Progressive Writers' Movement

The Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind or Progressive Writers' Movement (Urdu: ترقی پسند مصنفین تحریک, Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगतिशील लेखक संघ) was a progressive literary movement in the pre-partition British India, consisting of a few different writers groups around the world.

The groups were anti-imperialistic and left-oriented, and sought to inspire people through their writings advocating equality and attacking social injustice and backwardness.

According to The Dawn, "Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu literature was the strongest movement after Sir Syed's education movement. The progressives contributed to Urdu literature some of the finest pieces of fiction and poetry. Undoubtedly, they were the trend-setters for the coming generation of writers, and their role cannot be denigrated or denied."

• The Indian Progressive Writers' Movement and Association first began after the publication of Angare (Burning Coals), a collection of short stories by Ahmed Ali, Sajjad Zaheer, Rashid Jehan and Mahmuduz Zafar in 1932 and its postcription by the British U. P. Government in 1933. A League of Progressive Authors, was first announced by Ahmed Ali and Mamuduz Zafar in The Leader of Allahabad dated April 5, 1933, which later expanded and became the Indian Progressive Writers' Association.
• The Indian Progressive Writers' Association was set up in London in 1935.
• The Progressive Writers' Association was set up in Kolkata in July 1936.
• The All India Writers' Association was set up in Lucknow on 10 April 1936 under the leadership of Syed Sajjad Zahir and Ahmed Ali.
• The All Pakistan Progressive Writers Association was set up in Pakistan in December 1947.

Writers

Among the prominent members of the movement have been:

• Sajjad Zaheer
• Professor Ahmed Ali
• Mahmuduzzafar
• Rashid Jahan
• Sadat Hassan Manto
• Sibt-e-Hassan
• Ali Jawad Zaidi
• Prof. Zoe Ansari
• Dr M. D. Taseer
• Faiz Ahmed Faiz
• Vijaydan Detha
• Khagendra Thakur
• Bhisham Sahni
• Dr Nusrat Jehan
• Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi
• Ahmed Faraz
• Habib Jalib
• Gul Khan Nasir
• Kaifi Azmi
• Krishan Chander
• Ismat Chughtai
• Rajinder Singh Bedi
• Habib Tanvir
• Prem Nath Dar
• Ali Sardar Jafri
• Josh Malihabadi
• Jan Nisar Akhtar
• Majrooh Sultanpuri
• Ghulam Rabbani Tabban
• Makhdoom Mohiuddin
• Munshi Premchand
• Majnun Gorakhpuri
• Firaq Gorakhpuri
• Amrita Pritam
• Majaz Lucknawi
• Sahir Ludhianvi
• Sulaiman Areeb
• Raja Zulqarnain
• Zafar Mairaj

See also

• Pak Tea House
• Communist Party of India
• Communist Party of Pakistan

Further reading

• Ali, Ahmed, The Prison House: Collection of Short Stories, Akrash Publishing, Karachi, 1985, see Afterword
• Ali Husain Mir & Raza Mir, Anthems Of Resistance. Roli Books, 2011. ISBN 8186939261.
• Progressive Movement and Urdu Poetry, by Ali Sardar Jafri
• Sajjad Zaheer and Progressive Writers’ Movement
• Zeno (1994). "Professor Ahmed Ali and the Progressive Writers’ Movement" (PDF). Annual of Urdu Studies (University of Wisconsin—Madison) 9: 39–43. ISSN 0734-5348. http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/09/10ZenoProfessor.pdf. 

• Zeno (Safdar Mir), Cultural Notes: A Writer Committed to Progressivism (Ahmed Ali), Dawn, Karachi, 13 June 1986, p.iv.

• Mahmud, Shabana (May 1996). "Angāre and the Founding of the Progressive Writers' Association". Modern Asian Studies 30 (2): 39–43. doi:10.1017/S0026749X0001653X. http://www.scribd.com/doc/16085320/Angre-and-the-Founding-of-the-Progressive-Writers-Association. 

• Malik, Hafeez (August 1967). "The Marxist Literary Movement in India and Pakistan". The Journal of Asian Studies (The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 26, No. 4) 26 (4): 649–664. doi:10.2307/2051241. JSTOR 2051241. http://www.scribd.com/doc/16085221/The-Marxist-Literary-Movement-in-India-and-Pakistan. 

• Mir, Ali Husain; Mir, Raza (2006). Anthems of Resistance: A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry. RST IndiaInk. ISBN 81-86939-26-1. 

• Zaheer, Sajjad (2006). The Light: The History of the Movement for Progressive Literature in the Indo-Pakistan Sub Continent. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-547155-5. 

• Ali, Ahmed (1974). "The Progressive Writers Movement and Creative Writers in Urdu". In Carlo Coppola. Marxist Influences and South Asian Literature. East Lansing: Michigan State University. pp. 36. ISBN 81-7001-011-X. 

• The Journal of Indian Writing in English, A Tribute to Ahmed Ali, Editor, G.S. Balarama Gupta, Vol. 23, January-July 1995, Nos. 1-2.

• Ali, Orooj Ahmed, Sajjad Zaheer, Dawn-Letters, January 15, 2006.

• Alvi, Dr. Khalid. Angare Ka Tarikhi Pusmanzar aur Tarraqi Pasand Tahrik, (Historical Perspective of Angare and The Progressive Writers' Movement), Educational Publishing House, Kucha Pandit, Delhi 1995.