WE are now living in the age of feminism. On every occasion, liberated women are seen asserting themselves and censuring the male community for its ill treatment meted out to the women in centuries gone by. They have got in their campaign the backing of the enlightened members of the male society, who are generally in a confessional mood trying their best to compensate, if they can, for the crimes committed against women by the male generations in the past and in the present all over the world.
The other day, I had the opportunity to listen to a lecture delivered by Kishwar Naheed at the Institute of Women’s Studies in Lahore. She had chosen to speak on female writers’ contribution to literature since 1857. The lecture was at the same time an indictment of male writers and the husbands of the female writers, who had always been in the habit of creating impediments in the way of self-expression by women in literature.
In fact, Kishwar spearheads the female writers, who are now seen in a belligerent mood, challenging male supremacy in our literature. This has created a bit ironic and a bit amusing situation. Till yesterday, no critic dared to classify Ismet Chaghtai as a woman story writer. She has just Ismet Chaughtai, the celebrated story writer rubbing shoulders with Manto and Bedi. But now she has been segregated as a woman story writer by Kishwar Naheed and her associates. Had Ismet been alive, she would have much resented at this gender based classification leading to a gender-based segregation.
As a matter of fact, in those years when a critic alluded to a writers’ feminity by calling her a woman writer, it was taken to mean that he was not treating her on equal level with other writers. Instead he was trying to give her grace marks just because she being a woman deserved in his eyes an accommodative treatment.
Women writers were seen resenting this attitude, calling it an attempt to create a ladies compartment in literature. How ironic the attempt to bring into existence a ladies compartment in the name of feminine liberation.
Coming back to Kishwar’s lecture, she wondered that in times prior to 1857 literature appeared to be a purely male affair. Only now after much research a women poet Chandabai Mah Laqa has been dug out. Kishwar smells a male conspiracy in this situation.
As pointed out by Kishwar, it was only after 1857 that under the stress of reform movement women as a social being attracted the attention of the writers, who were in a reformative mood. Maulana Hali wrote his famous poem addressed to the mothers, sisters and daughters. Deputy Nazir Ahmad wrote novels where he is seen paying attention on the women in contemporary Indian Muslim society. But Kishwar is not happy with any of these writers. In their reforming zeal, they like to see a Muslim woman cast in a mould, which can hardly be approved by any modern women, Kishwar likes to call this model woman ‘Naik Parveen’ and dismisses her outright. She however feels satisfied at the turn of the situation when women themselves took to writing on social conditions in relation to women, though their way of thinking can hardly find approval from her.
Kishwar appeared happier on the appearance of rebel women on the literary scene. Significantly, they all chose fiction, more particularly, the short story for giving vent to their pent up emotions, which tended towards a revolt against repressive scail customs and moral values dear to the contemporary Muslim society. The first among them was Dr Rasheed Jahan, who made her debut in the company of rebel writers associated with the historic publication, Anoaray. But her stay in fiction was brief. She preferred to devote more of her time to party work. Ismet Chaghtai was in fact, the real rebel woman of Urdu fiction, who made her appearance with a bang sending shock waves among the conservatives. She was soon followed by Hajra Masroor, Khadija Mastoor, Qurratulain Hayder, Mumtaz Shirin, and many others.
But there is one significant aspect of this female phenomenon, which somehow failed to engage Kishwar Naheed’s attention. Significantly, it all happened in the field of fiction. The rebel woman is conspicuous by her absence on the poetic scene, whether in modern verse or the ghazal. It was only in the late forties, round about partition, that the female voice was heard in the world of poetry. Even after partition female writers took enough time to make their presence felt in the realm of poetry.
Ada Jafri, Zehra Nigah, and Khalida Husain were the writers, who proved very helpful to Kishwar in her attempt to make a case against the husbands of female writers. Female writers have often been seen suspending their writing activity soon after their marriage. They take long years in returning to their job. Kishwar laid the whole responsibility for this suspension on the shoulders of the husbands and condemned them for this crime. She did not pause to think that some fault might also lie with the female writers turned wives.
