Kazi Nazrul Islam was just eighteen when he joined the British-Indian army. It was 1917, and the conflict between the two superpowers of the European continent, the British Empire and the German Empire, was near an end. The Ottoman Empire joined this war for their ally, the Germans. They fought against the British, French and Russian empires. Under this circumstance, a Muslim student in 10th grade from a remote country area of Bengal province of the former Mughal Empire ignored the fear of death and signed his name. The British Empire put the Bengali Muslims fought against the Ottoman Empire, which was the Hope for All Muslims worldwide. The Ottoman side was successful in this war. They foiled the joint attack by the navies of Britain, New Zealand and Australia in the Dardanelles Strait, the entrance to the capital Istanbul. Mustafa Kemal, the future hero of the Turkish people, was the successful leader of this war. His reputation spread during that time.
On another battlefield, the Ottoman army captured the 8,000-strong British Army garrison in Kut, 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad, including the British commander Major General Charles Townshend. This battle is known as the Siege of Kut al-Amara (7 December 1915 – 29 April 1916), also known as the First Battle of Kut. Following the surrender of the garrison on 29 April 1916, the survivors of the siege were marched to imprisonment at Aleppo. Historian Christopher Catherwood has called the siege “the worst defeat of the Allies in World War I” (Catherwood, 2014:51Catherwood, C. (2014). The Battles of World War I. Allison & Busby. ISBN 978-0-7490-1502-2.).
Ten months later, the British-Indian Army, consisting almost entirely of newly recruited troops from Western India, conquered Kut, Baghdad and other regions in between in the Fall of Baghdad. During the fall of Kut al-Amara, the British-Indian army was under strain due to a lack of manpower. The British government used to recruit soldiers from Indian provinces. They had no plan to recruit soldiers from Bengal. Their excuses were, “Bengalis are not good warriors”, “They are not a martial or warlike race”, etc. After the First War of Independence of 1857-1858, this British suspicion of Bengali Muslims is thought to have grown. But after the defeats of the Brits in several battles, India’s pro-British leadership wanted Bengalis included in the forces of the British Empire. Finally, by 1916, the British government agreed to form a double company with Bengali troops.
Bangali Paltan
At the beginning of the First World War (1914-1918), the Bengalis began to be recruited for the Indian Army. In the process, many non-combatant soldiers and skilled and unskilled laborers were also recruited from Bengal. Towards the middle of 1916, the British Government decided to create a regiment of Bengali soldiers and its first unit was called the Bengali Double Company or Bangali Paltan. These Double Companies, each consisting of 228 soldiers, were made part of the Indian Army. On 7 August 1916, Governor of Bengal Lord Carmichael announced the formation of these companies at the concluding session of the Legislative Council in Dhaka (Huq, 2021Huq, M. L. (2021). Bengali Paltan. National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.).
Why Kazi Nazrul Islam Joined the Anti-Ottoman War
The question is, why did the fiercest anti-British Kazi Nazrul Islam fight against Germany, i.e. Türkiye, for the Brits? One answer could be the high-profile propaganda campaign of the British government. Kazi Nazrul Islam’s friend Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay also went to be enlisted in the war. We can look at some words in his testimony. He wrote, “The effort to motivate the Bengali youth is going on continuously.” In his words, “…there are new posters in the town. Big posters of various colors are being pasted in the town’s alleys. How strange are the pictures, how strange are the postures, and how strange were their language! And how many strange words are being written!” Sailajananda also said: “Who says Bengalis are not warriors? Who says Bengalis are afraid? It is the duty of the nation to remove this disgrace, and only the youth of Bengal can do it. Jump for the lion’s share. Join Bangali Paltan! Damn it” (Mukhopadhyay, 1968:138Mukhopadhyay, S. (1968). আমার বন্ধু নজরুল [My Friend Nazrul]. Calcutta: Haraf Publications.).
Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay’s statements reveal that Kazi Nazrul Islam and he had signed up together in the newly formed 49th Bengali platoon. But, according to Sailajananda’s words, he became ‘unfit’ due to the ‘plot’ of his ‘wealthy next of kin’ meaning maternal grandfather, and ‘Nazrul went at first to Nowshera, then to Karachi.’ (Mukhopadhyay, 1968a:17Mukhopadhyay, S. (1968). আমার বন্ধু নজরুল [My Friend Nazrul]. Calcutta: Haraf Publications.). And a little later, Sailajananda wrote, “I know the story of Nazrul’s deepest pain in life. Mixed with that pain was the irrepressible love of adventure of youth. So, abandoning everything with a smile, he too jumped into this death sacrifice” (Mukhopadhyay, 1968b:153Mukhopadhyay, S. (1968). আমার বন্ধু নজরুল [My Friend Nazrul]. Calcutta: Haraf Publications.).
However, Sailajananda himself points out that the real reason for Nazrul Islam’s going to war lies elsewhere. Sailajananda wrote: “The English are at war with Germany. This is all we know at the time. None of us are happy with the English nor have the necessary devotion to the king. However, I asked Nazrul why we were going to fight for the English against its enemy Germany. Nazrul said, ‘Do you know that war is a science? I said, ‘I know!’ - ‘We will learn that science.’ I said, ‘They will push you towards death after enlistment.’ - ‘Doesn’t matter.’ -’ Then a shot from Germany, then finished’ - ‘Will die? That’s enough! Fighting and dying – great fun. I will die after killing.’ What a joy Nazrul had!” (Mukhopadhyay, 1968c:138Mukhopadhyay, S. (1968). আমার বন্ধু নজরুল [My Friend Nazrul]. Calcutta: Haraf Publications.). Later, Sailajananda informed us, “Nazrul will learn warfare and form a large army in India, then drive the English out of the country - he told me about his secret intention one day” (Mukhopadhyay, 1968d:139Mukhopadhyay, S. (1968). আমার বন্ধু নজরুল [My Friend Nazrul]. Calcutta: Haraf Publications.).
At that time, it should be noted that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was also touring Gujarat villages and towns, inviting the Indian public to join the British war. Gandhi became quite famous in India during this period. His Satyagraha at Bihar’s Champaran and Gujarat’s Khera spread his fame abroad. However, he was still not awarded the title of Mahatma. Gandhiji accepted it as part of his duty to recruit soldiers for the war on behalf of the British government. At first, he tried in Gujarat, then went to his workplace in Khera. Gandhiji wrote, “If I want soldiers, where else can I go without going to Khera? If I do not invite my own companions to be the first sepoys, then who will I invite?” (Gandhi, 1966:327-328Gandhi, M. K. (1966). An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth (S.C. Dasgupta, Trans.). Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House.).
Russian Revolution vs. Ataturk’s Revolution
Comrade Muzaffar Ahmad, one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India and a close friend of Kazi Nazrul Islam wrote, “The truth is that the October Revolution and the Red Army’s struggle in this Russia had resonated in Nazrul Islam’s mind. So he deliberately made Baluchistan the scene of his stories because the borders of the Soviet land can be reached very easily from Baluchistan” (Ahmad, 1973:164Ahmad, M. (1973). Kazi Nazrul Islam: A Memoir. Dhaka: Muktadhara.).
But a retrospective review of Nazrul’s literature indicates that he was more influenced by Kemal Atatürk’s post-World War I Republican Revolution than he had been by the Russian Revolution. If the extent of this influence is explored, Muzaffar Ahmad also will be found to have been mistaken. Muzaffar did not deny that Kazi Nazrul Islam to some extent had adopted the ideals of Mustafa Kemal alias Kamal Pasha, the hero of the Turkish Republican Revolution. But he clearly objected to why Nazrul Islam went to drag Anwar Pasha in the poem Kamal Pasha’ for no reason! For he knows that Anwar Pasha had little connection with the struggle for the restoration of Kemal Pasha’s Turkish state, not the empire (Ahmad, 1973:314Ahmad, M. (1973). Kazi Nazrul Islam: A Memoir. Dhaka: Muktadhara.).
