Ibrahim Hussain, better known as Ibrahim Jalees was a Pakistani journalist, Urdu story writer, satirist and humorist. Born in Bangalore, British India he passed BA in 1940 from Aligarh University. Jalees got his first job at the civil supply department but kept it for hardly a year and resigned after some dispute at the office. With a flair for literature, he had begun broadcasting and writing for local newspapers and magazines during his student days. In 1941, he caused quite a sensation when his short story ‘Rishta’ got published in Saqi, a prestigious literary magazine published from Delhi. Jalees shot to eminence with the publication of Zard Chehre, a collection of short stories, in 1944. Other books such as Chalees Karor Bhikari and TikoIbrahim Hussain, better known as Ibrahim Jalees was a Pakistani journalist, Urdu story writer, satirist and humorist. Born in Bangalore, British India he passed BA in 1940 from Aligarh University. Jalees got his first job at the civil supply department but kept it for hardly a year and resigned after some dispute at the office. With a flair for literature, he had begun broadcasting and writing for local newspapers and magazines during his student days. In 1941, he caused quite a sensation when his short story ‘Rishta’ got published in Saqi, a prestigious literary magazine published from Delhi. Jalees shot to eminence with the publication of Zard Chehre, a collection of short stories, in 1944. Other books such as Chalees Karor Bhikari and Tikona Dais, and the novel Chor Bazar firmly established Jalees as a writer. He was influenced by and was an active member of Progressive Writers’ Movement that had transformed the literary scenario of India. He migrated to Pakistan soon after the fall of princely state of Deccan in 1948. But so mercurial was his temperament that as soon as he joined his progressive friends in Lahore, he reversed his nationalistic and Islamist approach. In the book Do Mulk Aik Kahani, written immediately after the migration, he repented for and disowned his earlier anti-India work Tirange Ki Chhaaon Mein. In Lahore Jalees joined Saathi, a children’s magazine. A little later he became a sub-editor at Imroz where Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and Ibn-e-Insha were his colleagues. The government imposed the Public Safety Act in those days and Jalees wrote about it in a satirical vein. When his piece ‘Public Safety Razor’ appeared, it infuriated the high-ups and Jalees was put behind bars for a few months. His book Jail Ke Din Jail Ki Raatain is an interesting and satirical account of that time. He went to Karachi and joined daily Jang where he wrote the humour column ‘Waghaira Waghaira’. As he had a natural talent for humour, his column became very popular. Later, he joined Anjaam as editor but resigned after a while because of a disagreement with the owners. He then launched his own weekly, Awami Adalat, but it fell victim to the lack of funds. In 1976, Ibrahim Jalees became the editor of Musawat, the daily newspaper launched from Karachi by the Pakistan People’s Party. In 1977, the PPP government was toppled by the martial law and the publication of Musawat was suspended. Jalees fell ill and was hospitalized but passed away the very next day, on October 26, 1977. He was awarded the Pride of Performance Award by Government of Pakistan after his death for the recognition of his literary works Other books written by him include Ulti Qabr, Neki Kar Thane Ja, Ooper Shervani Ander Pareshani, Hanse Aur Phanse, Shugufta Shugufta and Kala Chor....more
Sign in with Facebook
