‘Saadat Hasan will die one day, but ‘Manto’ will never die’

Pakistan’s revolutionary literary icon, Saadat Hasan Manto, whose fifty-seventh death anniversary is today (Wednesday), not only enriched Urdu literature to a greater extent, but inclined writers to look into the psyche of humankind.

He was not only the leading Urdu short-story writer of the twentieth century but also a journalist, critic and film writer. He is best celebrated for his short-stories include Bu, Khol Do, Thanda Gosht, and Toba Tek Singh.

He produced more than 20 collections of his short stories, five collections of radio plays, three set of essays, two collections of personal sketches and one novel, in his life.

He was largely known for his abhorrence of socialism, hypocrisy of believers, and exploitation of women and violence on the partition of sub-continent.

By standing himself for humanism, he revealed the characterless elite of his era. Due to his outstanding write ups, he was considered persona non grata in a newly freed Pakistan.

Despite being one of the outstanding fiction writers of his times, Manto was too hard to swallow for people who want to dilute the reality. He, after writing extraordinary pieces of art simultaneously, shipped on a journey of self-destruction.

Some literary critics believe that the basis of modern story in Urdu can be witnessed in Manto’s writings. Without any doubt, the stories written by Manto had quite a different impression, in Urdu literature.

He had once written about himself:”Saadat Hasan will die one day, but ‘Manto’ will never die”.

In a way Manto had given up all hitches to write about society and its characters. He had to face trials for the allegations of ‘bawdiness’ in description of his write ups.

Manto’s opponents used to claim that his write ups could promote perversion in society. His writings exposed the negative face of society, but he was tried in his time not only by the courts, but also by so-called leaders of society.

Conversely, the time has proved that Manto was a genuine intellectual who had nothing to do with ‘perversion and nudity’, but to reveal evil designs and highlight pharisaic characters of this society.

It was his writings that exhibited that exploitation of mankind under any pretext have no validation. Manto was a true and daring writer who did not compromise on his principles under any circumstances.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jan 18 2012. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.