A couple weeks ago, a Desi comrade drew my attention to this amazing protest song, dating back to the anticolonial struggle against the British and written by the Hindi/Urdu lyricist Shailendra. I’m putting this together to make it accessible to a wider English-speaking audience, Desi or not.
There are different versions of the lyrics and translations in various places. I’m sharing heavily from this excellent blogpost, and some material from this one as well. My selection of the lyrics match this wonderful video of the song, featuring Umar Khalid and Anirban, Indian activists who have faced state persecution themselves.