Habib Jalib remembered

Islamabad: The people from different walks of life gathered at the Faiz Heritage Library of the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) on Saturday to pay tribute to revolutionary poet Habib Jalib.

During an event organised to mark the death anniversary of Jalib, poet Iftikhar Arif said the deceased's poetry became popular during the martial law imposed by General Ayub Khan as he would recite his poetry during Fatima Jinnah’s public meetings in the 60s and 70s. He, however, said Jalib had never discussed his own problems and always talked about the issues of the people.

"Jalib was in prison when his son died but never stopped speaking the truth. It is a fact that it was only Jalib who wrote and recited poetry about the darkest era of Pakistani history. He spent a simple life, although he had an opportunity to get benefits from governments,” he said.