Social Radicalism in Urdu Literature

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History and literature both endeavour to reflect the truth in different ways and assist in a better understanding of society. The spread of new and radical ideas at the beginning of the twentieth century was the outcome of economic depression between First and Second World War, resurgence of widespread nationalism and impact of Marxism, etc. In India, the progressive trend started in 1932, when the young writers like Sajjad Zaheer, Rashid Jahan, Ahmad Ali and Mehmuduzzafar dissatisfied with mild reforms and the moribund state of Urdu literature brought out an electrifying anthology of ten stories titled Angare. The publication openly ridiculed outmoded religious and traditional attitudes especially towards women and led to the formation of Progressive Writers Association (PWA) in 1936 in Lucknow. PWA influenced poets and writers alike and acquired support and sympathy from Iqbal, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru.