Saturday Flashback: Why was ‘Woh Humsafar Tha’ written?

Naseer Turabi is a poet who wrote Woh Humsafar Tha in 1971 to express his sadness on East Pakistan’s separation.

He was born in Hyderabad, Hyderabad State which was then, Deccan.

Naseer came to Pakistan after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. He did his M.A. in Mass Communications from University of Karachi in 1968. The poet now lives in Karachi.

He began writing poetry in 1962. His first collection of Poetry Aks-e-Faryadi was published in 2000.

After the East Pakistan Separation, he wrote a Ghazal Woh Humsafar Tha expressing the sadness at the great tragedy of separation of East Pakistan.

The same Ghazal was later used as a theme song for the Humsafar drama series. He also wrote lyrics for the theme song Dil Ka Jo Mol Chukatay Honge of Mol and Zindagi Gulzar Hai drama series. He has also written the lyrics of Dil Aitebaar for Khwab Saraye and for Yaqeen Ka Safar OST.

The ghazal is top-notch, Abida Parveen has also sung it. But for the newer generation, the Quratulain Baloch version of the song for Pakistani drama Hamsafar on modern instruments and rhythm is more engaging.