rule 

The rulers of the heart of The Powerless nation are dying 

When they sacrificed youth and generations on their nation 

They die with a young heart and an old body  

There is a Mourning in the Ruined house of Aimal 

The descendants of Hameed and Rehman are dying   

Floods of tears flowing from the eyelashes

One’s tears dry up when a person dies from grief 

Khushal and Darya’s hearts are broken

When the brave defender of honor from Aimal’s clan dies 

Afridi, Mohmand and Khattak are all the pallbearers 

As if all the three khans will die once more 

Aimal Khan Baba throws down his turban in grief

Amidst his sobbing, he shouts ‘An Afghan dies!




In yet another poem, "The Anthem of the Worker", he goes to describe his love and affection for peasants and workers;

?? ? ??? ? ??????? ?????                  ?? ???????? ??? ??? ???

? ?????? ???? ????? ????                 ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ???

?? ? ??? ?? ??????????                ?? ????????? ??? ??? ???

Translation:

I am the lion of my motherland's proletariat; That's why the jackals dislike me

A beautiful lad of revolution; that's I'm why disliked by such impotent people

Amidst the greatness of my country; That’s why I’m disliked by thieves




Qalandar was deeply affected by the death of his teacher, Kakaji, due to ill-treatment in prison and he penned a poem  Sanda (elegy) on the death of Kakaji in 1963 which was published later (Mohmand, 1986) in his book. A few couplets are reproduced here with translations

Conclusion

As expounded in the introductory section, the term

socialist realism originated in the congress meeting of the Soviet Writers Union SWU in 1932 as a political strategy (Dobrenko, Evgeny Balina, 2011). By 1932, under the direction of SWU, especially Maxim Gorky, socialist realism had a momentous impact on contemporary literature that was expanded beyond Soviet borders. The major success of socialist realism was that it brought literature and politics together in one frame of action for the first time in social history, which was earlier treated as distinct subjects in Pashtun society. In Afghanistan, the poetry of Suleman Layeq, who was also a Minister in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) was an example of socialist realism (Zabihullah Chauhan, 2023). 

Kakaji Sanubar Hussain, and Qalandar Mohmand's selected poems, which were reproduced for analysis in this research paper, represent the impacts of Socialist realism on Pashtu poetry. The OAJ and other literary societies established in the 1950s, up to 1970s in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had remarkable impressions of socialist realism. Poets like Syed Sher Ali Bacha, Master Sultan Khalakyar Salim Raz, and Syed-ul-Abrar Ghar, have penned numerous poems which depicted class struggle and emancipation wars against the colonial legacy and structures in Pakhtun society. These poets in their poetry shattered the imperial legacy by implying the socialist depiction of art and literature.

This study recommends further research on the socialist and progressive themes in Pashtu literature and urges scholars and academia to explore new dimensions in the existing literature. The findings of this research demand the inclusion of these remarkable literary contributions of Kakaji and Qalandar in regional and national history. Furthermore, it may be included in the national curriculum and syllabus of colleges and universities.:

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