THERE are writers, who after acquiring popularity in their lifetime, are forgotten as soon as they pass away. They may have their place in literary history, but their names are erased from memory. But there are some writers who get a new lease of life after they die. Their death creates a sense of loss, which provides an opportunity to the critics and readers to read them anew with more care and seriousness. This makes them grow in stature. Sadat Hasan Manto was one such writer.
In the last 50 years Manto has been read with more care than during his lifetime. Almost all of his works have been transliterated into Hindi. He has been vastly translated into English and other languages too. A number of critical studies on his works have also come up. And now Manto has a stature loftier than he used to enjoy when he was alive. He has numerous readers all over the world. Old prejudices against his bold expressions viz-a-viz man-woman relationship have, to a great extent, withered away. He is now acknowledged as an unparalleled story writer of all time. After 50 years, all of us can now pay homage to him without running any kind of risk.
These days, a variety of functions are being held all over the country in connection with Manto’s 50th death anniversary. Recently, the Academy of Letters arranged a function in Lahore, chaired by Abid Hasan Manto, in which glowing tributes were paid to Manto for his achievements in the field of fiction. It was followed by a function in Islamabad where Manto’s daughter Nusrat Jalal was the chief guest. In her brief talk, she had a few sad things to tell about her father. The next day we once again gathered at the same place. This time the occasion was the inauguration of Fateh Mohammad Malik’s book on Manto.
In fact, two books have lately come out on the same subject. The first was Mumtaz Shirin’s Manto, Noori Na Nari which has already been discussed in this column. And now it’s Fateh Mohammad Malik’s Sadat Hasan Manto, Aik Nai Tabeer. Malik’s book is a Manto study with particular reference to Pakistan.
Manto left Bombay for Lahore in 1947. And in January 1955 he passed away. That means he spent his last seven years in Pakistan. This period, though brief, has a special significance in the writing career of Manto. It was during this time that he wrote stories where his art of short story writing seems to have reached its peak. Fateh Mohammad Malik has rightly focused on this period. He is of the opinion that the birth of Pakistan brought about a great change in Manto. With his changed outlook on life, he soon found himself engaged in an ideological war with his contemporaries.
Malik Sahib has discussed Manto against the backdrop of this ideological battle, where on the one side were Manto, Mumtaz Shirin, and Mohammad Hasan Askari, while on the other side were the progressives. In an attempt to give a fuller view of this battle he has presented a selection from the writings of the warring groups. As a result, we have four articles of Mohammad Hasan Askari along with a number of writings of Manto. But he has not cared much to present a representative selection from the progressives’ writings. Just one article written by Zaheer Kashmiri, a kind of address to the progressive writers, has been reproduced in the book.
Zaheer Kashmiri’s article does not help us to know about the progressives’ differences with Manto. In fact, their ideological attack on Manto was spearheaded by Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, who in those years was secretary-general of the Progressive Writers Association. Unless we keep in view the way Qasmi Sahib censured Manto for his new writings such as Siyah Hashiay and for his new literary alliances, we can hardly understand the post-partition literary situation leading to Manto’s estrangement from the progressive writers. It is only through the two writings of Manto included in this volume that we know about the changed attitude of Ali Sardar Jafri and Qasmi towards him and his new stories and Manto’s bitter reaction to the two of them.
However, Malik Sahib has discussed the then situation in detail. He has dared to differ with Qasmi Sahib, who wanted to prove that Manto had been misled by Askari. In Malik’s opinion the root cause of trouble was the party line, which could not reconcile with the ‘Pakistaniat’ of Manto and Askari.
The book is an interesting read. Through the book, comes alive to us a period of our literary history known mainly for a big battle between two points of view associated with the inception of Pakistan.
THERE are writers, who after acquiring popularity in their lifetime, are forgotten as soon as they pass away. They may have their place in literary history, but their names are erased from memory. But there are some writers who get a new lease of life after they die. Their death creates a sense of loss, which provides an opportunity to the critics and readers to read them anew with more care and seriousness. This makes them grow in stature. Sadat Hasan Manto was one such writer.
