Portrait of Josh Malihabadi, born as Shabbir Hasan Khan; Source: Public Domain

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> "میرا کام بدلا ہوا ہے ،
میرا نام جوانی ہے!
میرا نعرہ: انقلاب ،
انقلاب اور انقلاب!
My task is change, my name is youth!
My slogan: revolution, revolution and revolution!"  - Josh Malihabadi

Josh Malihabadi was probably the only thing that the two estranged countries; India and Pakistan shared harmoniously. Both sides equally proud of the rebellious poet, they awarded him with several awards albeit posthumously.

So who was this person?

If anything, Josh Malihabadi was not like most poets. Coming from a long line of relatives in literary works, it was with no surprise that words flowed naturally from his fingertips. 

> As a poet, Malihabadi’s love for Urdu knew no bounds and his elegant couplets stirred the hearts of the public. As a person, however, he was a little different in comparison to his colleagues.

During his time in the field of translation at the Osmania University in the princely state of Hyderbad, Malihabadi was exiled as a result of his blunt insult to the Nizam of Hyderabad. Undeterred, he went on to start the magazine Kaleem where he wrote without interference, writing candid articles against the colonial presence in India. After the publishing of one of his most articulate works; Hussain aur Inquilab (Hussain and Revolution) earned him the title of Shaair-e-Inquilaab (Poet of the Revolution). This paved the way to his involvement in the freedom movement where he soon became a close friend of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was an avid admirer of Malihabadi's poetry showcases.

Being born in 1898 in Malihabad, India, a town near Lucknow, state of Uttar Pradesh, made Josh Malihabadi Indian by birth. His sudden relocation to Pakistan in 1956, was a move opposed in good faith by Panditji. But the poet in him yearned more, more of Urdu and died a citizen of Pakistan in Islamabad on February 22, 1982.

> Staying true to his reputation of being a man of few but sharp words, Josh Malihabadi never minced his words even when it came to the President of Pakistan, callously calling him illiterate and someone who could not even get his pronunciations right.

But past the forthright manner of Josh Malihabadi, there was a man admired by scholars and intellectuals for his passion for Urdu and claimed that his poems were only good solely due to the beauty of the language.

The rebel with a cause, which was basically anti-establishment, Malihabadi lived a precarious life. His frankness led him to unemployment, his works were banned and brushed under the carpet of history. Josh Malihabadi was pushed into obscurity during his time.

And yet he left this world with no regrets. It was remarkable then, and is rare now, but we must give his work the appreciation and recognition it deserves, even if it’s belated.

It is rare to find people who don't sweeten their words with honeyed flattery. Josh Malihabadi was this and more. A pioneer in Urdu, he dedicated his life to poetry and didn't hesitate to relocate to a new country, Pakistan, all for the sake of the language. 