To k na waqif-e-Adab-e-gulami hai abhee
raqs zanjeer pahin kar bhee kia jata hai
Aaj qatil ki yeh marzi hai k sirkash larki
sir-e-qatil tujhay koroon se nachaya jay
moot ka raqs zamanay ko dikhaya jay
is tarahan zulm ko nazarana dia jata hai
raqs zanjeer pahin kar bhee kia jata hai
daikh fariyad na kar ,sir na jhuka paoon utha
kal k Jo log karain gay to abhee se kar ja
nachtay nachtay aazadi ki khatir mar ja
manzil-e-ishq main mar mar k jiya jata hai
raqs zanjeer pahin kar bhee kia jata hai
**
Story behind the poem:**
Khurshid sahib is also a witness to the event that made Jalib sahib write one of his eternal songs. Khurshid sahib, along with Habib Jalib and Riaz Shahid, went to see film star Neelo who was hospitalised after she attempted suicide. She ate sleeping pills in a large quantity because the notorious Nawab of Kalabagh, who was at that time governor of West Pakistan, had asked Neelo to dance before a foreign dignitary which she refused. Consequently, the governor sent his armed men and got her abducted. She was literally dragged to the governor’s residence in a humiliating manner and then forced to dance. When Riaz Shahid listened to her story, Khurshid sahib narrates, he became emotional and said that he would restore her honour by marrying her with dignity. Riaz Shahid was a well-educated and trained film director and had a reputation of making films with a political message. As Jalib sahib was overwhelmed by the goodness of Riaz Shahid, he wrote “tu ke na’waqif-e-aadab-e-ghulami hai abhi / raqs zanjeer pehan kar bhi kya jata hai” which was later included in the film “Zarqa” directed by Riaz Shahid with a slight modification in its lines. Here, one should remember that Habib Jalib was a strong proponent of secularism and women and minorities’ rights in an era when talking about these things in public involved a great risk.