An epoch-making poet – enjoying undying popularity among the young Bangladeshis because of his youthful utterances that captivated generations of poetry-lovers – Poet Helal Hafiz (1948-2024) left us for eternity on December 13, 2024.He was most notably the creator of those immortal lines ‘‘Now is the best time to join procession for those who are young/ Now is the best time to go to war for those who are in their youth”. These memorable lines ultimately became a property of the people over many decades in their struggles, revolts and protests. His first book of poetry titled ‘Je Jale Agun Jaley’ (the water where the fire burns) was published in 1986, andthe quoted two lines came from the poem ‘Forbidden Editorial’ included in that book.
Theselineshave continued to circulate among the masses for many years. But howthis poem come into being and then spread to all corners of the countrywas quite interesting! Another poet Hasan Hafiz had interviewed the poet Helal Hafiz for delving into this, and what emerged is narrated below. Knowledge about the background to this poem is important, as its first two lines have inspired the people of this country during many political movements and upheavals, including the mass-upsurges of 1969 and 2024as well as numerous progressive movements of the country.
So, how did this poem come into being?
When asked this question, Poet Helal Hafiz went back to those days of upheaval and unrestin the year 1969. “Those who have not seen it cannot be made to realize how all-devouring and overpowering the mass-upsurge of sixty-nine was. One evening during that movement, I was returning to Iqbal Hall (now Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall) from Old Dhaka. I was then studying in second-year Bangla (Hons.). My rickshaw stopped at Fulbariain Gulistan area. Numerous processions were then moving aroundat thatspot. The EPR (now BGB) and the police were beating and chasing the protestors. Brickbats were also being thrown at them from the processions. Meanwhile, an elderly rickshaw-driver shouted, “Hit them, hit the bastards. Sometimes even murders can be committed for love”. It seemed, the rickshaw-drivers sometimes used English words as well. But those words got implanted in my brain and mind. They were really so amazing!Even murders could be committed out of patriotism! The poem was born from that episode”.
The poet was then asked: “What happened then? How did the poem become a property of the masses”?
The poet replied: “The writers Ahmad Safa and Humayun Kabir took me to the literary editor of the then ‘Dainik Pakistan’ Poet Ahsan Habib. Handing over the poem to Habib bhai, they introduced me, “Habib bhai, he is one of our young poets;studies in the Bangla department of Dhaka university. Ahsan Habib read the poem;he then looked at me. He appeared surprised, as I was quite young then. After reading once, Habib bhai read it again – twice. He later told Safa bhai, ‘I cannot publish this poem in Dainik Pakistan. It is a government-owned newspaper. And the write-up is against the government. A call has been made for armed struggle through this poem. If it is published, then not only will I be sacked, the daily will also be closed down; many other things may also happen. Therefore, I cannot publish this poem. But after writing this poem, it will be okay even if Helal does not write anymore poems’.”
The subsequent event was even more interesting. When Ahsan Habib could not publish the poem, then one night Ahmad Safa and Humayun Kabir published the first two lines of the poem through wall-writings on the Dhaka University campus. The university did not have so many buildings then. It mainly comprised of the Arts Faculty Building and the Curzon Hall. In a matter of two nights, these lines got engraved on numerous walls of Dhaka University campus, with a super-hit slogan: ‘Now is the best time to join procession for those who are young/ Now is the best time to go to war for those who are in their youth’.
These lines had also circulated from one mouth to another during the liberation war. After independence, those associated with left politics – especially the groups led by Comrades Abdul Haque, Mohammad Toaha and Siraj Sikdar started to use the poem on a massive scale. The poem also brought fame for the poet overnight. It even changed his lifestyle and way of living in subsequent days.
Helal Hafiz also shed light on how the poem changed his life. He recalled, “The boys and girls pointed fingers at me whenever they saw me on the roads and corridors of Dhaka University, and they shouted, ‘There goes the poet – Helal Hafiz’. Many times, they used to yell without naming me: ‘Now is the best time to go to war for those who are in their youth’. In short, I was getting extra attention wherever I went. There was even competition centring on who would host me for lunch at noon. I did not have to pay any bill.”
After the publication of the first two lines of the poem through wall-writings, the poem titled ‘Forbidden Editorial’ (Nishiddho Sampadokiyo) was published in a little magazine that was published on the occasion of Ekushey February. The poem was translated into many languages including English, Hindi, German, and French. Many people recited it. Even three songs based on it were sung, but the tunes were not to the poet’s liking, as the poem was slogan-oriented.
Helal Hafiz was basically a pacifist and harboured an anti-war philosophy. But it was ironic that such a poem had come out of his pen. The poet who was the creator of those luminous lines can never become old or get erased from the minds of men. He had firm belief that as long as injustices and repressions remain in society, some brave people will try to stand up and fight back by articulating the slogan of his poem.
The following is an English rendering of that famous poem, translated from Bangla by the present-writer:
Forbidden Editorial
Helal Hafiz
Now is the best time to join procession for those who are young
Now is the best time to go to war for those who are in their youth.
All hands, voices, feet of a procession are not the same –
The family-man andthe mendicant are present there,
Some arrive to set up family on the roads
Others come to burn or torment the family.
Those who favour eternal peace also join the war
Some however come due to deep bondage of being,
Some also become war-mongers
For the cherishedlure of golden coins.
In some love-affairs the lovers become murderers,
If any of you want to become a killer forthe sake of love
Please do that,
Good times are surely passing by these days.
Now is the best time to join procession for those who are young
Now is the best time to go to war for those who are in their youth.
Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly. hahmed1960@gmail.com