The need for Muslimist poetry

Long before I was born

My name was listed among traitors

History depicted

Son as stepson,

Divided brother from brother

And left me alone…

These lines from Khadar Mohiuddin’s ‘Birthmark’ (‘Puttumachcha’ in Telugu) reflect the state of Muslims in India. He along with other Muslim poets who write in Telugu like Shahjehana, Yakoob and Khaja shared the dais at the Hyderabad Literary Festival on Monday to speak about Muslimist poetry in Telugu in a panel discussion moderated by Naren Bedide.

The poets have been writing on various subjects like life on Muslim women, the identity crisis, lives of the poor and lower castes, and the oppression of Muslims in general. Yakoob read a poem, ‘Awwal Kaleema’, from his collection of poems titled ‘Sarihaddu Rekha’. He spoke about the need for the writers to stand up against the oppression of the lower castes among Muslims.

Shahjehana spoke about the need for feministic thoughts among Muslims and on the need to fight against the parda system.She read a few lines from her poem ‘Laddafni’, which details the struggles of a Muslim girl born in a lower caste.Young poet Khaja created a flutter by calling the Republic Day a black day. He resented US President Barack Obama being the chief guest at the parade in Delhi and said that the president was “an oppressor of Muslims”.