And the Poem Written on Nehru Landed Him In Jail



It was the time when everyone was celebrating India’s independence. People in cities and villages were dancing and singing with joy. Majrooh himself, while celebrating the event in the company of other progressive writers in 1947, made a long pen out of a bamboo because they felt it was important to have a pen of a size fit to signify freedom of a free nation.

Majrooh, whose heart throbbed for the exploited, was fighting for equality of rights for all. And during a meeting organised for the mill workers, he recited a poem on Jawaharlal Nehru. The song, which was written against Nehru and khadi, left politicians red-faced. Morarji Desai, the then-governor of Bombay, put Majrooh in Arthur Road Jail and asked him for an apology. But the uncompromising poet refused to tender an apology, and instead chose to spend two years in jail.



Even while behind the bars, he continued writing his socially meaningful songs and poems, which every child in the country began humming. Under these circumstances, the political establishment was compelled to release him from jail.

This describes the story of this great poet’s fight with the political class.