Habib Jalib (24 March 1928 - 12 March 1993;

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Punjabi: ) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet, left-wing activist who opposed

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political '' status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...

and state oppression. Pakistani poet

Faiz Ahmed Faiz Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi: فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...

said that he was the poet of the masses. He opposed military coups and administrators and was duly jailed several times.

Early life

Habib Jalib was born as Habib Ahmad on 24 March 1928 in a village near

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourteenth century. In 1809, it was occupied b ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

after the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

. Later he worked as a proofreader for Daily Imroze of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. 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.Profile of Habib Jalib
Retrieved 27 February 2018

Political views

Criticizing those who supported Ayub Khan's regime, he wrote: : : : : :''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 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 Chaudhry Muhammad Ali ( Urdu, pa, ; 15 July 1905 – 2 December 1982), best known as Muhammad Ali, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fourth prime minister of Pakistan, appointed on 12 August 1955. His government tra ...

likened to the Clock Tower of

Lyallpur Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

, Jalib wrote the following poem:

Habib Jalib's poems used in Pakistani films

In another incident which has become a part of the resistance folklore of the country, the

Governor of West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial Enclave and exclave, exclaves created during the One Unit, One Unit Schem ...

, the

Nawab of Kalabagh Malik Amir Mohammad Khan (; 20 June 1910 – 26 November 1967) was the Nawab of Kalabagh and a prominent feudal lord, politician, the chief or sardar of the Awan tribe, and of his tribal estate Kalabagh, in Mianwali District of north western P ...

, invited filmstar

Neelo Neelo Begum (born Cynthia Alexander Fernandes; ''née'' Abida Riaz; 30 June 1941 – 30 January 2021) was a Pakistani veteran film actress. She made her film debut in 1956 with Hollywood film ''Bhowani Junction''. She was known as ''The Qu ...

to dance in front of Shah Reza Pahlavi of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. 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 Riaz Shahid (1927 – 1 October 1972) was a Pakistani filmmaker, film writer, and a journalist. Early life and career Riaz Shahid was born in 1927 in Quetta, British India. He belonged to a Kashmiris in Punjab, Punjabi Kashmiri family. He ...

in the film ''Zarqa'' (1969). The poem was titled Raqs-e-Zanjeer (The dance of the chains): : : :''Tu kay nawaqif-e-aadab-e-ghulami hae abhi'' :''Raqs zanjeer pehan kar bhi kiya jata hai.'' :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

. * " Zulm Rahay Aur Amn Bhi Ho, Kaya Mumkin Hai Tum Hi Kaho" Sung by both

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan ( Punjabi: ) (born () Allah Rakhi Wasai ; 23 September 1926 – 23 December 2000; sometimes spelled Noorjehan),Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema,'' British Film Institute, Oxford University Pres ...

and Mehdi Hassan in film ''

Yeh Aman ''Yeh Aman'' is a 1971 Pakistani film directed by Riaz Shahid who also wrote the screenplay. The film is produced by his wife and actress Neelo. The film stars Nisho, Sangeeta, Adeeb, Jameel and Allauddin. The film revolves around the Kashmi ...

(1971)'', lyrics by Habib Jalib and music by A. Hameed. This film song also became very popular.

Bhutto's government

In 1972

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

came to power in

after the 1971 war with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and a new independent country called

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

emerged from former East Pakistan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came to power in former West Pakistan, thereafter called simply

. After Bhutto's death, Habib Jalib wrote the following poem: : : : : :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.

Zia-ul-Haq's martial law

During

General Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

's dictatorship, Jalib wrote a poem on Zia,, Habib Jalib's poem on General Zia-ul Haq, Published 19 November 2010, Retrieved 27 February 2018 in which he asked how he could write darkness as ''Zia'' ( ''Zia'' literally means ''light'' in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

'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: : : : : :''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

Death

Habib Jalib died on 12 March 1993 and was laid to rest in Shah Fareed Graveyard, Sabzazar, Lahore.

Poetry

;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

Recent tributes

Laal band

remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

and

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed the revolutionary poem "Dastoor" in Habib Jalib's voice and included it in their 2009 album ''Umeed-e-Sahar''. On 23 March 2009, President of Pakistan awarded the highest civil award (posthumously) to the legendary poet, which was received by his daughter, Tahira Habib Jalib.