Writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner Rahman Abbas recently said that the Congress should apologise for jailing Urdu poet and Bollywood lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri for a year for criticising the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a poem. The Akademi had organised a two-day event in New Delhi to celebrate Majrooh’s birth centenary. Rahman Abbas made this demand at the event during a panel discussion.
In 1962, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru initiated a crackdown on communist sympathisers, among whom was Majrooh. He was arrested at a mushaira event.