Habib Jalib حبیب جالب | |
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Portrait of Habib Jalib | |
Born | Habib Ahmad 24 March 1928[1] Hoshiarpur, Punjab, British India (Now, Punjab, India) |
Died | 12 March 1993[1] Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan | (aged 64)
Occupation | Urdu poet, Political activist |
Nationality | ![]() ![]() |
Literary movement | Progressive Writers' Movement |
Notable awards | Nigar Awards Nishan-i-Imtiaz[2] (Posthumously awarded on 23 March 2009) |
Children | Jamila Noor Jalib Tahira Habib [3] |
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Habib Jalib (24 March 1928 - 12 March 1993; Urdu, Punjabi: حبیب جالب) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet, left-wing activist who opposed martial law, authoritarianism and state oppression. Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz said that he was the poet of the masses.[4] He opposed military coups and administrators and was duly jailed several times.[5]
Habib Jalib was born as Habib Ahmad on 24 March 1928 in a village near Hoshiarpur, Punjab, British India. He migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India.[6] Later he worked as a proofreader for Daily Imroze of 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.[1]
Criticizing those who supported Ayub Khan's regime, he wrote:
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:
Original Urdu | English Transliteration | English translation | Devnagri |
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diip jis kā mahallāt hī meñ jale
chand logoñ kī ḳhushiyoñ ko le kar chale vo jo saa.e meñ har maslahat ke pale aise dastūr ko sub.h-e-be-nūr ko maiñ nahīñ māntā maiñ nahīñ jāntā
maiñ bhī ḳhā.if nahīñ taḳhta-e-dār se maiñ bhī mansūr huuñ kah do aġhyār se kyuuñ Darāte ho zindāñ kī dīvār se zulm kī baat ko jahl kī raat ko maiñ nahīñ māntā maiñ nahīñ jāntā
jaam rindoñ ko milne lage tum kaho chaak sīnoñ ke silne lage tum kaho is khule jhuuT ko zehn kī luuT ko maiñ nahīñ māntā maiñ nahīñ jāntā
tum ne luuTā hai sadiyoñ hamārā sukūñ ab na ham par chalegā tumhārā fusūñ chārāgar dardmandoñ ke bante ho kyuuñ tum nahīñ chārāgar koī maane magar maiñ nahīñ māntā maiñ nahīñ jāntā |
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दीप जिस का महल्लात ही में जले
चंद लोगों की ख़ुशियों को ले कर चले वो जो साए में हर मस्लहत के पले ऐसे दस्तूर को सुब्ह-ए-बे-नूर को मैं नहीं मानता मैं नहीं जानता मैं भी ख़ाइफ़ नहीं तख़्ता-ए-दार से मैं भी मंसूर हूँ कह दो अग़्यार से क्यूँ डराते हो ज़िंदाँ की दीवार से ज़ुल्म की बात को जहल की रात को मैं नहीं मानता मैं नहीं जानता फूल शाख़ों पे खिलने लगे तुम कहो जाम रिंदों को मिलने लगे तुम कहो चाक सीनों के सिलने लगे तुम कहो इस खुले झूट को ज़ेहन की लूट को मैं नहीं मानता मैं नहीं जानता तुम ने लूटा है सदियों हमारा सुकूँ अब न हम पर चलेगा तुम्हारा फ़ुसूँ चारागर दर्दमंदों के बनते हो क्यूँ तुम नहीं चारागर कोई माने मगर मैं नहीं मानता मैं नहीं जानता |
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-e-Zanjeer (The dance of the chains):[8]
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 death, Habib Jalib wrote the following poem:[11]
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).
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:
Habib Jalib died on 12 March 1993 and was laid to rest in Shah Fareed Graveyard, Sabzazar, Lahore.
Laal band remastered and remixed 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.[2]