Kazi Nazrul Islam referenced Anwar in the poem Kamal Pasha because of his political philosophy. He considered Kemal Pasha the successor of the Young Turk Revolution of 1907. That is why he wanted Kemal Pasha and Anwar Pasha to work together for the sake of the Ummah. In this case, he is found to be favoring the assimilation of Kemal Pasha’s nationalism within the cosmopolitanism of the Ummah. This perception will become clearer in the analysis below.
Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Political Objective Behind Joining the War
There are intense disagreements over Kazi Nazrul Islam’s political philosophy regarding nationalism and patriotism. Sushil Kumar Gupta’s dispute with Muzaffar Ahmed is a special example of this connection. There are more points of contention too. In 1966, Abdul Qadir, the editor of Nazrul Rachnabali Poet (Works of Kazi Nazrul Islam) delivered some glimpses of this diversity:
“Different people have tried to ascertain the nature of Nazrul’s patriotism in different ways. He wanted the total liberation of the country and the nation from political subjugation plus economic independence. He also directed his way. Some people thought his way of those days as terrorism - because he called upon the youth to open fire by using the example of Khudiram’s self-sacrifice; some thought it as Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Dash’s regularism – because he penned ‘Chittanama’; Some thought it pan-Islamism – because he sang hymns of praise for Anwar Pasha; Others thought it as Mahatma Gandhi’s Spinning Wheel Theory - because he entertained Gandhiji by singing his Spinning Wheel Song” (Qadir, 1966:5Qadir, A. (1966). Editor’s Note Compositions of Nazrul: Volume 1. Page-5, Dhaka: Central Bangla Development Board.).
None of these varied paths was his way. Abdul Qadir said, “But if you look a little deeper, you will understand that none of these ideas help to reveal the full nature of the truth.” He added, ‘In fact, Nazrul was a Kemalist during the first period of his literary life. He thought that the path of the Orderly Struggle of Kemal Atatürk was the most appropriate way to regain his country’s independence (Qadir, 1966:5-10Qadir, A. (1966). Editor’s Note Compositions of Nazrul: Volume 1. Page-5, Dhaka: Central Bangla Development Board.).
In this case, the word ‘Kemalist’ may be questioned. Was Mustafa Kemal a trailblazer of anything? After the end of the First World War in Europe, Mustafa Kemal’s number one achievement was to separate and protect the homeland of the Turkish nation from the rubble of the defeated Ottoman Empire. He defeated the Greek forces invading the Turkish homeland in frontal battles. Behind the Greek forces was the British Empire. Therefore, this victory of the New Türkiye was hailed as the only victory in the post-war world against European colonialism. A prominent writer in Bangladesh put it this way: “When the pleas, cries, indignation, shouts and exultations of the Muslim world, especially of the Indian Muslims, were engaged in entertaining the assemblies of the world’s powerful with a mocking face, then one day in the thundering hand of Kemal there arose a perfectly sharpened sword in a corner of his native land. The curtain fell on the comforts and amusements of the mighty, and the Muslim world began to float aimlessly in a flood of wonder, admiration, and praise. The lively enthusiasm of our young poet that day was: ‘Kamal Tu Ne Kamal Kiya Bhai’ (Kamal, you have achieved unbelievable success, brother!) That was the innermost thing in all our hearts that day” (Odud, 1988:5-10Odud, K. A. (1988). The Works of Kazi Abdul Odud, Volume 1. Dhaka: Bangla Academy.).
