Bashir Badr composed his first couplet at the age of seven. 6 min read May 30, 2026 07:00 PM IST First published on: May 30, 2026 at 07:00 PM IST In the summer of 1972, just months after the Indo-Pak war redrew the map of South Asia, leading to the creation of Bangladesh, Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto met in Shimla in an attempt to negotiate an uncertain future. Sometime during the talks, Bhutto recited a couplet by Bashir Badr, a poet who was also a professor at Meerut College then. Bhutto said, “ Dushmani jamkar karo lekin ye gunjaish rahe / Jab kabhi hum dost ho jaayen toh sharminda na ho (Practice your enmity fiercely, but leave this much space: If we ever become friends again, let us not feel ashamed).” Amid the tension of negotiation and mistrust, the couplet expressed what even the most careful diplomacy sometimes fails at: The idea of dignity, a grace that you accord to even your fiercest enemy.…