Strange are the ways of the government departments. This is a stamp issued to honour the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist Asraar ul Haq Majaaz with a mosque in the background. He was honoured, but did anybody in the Postal department know anything about the great rebel and poet. Majaaz was romantic and agnostic and had nothing to do with a mosque. For our pseudo seculars Urdu = Muslims = mosques. This approach is not only unfair to the Tamil, Malayali, Telugu, Konkani, Gujarati, Bengali and Muslims who speak other languages but also takes the credit away from the Hindu and Sikh writers who have chosen to write in Urdu. Prem Chand, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Upendra Nath Ashk, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Krishan Chander, and large number of Hindus who are fond of Urdu literature, fall in this category.

Let us view what the opinion of the well informed and knowleable people was about the great Majaaz.
Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the preface to Majaz's Aahang said- Majaz never beat the drums of revolution, he hummed revolutions!.

Asar Lucknawi said- A Keats was born in Urdu poetry too, but he was devoured by the conservative wolves.

Sahir Ludhianvi wrote- Majaz had gone insane twice, he is drunk all the time and wanders aimlessly. Majaz responded-
Kuch To Hain Mohabbat Mein Junoon Ka Asar
Aur Kuch Log Bhi Deewana Bana Dete Hain!
Majaz rebelled against the customs and traditions and wrote-
Yeh Majboori Si Majboori, Yeh Laachari Si Laachari
Ki Uske Geet Bhi Jee Kholkar Main Gaa Na Saka
Hade Woh Kheech Rakhi Hain, Haram Ke Pasbaanone
Ki Bin Mujrim Bane Paigaam Bhi Pahuncha Na Saka
He sounds like Kabir in the following lines baring the Hindus and the Muslims in the same breath.-
Masjidon main maulvi khutbe sunate hi rahe,
Mandiron mein barhaman ashlok gatey hi rahey
Ik na ik dar par jabeen-i-shouq ghisti hi rahi
Aadamiyat zulm ki chakki mein pisti hi rahi
Rahbari jaari rahi, paighambari jaari rahi
Deen ke parde mein jang-i-zargari jaari rahi.
(The mullah and the pundit keep sermonizing. People keep bowing at their door.They claim to show the way and the great messiahs came claim divinity.Their religions plunder turn by turn.)
He dared the politicians by saying-
Bakhshi hain humko ishq ne wo jurratein Majaaz
Dartey nahi siysat-i-ahl-i-jahaan se hum.
He claimed to have received this strength from love. He deserved every bit of the honour bestowed on him but people in power should know who they are dealing with.