Kahaan chalay Mehar!
Itna dukh de jaoge kya
[In this sad night of darkness
For where did you put on your harness
Will you now stand by no longer
Will you leave us with so much distress]
Fahmida Riaz,
Nauha Major Ishaq ke Intiqal Par [Dirge On the Death of Major Ishaq]
Major Ishaq Muhammad was born on April 4, 1921, a hundred years ago today, in a village, Akhara, located 16-17 miles from Jalandhar. As I write this piece remembering the revolutionary founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Party, the ongoing farmers’ protests in neighbouring India have entered their seventh month. And various peasant organisations in Pakistan are planning a ‘tractor march’ to the federal and Punjab capitals if their demands for the support price of wheat, reduced power tariffs for tube-wells and fertiliser rates are not accepted. Later this month, April 17 will also mark the International Day of Peasant Struggle.