During the August and September of 1921, the National Liberation Army, under the leadership of the New Turkish Government, succeeded in defeating and driving the occupying Greek forces away. As far as it is known, Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Kamal Pasha was composed during the same period. At that time, this poem was sung to tune in the joyous procession taken out in Calcutta to mark the victory of the New Türkiye. Nationalist historiography in Bangladesh and West Bengal portrayed Kazi Nazrul Islam as a non-conformist. Though he might have shared elements of this tendency on his part, his actions suggest that he placed his faith in Ottomanism, which was inherently Islamic in spirit. Moreover, his other hero Anwar Pasha also believed in Ottomanism. To properly understand Kazi Nazrul Islam’s actual position over two Western ideas like Nationalism and Patriotism, his views on the Mughal Empire and Panislamism must be comprehended within their proper contexts.
Kazi Nazrul Islam on The Mughal Empire
A popular hymn of Kazi Nazrul Islam, published in 1933, laments for the Mughal Empire thus: “O ye bro, the Agra and the Delhi, Still are there but no king. No Kohinoor, no Peacock Throne, No world conqueror army is anymore” (Islam, 1933Islam, K. N. (1933). Laments for the Mughal Empire.). His regret over the non-existence of the Mughal Empire is expressed thus: “We don’t know, nobody knows, How many waves to count sitting on the shore, How much we have witnessed, also to bear witness to So many Cruel Sports of the Destiny” (Islam, 1933Islam, K. N. (1933). Laments for the Mughal Empire.). This hymn begins with these words: “Ganges-Indus-Narmada-Kaveri-Yamuna are there, Still flowing out as before, Where are the people of previous genre there?” (Islam, 1933Islam, K. N. (1933). Laments for the Mughal Empire.)
The quotes above clearly show that Kazi Nazrul Islam considered the erstwhile Mughal Empire as a single economic, military and cultural power which was culturally Muslim. On the other hand, the India of 1947 was not formed as a successor state of the former Mughal Empire. Rather, it became a successor state of the British-Indian Empire. It’s based on Hindu identity politics, which is why Hindu Nationalism has grown stronger during the past decades. Pakistan, which was formed after the breakup of the British-Indian Empire, also failed to become the cultural successor of the erstwhile Mughal Empire because of being ruled by the elites of the colonial era. However, there is state recognition and popular support for the Mughal legacies in Pakistan.
Kazi Nazrul Islam and Pan-Islamism
Roughly by 1931, Türkiye, Iran, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq and Saudi Arabia turned into nation-states. By welcoming the developments of this era, Kazi Nazrul Islam wrote: “Look at the huge rally at the Eidgah of Martyrs today. Islamic Orders would be passed once again around the world. Turan, Iran, Hejaz, Egypt, Hind [India], Morocco, Iraq, Standing hand in hand at the same row” (Islam, 1931Islam, K. N. (1931). The gathering is heavy today at Shahidi Eidgah.).
Three points emerge from the quote: 1. The poet accepted the emergence of nation-states, which some may find seemingly at odds with his overt supportive position for the former Mughal Empire and the Ottoman Empire. 2. The poet wished the newly formed Muslim nation-states would maintain a singular position in world politics. 3. The poet expressed hope that those Muslim nation-states would set the promulgation of Islamic Laws worldwide as their national objective.
The third point shows Kazi Nazrul Islam as ideologically nearer to Anwar Pasha. In the second stanza of the same lyric, the poet went on saying: “There were faint ones with fear and regret, You too join this congregation, forget worldliness. Today, those who were in prison are alive. Today, the Brave Heart runs to the field with the sword in hand. Today, the Fate has changed; the Echo of Takbir has risen” (Islam, 1931Islam, K. N. (1931). The gathering is heavy today at Shahidi Eidgah.). With these words, the poet penned his dream of avenging the military defeats of the Muslim world in the First World War. That is, Kazi Nazrul Islam ideologically was out-and-out a Pan-Islamist. But at the same time, he endorsed the republican nationalism of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He expected Atatürk would not compromise Islam’s Ottoman philosophical and cultural legacies.
