Noted poet and columnist Jamiluddin Aali passes away

KARACHI: Noted poet, writer and columnist Jamiluddin Aali passed away after a protracted illness here on Monday. He was around 90.
Aali, who was most famous for the numerous national songs he penned, had been under treatment at a private hospital for the last three days. Heart failure was stated to be the cause of his death.
The death of Jamiluddin Aali grieved his admirers all over the country with the Indo-Pakistan literary and academic circles equally distressed. Condolence messages poured in from everywhere while state and government high-ups, including the president, the prime minister, provincial governors and chief ministers, also expressing profound grief and sorrow over Aali’s death.
With Aali’s death, yet another chapter in Urdu prose and poetry has come to an end as several of his contemporary poets and writers, including Ibn-e-Insha and Qudratullah Ullah Shahab, passed away long ago.
Aali had been in a poor state of health for the last many years mainly due to diabetes and some respiratory illnesses. He earned fame for his “Geets”, “Dohas”, national songs, and other genres of Urdu poetry.
He also earned worldwide fame for penning weekly columns for Urdu newspaper, and in this regard he had a decades-long association with the Daily Jang, which continued till his last days.
He penned Urdu newspaper columns for around half-a-century. His writings underlined the causes of philosophy and futuristic thoughts for the development and progress of the nation and country on modern and scientific lines.
In Urdu literature, he was the disciple of Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq.
“Aali” was the pen name of the late poet while Jamiluddin Ahmed was his real name.
Aali was born to Sir Ameeruddin Khan (himself a poet) on 20 January, 1926, in Delhi. He, along with his family, migrated to Pakistan soon after its creation and settled in Karachi. His grandfather, Nawab Allauddin Ahmed Khan, was a friend and student of the great Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib.
His mother, Syeda Jamila Begum, belonged to the family of the famous poet, Khawaja Mir Dard.
Aali completed his early education from the Anglo Arabic High School in Daryagang, Delhi. He earned his BA and MA degrees in Economics from Delhi University.
On 30 September 1944, Jamil got married to Tayaba Bano. He joined the Civil Services of Pakistan in 1951. In 1971 he obtained an FEL and LLB degrees from the University of Karachi. He joined the National Bank of Pakistan in 1967 and remained associated with the bank as a senior executive vice-president and president of the executive board till his retirement in 1988.
Aali was also a former member of the Pakistan People’s Party and also contested the general elections on 7 March 1977 from NA-191 but lost. In 1997, he was elected member of the Senate for a six-year term with the support of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
Aali served on several senior bureaucratic and official administrative positions. During the rule of president Ayub Khan, Aali had been instrumental in founding the Writers’ Guild, and he worked hard for the progress and development of the guild.
He instituted several awards and prizes for the writers of the country from the platform of the Writers’ Guild. Aali also rendered commendable services in finance and banking sectors, exhibiting features of his dynamic personality.
Aali had also made commendable efforts for the promotion and development of the Urdu language from the platforms of the Anjuman-e-Taraqqi-e-Urdu and the Urdu Dictionary Board.
He was awarded several prestigious civil and private awards including the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Adamjee Literary Award, Dawood Literary Award, Sant Kabeer Award, Kamal-e-Fun Award, Urdu Conference Delhi awards and others.
His famous patriotic songs included “Aye Watan Ke Sajelay Jawano”, “Jo Naam Wo hee Pehchan Pakistan Pakistan”, “Itnay Baray Jeevan Sagar Mein Tu Nay Pakistan Diya”, “Hum Mayein hum Betiyan”, “Jeevay Jeevay Pakistan” and “Hum Mustafavi Mustafavi Hain”.
His patriotic songs has a nationwide following while children of several generations learned them by heart and sung them at school and other functions on occasions of the Independence Day and the Pakistan Day.
He was survived by three sons and two daughters. His son Raju Jamil is a famous television actor and banker while his second son, Murad Jamil, is a famous architect.
Jamiluddin Aali’s funeral prayers will be offered on Tuesday (today) at 4pm at the Masjid-e-Tooba in DHA Karachi. He would be laid to rest at the Bazata Lines Graveyard near the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif expressed deep grief on the sad demise of Jamiluddin Aali.
The prime minister prayed for eternal peace for the departed soul and lauded the literary services of Aali for the country.
The prime minister said Jamiluddin Aali’s death left a huge vacuum in the literary history of the country that would be very hard to fill in the times ahead.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah expressed his deep sorrow and grief over the demise of the famous poet, Jamiluddin Aali.
The CM recalled the services of the noted poet for Urdu poetry, literature and for the cause of national development and cohesion. The CM said that national songs penned by late Aali are famous and sung by children of every generation. He prayed for the departed soul.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad also condoled the death Aali and praised his services for literature and national unity.The governor said that the demise of Aali caused irreparable loss to Urdu literature while the entire nation was highly saddened by this loss.
The Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, also expressed his profound grief and sorrow over the demise of Aali and eulogized his services for the national language and for the cause of national unity and cohesion in Pakistan.