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 due to family pressure though he wanted to live in India and defied two nation theory. 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.
Political views
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:
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. The poem was titled Raqs-e-Zanjeer :
The above Nazm/Song was included in film producer Riaz Shahid's film Zarqa in Mehdi Hassan's vocals which became a super-hit film song among the public in 1969 in Pakistan.
" Zulm Rahay Aur Amn Bhi Ho, Kaya Mumkin Hai Tum Hi Kaho" Sung by both Noor Jehan and Mehdi Hassan in film Yeh Aman , lyrics by Habib Jalib and music by A. Hameed. This film song also became very popular.
Bhutto's government
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:
Zia-ul-Haq's martial law
During General Zia-ul-Haq's dictatorship, Jalib wrote a poem on Zia, in which he asked how he could write darkness as Zia.
Benazir Bhutto's government
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:
Death
Habib Jalib died on 12 March 1993 and laid to rest in Shah Fareed Graveyard Sabzazar Lahore.
Poetry
;Some poems in his own voice
Recent tributes
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 to the legendary poet, which was received by his daughter, Tahira Habib Jalib.
