sab ThaTh paDa rah jawega jab lad chalega banjara
All your splendor will lie useless, when the nomad packs-up and leaves
I have often used these words by Miyan Nazeer as he is known locally – Nazeer Akbarabadi or people’s poet for the rest of us.
Maybe he was prophetic for today his grave lies forsaken, dirty and uncared for in Agra’s Malko pur.
The tin shed over it was leaking the floor was covered in mud and goat droppings.
And if this is how we look after the relics of someone like Miyan Nazeer who spoke to people across class, caste and faith then I don’t think we deserved him.
A local resident told me that when there were riots in Agra pre partition, the Basant Utsav was organised on this spot as he stood for communal harmony. That continues to date and is probably the only time that his grave is cleaned and spruced up.
It falls under Agra Nagar Nigam.
My 2021 trip to Agra with Sarthak Malhotra was to visit the grave of Nazeer Akbarabadi and recite a fatiha for someone who has given so much joy to so many over the years.
And I’ve come back dejected and heartbroken.
As everywhere else it seems land is only a commodity and the sharks wait to bite into it.
someone/ some entity steps in to adopt it.
Rescue Miyan Nazeer from this ignominy.
