August 31, 2008	Sunday	Sha'aban 28, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: It looked a simple invitation to a poetry session by Mehergarh at the National Art Gallery but writers and artistes of the city there took the guest down the memory lane, making the Friday evening a memorable one.

Their rendition of Habib Jalib, a symbol of literary resistance and an iconoclast to the core, put today’s power politics in focus by tracing the painful and chequered history of Pakistan in the inimitable style of the resistance poet.

Mehergarh, a centre for learning, had organised the event to initiate a new group of young leaders groomed by it by celebrating Jalib’s contribution to the social movement in the country and his courage to uphold the truth in the face of injustice and oppression.

What followed was the atmosphere heaving with emotions as verses of Jalib, written in the language of the masses, touching mind and the soul.

Artist Jamal Shah transformed the auditorium literally into a public meeting when he sang on his harmonium one of Jalib’s greatest poems Dastoor (Constitution) which rejected the constitution given to the nation by military dictator Ayub Khan in 1962.

Whose light shines only in palaces

And carries the joys of only a few people

That derives its strength from others’ weaknesses

That Constitution, like a dawn without light

I refuse to acknowledge, I refuse to accept

Earlier, poet and writer Kishwar Naheed talked about Jalib’s hard life steeped in poverty and suffering but also in principles and sacrifices.

She talked about the eight criminal cases the State instituted against Jalib for his outspokeness and courage that even imprisonments could not break.

He continued to inspire and enthrall oppressed masses with his anti-status quo poems at public meetings and protests during the days of dictators Ayub Khan and Ziaul Haq.

Kishwar Naheed also narrated the hunger Jalib’s family had to suffer whenever he was put behind bars.

He had access to powerful rulers like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir and was offered temptations and financial help by the elite and his well-wishers but he never fell for that.

She described Jalib’s life as “a spiral of sufferings”.

He was seldom invited by state-run radio and television for he always spoke against the government’s anti-people policies and the exploitative political system.

She said Jalib had asked Zulfikar Ali Bhutto not to rely on America, and wrote heart-rending poems when Gen Zia hanged Bhutto and did not allow Benazir to attend the funeral of her father.

Playwright Sarmad Sehbai recited Jalib’s famous poem Wazeeran-i-Karam (The Ministers) ridiculing the political leaders of Pakistan for their lust for power and money and having no concern for the poor.

Head of the Academy of Letters Iftikhar Arif also paid glowing tributes to the late poet’s sublime and biting poetry. He compared some of the poems of Jalib with Faraz’s Muhasara (Siege).

Leader of the House in the Senate Raza Rabbani was the chief guest also showered glowing tributes on the revolutionary poet.

Senator Rabbani on the occasion also distributed shields and certificates among the participants of the course.