It is evident in this lyric: “The Red Torch of the Religion of Islam has been rekindled from side to side. O ye, the unaware one! You also wake up, light your life-lamp too. The Red Crown of Türkiye has waken up with Gazi Mustafa Kemal, Iran, the desolate country, has waken up today with Reza Pahlavi. Forgetting the slavery, the soulfoul Egyptians have waken up with Jaglul” (Islam, 1931aIslam, K. N. (1931). The gathering is heavy today at Shahidi Eidgah.). Needless to say that Gazi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Iran’s Reza Pahlavi and Egypt’s Saad Jaglul Pasha were out-and-out nationalists, and Kazi Nazrul Islam, who simultaneously endorsed pan-Islamic ideas, regarded them as his heroes.
Was it a contradiction, or was there any hidden reason in depth? The reason is revealed in the last stanza of this lyric: “Faisal is waking Up in the Great Iraq, waking up as the New Haroon-al-Rashid, Look at the Bayt al-Muqaddas waking up, waking up out of broken sleep. The 10 crore unwary Muslims of the Hind (India) alone remain unawakened” (Islam, 1931aIslam, K. N. (1931). The gathering is heavy today at Shahidi Eidgah.). The next stanza more candidly describes the condition of the Muslims in the then Colonised Hind: “We only sleep like the Ashāb al-Kahf (Sleepers of Ephesus) for thousands of years, Once upon a time someone of us was a king, we do boast of that. If we do wake up, the world will tremble once again” (Islam, 1931aIslam, K. N. (1931). The gathering is heavy today at Shahidi Eidgah.).
There are two points worth noting here: 1. Kazi Nazrul Islam wanted to awaken the 10 crore Muslims of the Hind. His country was Hind (erstwhile Mughal Empire), and in his view, the Muslims of latter-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh together conformed to a single political community. 2. He used to cite examples of politically successful Muslim leaders to awaken the Muslims of the Colonized Hind, and in doing so, he bypassed controversies over their position on the application of the Shariah. It is evident here that Kazi Nazrul Islam gradually began to plant the seeds of nationalism in the meadow of his own Ummah consciousness out of an extreme urge to oust the British colonialists from the Hind (erstwhile Mughal Empire). In this context, if Kazi Nazrul Islam’s understanding of ‘Islam’ isn’t considered, his ideas and vision of Pan-Islamism may be misconstrued. We, therefore, have to turn towards a brief elaboration of Islam as understood by Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Islam and Kazi Nazrul Islam
It’s worth noting that in the view of Kazi Nazrul Islam, the True Vitality of Islam was mass power, democracy, universal brotherhood and egalitarianism. He saw Mustafa Kemal Atatürk not only as the national hero of the Pure New Türkiye but also as the ‘new founder of the true vitality of Islam’ or reformer. When Atatürk disbanded the caliphate in the name of the Turkish Republic, Kazi Nazrul Islam asked in a letter to Ibrahim Khan, “Is the superstition and false garbage that has been piled up in the name of Islam - is not calling it Islam a campaign against Islam” (Khan, 1967Khan, I. (1967). Bangla Academy. Batayan, Dhaka.)?
In this awakening song, Kazi Nazrul Islam’s detailed understanding of Islam is concretely manifested: “We are that nation who become the martyrs in the path of religion. We have let the world know that we brought equality and fraternity. We’ve become that nation. Those who brought out for the thirsty earth scorched by the sins, Brought out of the hot bosom of the desert the cool fountain of peace, Broke the difference between the high and the low by letting everyone get chest, We’ve become that nation. We’ve first endowed freedom to the women. We have smashed the man-made walls and given them the same form. We have brought down the veil of dark night and brought out the light of hope. We’ve become that nation. Islam hasn’t come for the Muslims alone. The one, who seeks the Truth and obeys Allah, is a Muslim by name. No difference between the Amir and the Faqir, all brothers are the same partners. We’ve become that nation” (Islam, 1933bIslam, K. N. (1933). Laments for the Mughal Empire.).
Here the poet candidly elaborated his issues, viz, the universal equality of humankind, economic classlessness, women’s rights and democracy. He had found all these factors in Atatürk’s programs of revolutionary reform.
