(This video was originally published on 27 December 2019 and has been republished from The Quint’s archives to mark two years of the Citizenship Amendment Act law being passed.)
Across India, citizens rose in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. And they sang poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s iconic song Hum Dekhenge, in hope and defiance.
While the poem was famous, it became iconic after 1986 when it became a universal anthem of protest after ghazal singer Iqbal Bano's renderings were smuggled from Pakistan.
Here then is a fresh look at protests across the country, with the tune of Hum Dekhenge in the backdrop. Here is the translation:
We shall witness
Inevitably, we shall witness
the day that has been promised
that has been etched on the pages of eternity
When mountains of tyranny
shall be blown away like cotton
when beneath our worn feet
the earth's heart shall beat
And upon the heads of our tormentors
lightning shall crackle and crash
Only His name will remain
He, who is both invisible and ever-present
who is both the spectacle and the beholder
And the clarion call 'I Am the Truth' shall ring
The truth that is I and that is You
And all of God's creatures shall rule
Those who are I, and those who are you.
We shall witness, Oh We Shall witness
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