Sehba Akhtar: The Prestigious Poet of Sindh, Pakistan

Biography of
Sehba Akhtar

Sehba Akhtar was a prestigious poet and a film songwriter in Sindh, Pakistan.

Early life & career

Sehba was born Akhtar Ali Rehmat to Rehmat Ali Rehmat, a poet and a contemporary of the famous playwright Agha Hashar Kashmiri, in the region of Jammu, British India. Sehba originally belonged to the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. He initiated writing verses in his school days. He finished his high school from Bareilly and later attended the Aligarh Muslim University. Afterwards, before Pakistan’s independence in the year of 1947, he visited Karachi city along with Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to attend a public gathering organized by Karachi students. Soon after the emergence of Pakistan in the year of 1947, he shifted to the state of Pakistan and also began writing poems and songs for Pakistani movies and people of Pakistan.

Super-hit poems

Sehba Akhtar wrote several famous poems and songs for the Pakistani people and also became involved in writing film songs for few Pakistani films.

• “Mein Bhi Pakistan Hoon Tu Bhi Pakistan Hai” Sung by Muhammad Ali Shehki, music by Sohail Rana, a Pakistan Television Corporation production
• “Tanha thee aour Hamishah say Tanha hay Zindagi” sung by Mehdi Haasan
• “Chand Ki Seij Pe Taaron Se Saja Ke Sehra” Sung by Runa Laila, music by Deebo Bhattacharya for film Jhuk Gaya Aasman (1970)
• “Mujhe Bhulaane Walay Tujhe Bhi Chaen Na Aaey”
• “Wahain zindigi key hasee’n khawb totay” Sung by Jamal Akbar, Music by Kareem Shahab Uddin.
• “tera Mera Sathi hay lehrata samandar” Film Samander, sung by Ahmed Rushdi

Death & legacy

In late 1995, he became very ill in the city of London, but insisted on coming back to Pakistan to launch his poetry book, Mashal. He passed away on Monday, 19 February 1996. In Karachi city, Pakistan, there is a ‘Sehba Akhtar Road’ named after him and a library in Karachi also carries his name.

Awards of Sehba Akhtar

He acquired the Pride of Performance award from the President of Pakistan in the year of 1996.