Anand Narain Mulla: The Fearless Judge, Urdu Poet, and Humanist India Must Remember

Anand Narain Mulla stands as a beacon of secular humanity, poetic brilliance, and personal courage whose story remains only half-written in the hearts of many Indians. His life journey, marked by struggle, idealism, and empathy, takes us from the vibrant alleys of Lucknow to the chambers of justice and the soulful gatherings of poets. This article seeks to unveil the living pulse of Mulla’s world, his silent sacrifices, audacious reform, and the verses born amid resilience and rebellion.

Childhood: The Silent Beginnings

Born in Lucknow in October 1901, Anand Narain Mulla emerged from a family steeped in law, intellect, and progressive values. His father, Pandit Jagat Narain Mulla, a prominent lawyer and academic, sowed the seeds of passion and uprightness within young Anand, who would witness debates on justice and ethics at his dinner table, silently absorbing lessons that would later echo in courtrooms and poetry.

Amid social upheaval, communal tensions, and the thick texture of Lucknow’s Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, Anand’s mind wandered between study and wonder. Anecdotes recall his fascination with Urdu, a language not native to his family. Still, he embraced so wholeheartedly that he would later famously say, “Urdu is my mother tongue! I can give up my religion but not my mother tongue”.

This love for Urdu, despite being a Kashmiri Pandit, set him apart and led to both isolation among purists and kinship among progressive minds. In school, teachers often saw Anand scribbling lines of poetry in the corners of his notebooks, not always paying attention to rules but always attentive to inspiration, a sign, perhaps, of the quiet rebellion that would mould his future struggles and gifts.

Law, Loss, and the Making of a Crusader

Choosing law meant following his father’s footsteps and shouldering silent expectations and the weight of a family legacy. The path was turbulent: economic hardships, social prejudice due to his unique religious position in Urdu circles, and the pressure to excel shadowed his college days.

Yet, during this period, Anand faced one of his first heartbreaks, the passing of a loved mentor, which he would later immortalise in a haunting couplet about life’s relentless flow. Strikingly, as a young lawyer defending the poor in Lucknow’s lower courts, he sometimes accepted nothing but a bowl of dal and dry roti as a fee, believing that justice belonged to all, not just the wealthy, a fact whispered amongst Lucknow’s old legal fraternities.

These lean years brought Mulla closer to the common person’s pain, weaving empathy into his legal mind and poetic soul. His kind yet firm handling of prisoners’ appeals would become legendary, sowing the seeds of his future advocacy for prison reform.

The Judge Who Spoke Out

When Anand Narain Mulla became a judge of the Allahabad High Court in the 1950s, he gained a reputation for being fierce and fair, an unusual combination in an era shadowed by authority. But the most electrifying moment of his judicial career came when, in a landmark judgment, he declared, “There is not a single lawless group in the whole of the country whose record of crime comes anywhere near the record of that single organised unit which is known as the Indian Police Force.

The police force in Uttar Pradesh is an organised gang of criminals”. These words thundered through the corridors of power and, while making him enemies, earned him undying respect among civil liberty activists. Yet, few know the pressure and threats that followed. Family members recall sleepless nights and anonymous warnings.

At the same time, Mulla, in his own words, found solace in penning ghazals in the faint lamp light, often hiding fear beneath the cadence of poetry. His poetry offered relief: lines that challenged religious orthodoxy, political injustice, and personal anguish, verses that made him a quiet torchbearer for every underdog.

Poetry: The Song of Longing and Hope

For Anand Narain Mulla, poetry was more than an art; it was a rebellion, a solace, and sometimes, his only friend. His first collection, “Ju-yi Shir,” arrived after years of obscurity, jolting the Urdu literary circles with a tender yet defiant voice nurtured by both heartbreak and aspiration.

He famously incorporated his struggles into couplets, one narrates how, as a young poet, his own verses were stolen and recited by a rival at a mushaira, leaving him humiliated but determined. Years later, when he finally gained recognition with the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964 for Meri Hadis-e-Umr-e-Gurezan, Mulla confessed to friends that the award was both a badge of triumph and a painful reminder of countless rejections.

Never shy of controversy, his poetry mocked societal hypocrisy and religious orthodoxy, often drawing ire from traditionalists and applause from reformists. He penned lines that comforted others in times of personal grief or after losing a legal case, even when his heart bled quietly.

Legacy: Beyond the Glass Cabinet

Even after serving as a Member of Parliament and chairing the Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu, Anand Narain Mulla remained a champion of human rights. The most unheard stories of his old age are told by inmates of Indian prisons, where he advocated for prison libraries, believing that every prisoner could be reformed through books, not just punishment.

As an elderly reformer, he personally funded books for some of the poorest wards, an act remembered by old jailers and social workers but rarely mentioned in awards ceremonies. Mulla’s sharp wit and playful banter brought life to literary gatherings even in his nineties. He often joked about his name being misunderstood as “mullah,” reminding all that true wisdom lies in transcending labels.

His struggle to harmonise the worlds of law and literature, tradition and progress, inspires generations. In every Judge’s chamber, every poet’s diary, and every heart that seeks justice and beauty, Mulla’s saga quietly endures, a unique testament to an India that promises hope through empathy and fearless honesty.

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