Habib Jalib

Habib Jalib
Portrait of Habib Jalib
Native name	حبیب جالب
Born	Habib Ahmad Khan (1928-03-24)24 March 1928 Hoshiarpur, Punjab, British India (present-day Punjab, India)
Died	13 March 1993(1993-03-13) (aged 64) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Occupation	Poet political activist
Language	Punjabi Urdu
Nationality	British Indian (1928–1947)  Pakistani (1947–1993)
Subject	Politics anti-authoritarianism socialism anti-oppression Islamic mysticism anti-dictatorship
Literary movement	Progressive Writers' Movement
Notable awards	Nigar Awards Nishan-i-Imtiaz
Children	Jamila Noor Jalib Tahira Habib Jalib Nasir Jalib

Habib Jalib^[a] (Punjabi pronunciation: [ɦəbib d͡ʒaːləb]; 24 March 1928 – 13 March 1993) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet and left-wing political activist who opposed martial law, authoritarianism, military dictatorship and state oppression. He wrote several poems in Punjabi and Urdu and was referred to as the "poet of the masses" by his contemporary Faiz Ahmad Faiz.^[1][2]

He opposed military coups and government administrators and was duly jailed several times for this stance. He is widely respected in Pakistan for never compromising on his principles.^[1][3]

Journalist Hamid Mir believes Sufism played a major role in Jalib's political stance against dictatorship.^[4]

Habib Jalib was born as Habib Ahmad on 24 March 1928 in a village near Hoshiarpur, Punjab, British India.^[1] He migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India.^[1][5][6] Later he worked as a proofreader for Daily Imroze of Karachi.^[1] He was a progressive writer and soon started to attract the audience with his enthusiastic recitation of poetry. He wrote in plain language, adopted a simple style and addressed common people and their 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.^[1][7]

Criticizing those who supported Ayub Khan's regime, he wrote:

کہیں گیس کا دھواں ہے

کہیں گولیوں کی بارش

شب عہد کم نگاہی

تجھے کس طرح سراہیں

Kahin gas ka dhuan hae

kahin golion ki baarish

Shab-e-ehd-e-kum nigahi

tujhay kis tarah sarahein

There is smoke of teargas in the air

and the bullets are raining all around

How can I praise thee

the night of the period of shortsightedness^[8]

Jalib could never reconcile with the dictatorship of Ayub Khan. When Ayub enforced his tailor-made constitution in the country in 1962, former prime minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali likened Ayub Khan to the Clock Tower of Lyallpur, visible from all directions.

Jalib wrote Dastur,^[1][5] verses of which include:

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 Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran. She refused and as a consequence the police was sent to force and bring her, which led to her attempting to commit suicide. This incident inspired a poem by Jalib, which was later included by Neelo's husband Riaz Shahid in the film Zarqa (1969). The poem was titled Raqs Zanjeer Pehan Kar Bhi Kiya Jaata Hai (The dance of the chains).^[9]

تو کہ ناواقفِ آدابِ غلامی ہے ابھی

رقص زنجیر پہن کر بھی کیا جاتا ہے

Tu kay nawaqif-e-aadab-e-ghulami hae abhi

Raqs zanjeer pehan kar bhi kiya jata hai.^[9]

You are not aware of the protocol of a king's court. Sometimes one has to dance (before them) with the chains on oneself.

• The above Nazm/Song was included in film producer Riaz Shahid's film Zarqa (1969) in Mehdi Hassan's vocals which became a super-hit film song among the public in 1969 in Pakistan.^[9]
• " Zulm Rahay Aur Amn Bhi Ho, Kaya Mumkin Hai Tum Hi Kaho" Sung by both Noor Jehan and Mehdi Hassan in film Yeh Aman (1971), lyrics by Habib Jalib and music by A. Hameed.^[9] This film song also became very popular.

On the third day after the death of his twelve-year-old son in 1976, Hyderabad, Sindh law enforcement authorities surrounded his house and arrested him in a conspiracy case.

A total of 55 people were arrested in this case, including Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Mir Ghos Bakhsh Bizenjo, Attaullah Mengal, Khair Bakhsh Marri and Qasim Zia.^[10]

In 1972, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came to power in Pakistan after the 1971 war with India and a new independent country called Bangladesh emerged from former East Pakistan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came to power in former West Pakistan, thereafter called simply Pakistan.

