Who is 'Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega' poet Aamir Aziz?

"Toh Tum Zameen Pe Zulm Likh Do,

Asmaan Pe Inquilab Likha Jayega,

Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega, Sab Kuch Yad Rakha Jayega"

Protests gripped the society and dissent raised its voice in the last few months as India witnessed its divided citizens forming boundaries and drawing perimeters. The bone of contention mainly being the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the NRC.

In such a scenario, entered Aamir Aziz. The bearded young poet penned down 'Saab Yaad Rakha Jayega', and it has ever since captured the imagination of the nation, with protesters clinging to the lyrics to vent their pent-up emotions. Even, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters recited the translated version of Aziz's poem while demanding for the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The identity of Aziz was relatively obscure until some months ago. But since 'Saab Yaad Rakha Jayega', his stage has changed, and the limelight has got bigger and brighter, erasing the obscurity.

Born in Patna and educated in Delhi, Aziz was leading the corporate life as a civil engineer before he decided to quit his plush job and pursue his dream in theatre and films. Theatre has been a part of his life ever since his college days while his film journey has just begun with him foraying into Netflix with a tiny role in the film 'Music Teacher'.

His stay in Delhi from 2006 introduced him to the works of Habib Tanvir and Badal Sarkar, and he started to become politically engaged. In an interview with Film Companion, he revealed the influence of Bihar in his art. "Bihar can be called the best feudal metaphor in India. Living there, you see everything, but you don’t have the language to understand and make sense of it. As soon as you get that language, your expression gets a direction," he said in the interview.

Aamir's first claim to fame came about a year ago. His track 'Achhe Din Blues', released in March 2019, is an attempt to capture the current political scenario and social condition of India, with the name pointing towards the 'Achhe Din' idea propagated by PM Narendra Modi and his party, BJP. The video has garnered 267,274 views since its inception, giving a glimpse of Aamir's future discourses.

His next, 'The Ballad of Pehlu Khan' was released on YouTube in April 2019. Inspired by Bob Dylan's 'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll', Aamir's ballad deals with the mob lynching of Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Nuh district of Haryana. He was allegedly beaten to death by cow vigilantes in Alwar (Rajasthan). The perpetrators alleged that he was illegally transporting cows and hence faced the public ire. It described the state of the judiciary, it portrayed the condition of a society marred by religious and caste divisions, where the threat of hatred looms large.

'Saab Yaad Rakha Jayega' is aiming for immortality, so is Aamir Aziz who wants to fight his war against atrocities and injustices with a pen and guitar. For now, the firebrand, who wants to carve insaaf in the sky, will oscillate between applause and condemnation.