| Habib Jalib حبیب جالب |
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Portrait of Habib Jalib |
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| Born | Habib Ahmad March 24, 1928 Hoshiarpur, Punjab |
| Died | March 12, 1993 (aged 64) Lahore, Pakistan |
| Occupation | Urdu poet |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Literary movement | Progressive Writers' Movement |
| Notable award(s) | Nigar Awards Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Posthumously awarded on 23 March 2009) |
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Habib Jalib (Urdu: حبیب جالب) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet. A left-wing activist and politician, he was a staunch democrat who opposed martial law, authoritarianism and state oppression.
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Habib Jalib was born on March 24, 1928 as Habib Ahmad [1] in a village near Hoshiarpur, British India. He migrated to Pakistan after partition and worked as a proofreader in Daily Imroze, Karachi. He was a progressive writer and soon started to grab the audience with his enthusiastic recitation of poetry. He wrote in plain language, adopted a simple style and addressed common people and issues. But the conviction behind his words, the music of his voice and his emotional energy coupled with the sensitivity of the socio-political context is what stirred the audience.[2]
He was a Marxist-Leninist and aspired to the ideals of Communism. He was a member of the Communist Party of Pakistan; later when the Communist Party was banned and started working under the banner of National Awami Party (NAP), Jalib joined the NAP. Due to his blunt expression of his beliefs, he suffered hard time all his life and spent most of time in Jails.
Habib Jalib was first imprisoned during the martial law regime of Ayub Khan due to his defiant views on Ayub Khan's capitalistic policies. He wrote his legendary poem "Dastoor" during those days.
Criticizing those who supported Ayub Khan's regime, he wrote:
A humble man with limited means of livelihood, Jalib could never reconcile with the dictatorship of Ayub Khan. So when Ayub enforced his tailor-made constitution in the country in 1962, which a former prime minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali likened to the Clock Tower of Lyallpur, Jalib wrote the following poem:
Due to his daring revolt against the order of the day, Jalib was banned from official media but he remained undeterred. He rather started a tirade against the tyranny with more resolution. It reached its zenith when Fatima Jinnah decided to contest elections against Ayub Khan. All democratic forces rallied around her and at her election meetings, Jalib used to recite his fiery poems in front of an emotionally-charged crowd. His most popular poem at that time was:
In another incident which has become a part of the resistance folklore of the country, the Governor of West Pakistan, the Nawab of Kalabagh, invited filmstar Neelo to dance in front of a foreign dignitary (Be bold and read here Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran!). As she refused, the police was sent to bring her, which led to a suicide attempt on her part. This incident inspired a poem by Jalib, which was later included by Neelo's husband Riaz Shahid in the film Zarqa. The song was:
In 1972 when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came to power, many of his colleagues were able to hit fortunes. He, on the other hand, kept his integrity and stuck to ideology. According to sources close to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, one day Habib Jalib went to Bhutto's place to meet him. Bhutto on seeing him said that when are you going to come (referring to joining his political Party) Jalib said, "Have the oceans ever fallen in rivers".
During General Zia-ul-Haq's dictatorship, Jalib joined movement for democracy. He wrote the famous poem on Zia,[4] where he asked how he could write darkness as Zia ( Zia literally means light in Urdu).
In 1988, General Zia-ul-Haq died in air crash and general elections were held. Benazir Bhutto came into power and released Habib Jalib. Fortunes were distributed to those who supported the government rather than those who supported democracy. Disappointed at the state of the nation, when asked if he felt any change after democracy, he said:
Habib Jalib died on March 12, 1993.
His family refused the offer of the then government to pay for his funeral expenses. Qateel Shifai expressed his sorrow and grief in these words:
Jalib’s poetry reflected his vision and approach to life. He never deviated from his chosen path. His love for humankind, his sympathy for the underdog and his passion for the fellow-beings were reflected in his verses. What is quite significant and somewhat rare in a poet who is also charged with political ideology is his capacity to suppress his anger against the injustices and tyrannies that he witnesses in life.
Jalib himself remained a victim of a cruel social order. He was imprisoned for some time after being wrongly implicated in various crimes.
With no regular source of income, he had a rootless existence, but he never considered compromising with his tormentors and coming to terms with established order. And yet Jalib’s poetry only reflects his anguish. It is not an expression of his anger or frustration. At times it is pensive, couched in sarcasm, but his typical soft melodious tone is always there. He believed that the Pakistani leaders should stop obeying the Westerners. His following poem reflects this.
Until the end of his life in 1993, Jalib remained a member of the Communist Party of Pakistan. In 1994, the Communist Party of Pakistan merged with the Mazdoor Kissan Party to form the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party.
Two members of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party — Shahram Azhar and Taimur Rahman — launched a music video reciting Jalib's famous poem "Musheer Se" under the band title Laal, symbolizing Jalib's struggle for the workers and peasants.
Laal band remastered and remixed the revolutionary poem "Dastoor" in Habib Jalib's voice[6] and included it in their 2009 album Umeed-e-Sahar.
On 23 March 2009, President of Pakistan has given the highest civil award (posthumously) to the legendary poet, which was received by his daughter.
Solo artist Umair Salim composed his poem "Dastoor" in a musical track to tribute the poet on his death anniversary in 2009, followed by a music video portraying Habib Jalib's life.[7]
But as nation remembers this great poet, Pakistani channels have aired a story that Habib Jalib’s life partner is fighting with illness and she is deprived of the money President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister have announced for her. [8]