After Bhutto's hanging, Habib Jalib wrote the following poem:^[11]

ٹوٹا ہے کہاں اس کا جادو

اک نعرہ بنا ہے اس کا لہو

ثابت ہوا دھڑکن دھڑکن پر وہ شخص حکومت کرتا تھا

لڑتا تھا وہ اپنے جیسوں سے ہم سے تو محبت کرتا تھا

His magic has not been broken

His blood became a slogan

It has been proved, that he ruled his people's hearts

He used to fight with the people like him (Feudal Lords), but with the (poor) people like us, he used to love.

During General Zia-ul-Haq's dictatorship, Jalib wrote a poem on Zia,^[12] in which he asked how he could write darkness as Zia ( Zia literally means light in Urdu).^[9]

ظلمت کو ضیا، صر صر کو صبا، بندے کو خدا کیا لکھنا

Darkness as light, Hot desert wind as a morning breeze

How can I write a human as God?

After General Zia-ul-Haq's death in 1988, Benazir Bhutto came to power and released Habib Jalib. Disappointed at the state of the nation, when asked if he felt any change after democracy, he said:

حال اب تک وہی ہیں فقیروں کے

دن پھرے ہیں فقط وزیروں کے

ہر بلاول ہے دیس کا مقروض

پاؤں ننگے ہیں بے نظیروں کے

Haal ab tak wahi hain faqiroan kay

Din phiray hain faqat waziroan kay

her Bilawal hai Dais ka maqrooz

paoon nangay hain Benazeeroan kay

The status of the poor is still the same

the days of the ministers have indeed changed

every Bilawal (name of the only son of Benazir Bhutto) of the country is under debt

while Benazirs (i.e the poor) of the country walk without shoes

Habib Jalib died on 13 March 1993 and was laid to rest in Shah Fareed Graveyard, Sabzazar, Lahore, Pakistan.^[5]

Some poems in his own voice

• ظلمت کو ضیا Zulmat Ko Zia
• قائدِ اعظم دیکھ رہے ہو اپنا پاکستان Quaid-e-Azam Dek Rahe Ho Apna Pakistan
• فرنگی کا جو میں دربان ہوتا Farangi Ka Jo May Darban Hota
• مزارے لغارے Mazaaray Laghaaray
• وطن کو کچھ نہیں خطرہ Wathan Ko Kuch Nahi Khathra
• یہ منصف بھی تو قیدی ہیں Ye Munsif Bhi Tho Qaidi Hain
• گل سن Gal Sun (Punjabi)
• اس قانون سے نفرت ہے عداوت ہے مجھے "ise qanoon se nafrat adawat hain mujhe"
• میں نے اس سے یہ کہا Mein Ne Uss Se Yeh Kaha
• دستور – میں نہیں مانتا Dastoor (Main Nahi Manta)
• جن تھا یا ریفرنڈم تھا Jin Tha Ya Referendum Tha

Laal band remastered and remixed the revolutionary poem "Dastoor" in Habib Jalib's voice and included it in their 2009 album Umeed-e-Sahar.^[1] In April 2014, an event was organized in Islamabad, Pakistan to pay tributes to Shayer-i-Awam (the people's poet), Habib Jalib. Many Pakistani celebrities including the noted journalist Mujahid Barelvi, Zehra Nigah and Taimur Rahman took the stage and paid tributes to him.^[8]

On 23 March 2009, President of Pakistan awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Order of Excellence) award (posthumously) for the legendary poet, which was received by his daughter, Tahira Habib Jalib.^[3]

• Faiz Ahmed Faiz
• Communist Party of Pakistan
• Ahmed Faraz
• Mir Gul Khan Naseer
• Ustad Daman

• Sir-e-Maqtal^[5]
• Zikr Behte Khoon Ka^[5]
• Gumbad-e-Bedar^[5]
• Kulyaat e Habib Jalib
• Is Shehar-e-Kharabi Main
• Goshay Main Qafas K
• Harf-e-Haqq
• Harf-e-Sar-e-Daar
• Ehad-e-Sitam
• Rat kalehni

• Habib Jalib bio at WhoIsWho Pakistan
• Habib Jalib at IMDb
• Habib Jalib at Kavita Kosh (Hindi font)
• A collection of some of Jalib's poems
• Habib Jalib: Some of his Punjabi Poems on Academy of the Punjab in North America (APNA) website