Ibrahim Jalees () born Ibrahim Hussain () on (22 August 1924 – 26 October 1977) was a Pakistani journalist, writer, and humorist. He authored several books of short stories such as ''Chalees Karor Bhikari'' and ''Tikona Des'' and the novel ''Chor Bazar''. He joined the

Daily Jang The ''Daily Jang'' () is an Urdu language newspaper headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. It is considered one of Pakistan's newspaper of record and a leading newspaper of Pakistan. History It is the oldest newspaper of Pakistan in continuous p ...

newspaper and wrote his columns titled ''Waghaira Waghaira'' which made him famous. He also worked as an editor of ''Musawat'',

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, the daily newspaper of the

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a centre-left political position, it is cu ...

. Later he launched his own weekly magazine, ''Awami Adalat'' (Peoples Court). He was awarded the (''Tamgha-e-Husn-e-Karkrdagi'')

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

Award posthumously by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

in 1990, in recognition of his literary contribution.

Early life

Ibrahim Jalees was born on 22 August 1924, in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, British India. He originally hailed from the

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...

. His father Ahmed Hussain was a

self-made man A self-made man is a person whose success is of their own making. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, has been described as the greatest exemplar of the self-made man. Inspired by Franklin's autobiography, Fr ...

. His family migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

after the partition of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. In 1940, he received BA degree from

Aligarh University Aligarh Muslim University is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875. Muhammadan Angl ...

, India. In 1948, he migrated to Lahore, Pakistan soon after the fall of Hyderabad Deccan to India. In 1951, after his six-week visit to China, he wrote a travelogue, ''Nai Deewar-I-Cheen''. He has three brothers Mehboob Hussain Jigar and Mujtaba Hussain who stayed back in India, both of whom also worked as journalists and humorists. His youngest brother Yusuf Husain, worked as a supervisor for Caltex Oil in the aviation industry at

Karachi airport Jinnah International Airport () , formerly Drigh Road Airport or Karachi International Airport, is Pakistan's busiest international and domestic airport, and handled 7,267,582 passengers in 2017–2018. Located in Karachi, the largest city an ...

, and died in January 2016, in Old Westbury, New York. Ibrahim Jalees died on 26 October 1977.

Career

Jalees started his career with his first job at the civil supply department in

, but he resigned and joined broadcasting and writing for local newspapers and magazines. In 1941, he gained some fame, when his short story ‘Rishta’ was published in Saqi, a literary magazine of Delhi. He also tried his fortune at ''Movie Capital of India'', in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, staying with the famous Indian poet Sahir Ludhyanvi. In 1946, Jaless took an active part in ''All India Meeting'' of the ''Progressive Writers' Association''. Since his roots were from

Hyderabad Deccan Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...

, he actively opposed the annexation of it with the Indian Union by military aggression. He then joined a children's magazine ''Saathi'',

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. Later he joined ''

Daily Imroze ''Daily Imroze'' () is an Urdu language newspaper in Pakistan published daily from Karachi. This is one of the oldest newspapers of Pakistan that originally started publishing from Lahore in the newly independent Pakistan soon after 1947. It h ...

'' newspaper as a sub-editor where the famous poets,

Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi () born Ahmad Shah Awan () (20 November 1916 – 10 July 2006) was an Urdu language Pakistani poet, journalist, literary critic, dramatist and short story author. He wrote 50 books on poetry, fiction, criticism, journal ...

, and

Ibn-e-Insha Sher Muhammad Khan (), ( Punjabi, ), better known by his pen name Ibn-e-Insha, (), ( Punjabi, ) (15 June 1927 – 11 January 1978) was a Pakistani Urdu poet, humorist, travelogue writer and newspaper columnist. Along with his poetry, he ...

were his colleagues. He was jailed for his publication, ''Public Safety Razor''. Jalees went to Karachi in 1955 and joined ''

'' newspaper, where his humour columns ''Waghaira Waghaira'' became very popular. In 1976, Jalees joined ''Musawat'' as the editor, the daily newspaper of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

. Later, he worked for the daily newspaper ''Anjaam'' as its editor. Finally he launched his own weekly magazine, ''Awami Adalat'' (Peoples Court) but it shut down due to lack of funds. Many years after his death, he received an award ''Tamgha-e-Husn-e-Karkardagi'' (

) in 1990 by the

for his literary services to the nation.

Awards

Nigar Awards The Nigar Awards () were presented in an annual award show to recognize outstanding achievement in Pakistani cinema, after having been revived in 2017 following a 15-year absence. The honors are awarded by Nigar Magazine founded in 1948. The ...

in 1962 in film ''Aanchal'' *

Award (''Tamgha-e-Husn-e-Karkardagi'') in 1990 (award announced on 14 August 1989, actually conferred on Pakistan Day (23 March 1990) by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

)Profile and award info for Ibrahim Jalees on goodreads.com website
Retrieved 14 April 2019

Publications

* ''Zard Chehre'' (a collection of short stories), published in 1944 * ''Tirange Ki Chhaaon Mein'' (a cynical account of the political unrest in Hyderabad Deccan) * ''Chalees Karor Bhikari'' * ''Rishta'' * ''Jail Ke Din Jail Ki Raten'' * ''Tikona Des'' * ''Chor Bazar'' (Novel) * ''Ulti Qabr'' * ''Neki Kar Thane Ja'' * ''Ooper Shervani Ander Pareshani'' * ''Hanse Aur Phanse'' * ''Shugufta Shugufta'' * ''Kala Chor'' * ''Nai Deewar-i-Cheen.''

References

External links