Habib Jalib (Urdu: حبیب جالب) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet, left-wing activist and politician who opposed martial law,authoritarianism and state oppression.Pakistan's renowned and celebrated poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz paid tributes to him by saying that he was truly the poet of the masses.[1]
Habib Jalib was born as Habib Ahmad on 24 March 1928 in a village near Hoshiarpur, British India. He migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India and 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.
Criticizing those who supported Ayub Khan's regime, he wrote:
کہیں گیس کا دھواں ہے
کہیں گولیوں کی بارش ہے
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
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 translation | |
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دیپ جس کا محلات ہی میں جلے چند لوگوں کی خوشیوں کو لے کر چلے وہ جو سائے میں ہر مصلحت کے پلے ایسے دستور کو، صبح بے نور کو میں نہیں مانتا، میں نہیں مانتا میں بھی خائف نہیں تختہ دار سے میں بھی منصور ہوں کہہ دو اغیار سے کیوں ڈراتے ہو زنداں کی دیوار سے ظلم کی بات کو، جہل کی رات کو میں نہیں مانتا، میں نہیں مانتا پھول شاخوں پہ کھلنے لگے، تم کہو جام رندوں کو ملنے لگے، تم کہو چاک سینوں کے سلنے لگے، تم کہو اس کھلے جھوٹ کو، ذہن کی لوٹ کو میں نہیں مانتا، میں نہیں مانتا تم نے لوٹا ہے صدیوں ہمارا سکوں اب نہ ہم پر چلے گا تمہارا فسوں چارہ گر میں تمہیں کس طرح سے کہوں تم نہیں چارہ گر، کوئی مانے، مگر میں نہیں مانتا، میں نہیں مانتا |
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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 Jinnahdecided 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:
ماں کے پاؤں تلے جنت ہے ادھر آجائو
Maan kay paon talay jannat hai idhar aa jao
The paradise is under the feet of the mother. So come into her fold.
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):
تو کہ ناواقفِ ادبِ 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.
You are not aware of the protocol of a king's court. Sometimes one has to dance (before them) with the chains on oneself.
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:
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,[9] in which he asked how he could write darkness as Zia ( Zia literally means light in Urdu).
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.[citation needed] 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. His family refused the offer of the government to pay for his funeral expenses.[citation needed] Qateel Shifai expressed his sorrow and grief in these words:
اپنے سارے درد بھلا کر اوروں کے دکھ سہتا تھا
ہم جب غزلیں کہتے تھے وہ اکثر جیل میں رہتا تھا
آخر چلا ہی گیا وہ روٹھ کر ہم فرزانوں سے
وہ دیوانہ جس کو زمانہ جالب جالب کہتا تھا
Apney saarey dard bhula kar auron ke dukh sehta tha
Hum jub ghazlain kehtey thay wo aksar jail main rehta tha
Aakhir chala hee gya wo rooth kar hum farzanoun se
Wo deewana jisko zamana Jalib Jalib kehta tha
He mainly wrote about the evils brought upon society by corruption and inequity. An example is:
فرنگی کا جو میں دربان ہوتا
تو جینا کس قدر آسان ہوتا
میرے بچے بھی امریکہ میں پڑھتے
میں ہر گرمی میں انگلستان ہوتا
مری انگلش بھی بلا کی چست ہوتی
بلا سے جو نہ میں اردو دان ہوتا
سر جھکاکے جو ہو جاتا 'سر' میں
تو لیڈر بھی عظیم الشان ہوتا
زمینیں میری ہر صوبے میں ہوتیں
میں واللہ صدرِ پاکستان ہوتا
Farangi ka jo main darbaan hota
Tho jeena kis kadar aasaan hota
Meray bachay bhi amreeka may parthay
Main Har garmi may main Inglistaan hota
Meree English bhi balaa ki chusth hotee
Balaa say jo na main Urdu-daan hota
Sar jhuka kay jo ho jaata sir main
Tho leader bhi azeem-u-shaan hota
Zameenain meree har soobay may hoteen
May wallah sadr-e-Pakistan hota
Some poems in his own voice
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, symbolising Jalib's struggle for the workers and peasants.[citation needed]
Laal band remastered and remixed the revolutionary poem "Dastoor" in Habib Jalib's voice[11] 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.
But as nation remembers this great poet, Pakistani channels have aired a story that Habib Jalib's wife is fighting with illness and she is deprived of the money President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister have announced for her.