Delhi poet slams Anita Dube for plagiarizing iconic protest poem
What's the story
Delhi-based poet-activist Aamir Aziz has accused renowned artist Anita Dube of using his protest poem Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega without consent, credit, or compensation.
A Jamia Millia Islamia alumnus, Aziz expressed discontent over what he termed as "cultural extraction and plunder."
He found out his poem was being used without permission at Vadehra Art Gallery during an exhibition of Dube's work on March 18.
Since then, he has tried to get accountability but to no avail.
Accusations
'When I confronted her, she made it seem normal'
Aziz accused Dube of renaming and recontextualizing his poem in the gallery space to present it as her original work.
"When I confronted her, she made it seem normal...like lifting a living poet's work, branding it into her own, and selling it in elite galleries for lakhs of rupees was normal."
He said on X, "This is not solidarity. This is not homage. This is not conceptual borrowing. This is theft. This is erasure."
Previous uses
Aziz discovered Dube has been using his poem since 2023
Further, Aziz found out his poem was used by Dube without permission in two other exhibitions: Of Mimicry, Mimesis and Masquerade in 2023 and the India Art Fair in 2025.
"She didn't mention this in our first conversation. She hid it. Deliberately," Aziz wrote.
The poet also alleged that parts of his poem were reworked into wood carvings and velvet cloth installations, shown in commercial gallery spaces, renamed and rebranded, but never credited to him.
Legal measures
Legal action taken by Aziz against Dube, Vadehra Art Gallery
Aziz said he has sent legal notices to Dube and the Vadehra Art Gallery, demanding answers and asking his poem be taken down from the show.
But, he says, they didn't take him seriously.
"In return: silence, half-truths, and insulting offers," he wrote, adding the exhibition at Vadehra Art Gallery is on till April 26.
Till now, Dube hasn't made a public comment on this.
Born in Lucknow, Dube (66) is a trained art historian and critic.
Poem's impact
'Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega' gained prominence during anti-CAA protests
Aziz's poem rose to fame during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, resonating far and wide amid the violent protests in Delhi.
It was even read out by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters at an event in London in February 2020.
But now Aziz claims that his poem—one that stood for resistance—has been "gutted, defanged, and stitched into velvet for profit."