Saadat Hasan Manto, the Controversial Urdu Short Story Writer
PRESENTATION ON SAÁDAT HASAN MANTO
Of the several hundred stories, the court found only two stories in which he had transgressed the law and was liable for punishment. But his critics and the custodians of society declared Manto to be retrogressive and licentious. Even the so-called "progressives" betrayed him. At one strike they tarnished his entire writing career with the same dirty brush as the others... To call a writer's work nothing on the basis of two stories is crass injustice. We cannot overlook the fact that Manto's masterpieces such as "Toba Tek Singh", "Mozel", "Babu Gopinath" have nothing to do with obscenity." (Jagdish Chander)
1948 to 1955 saw Manto writing most of his controversial stories. With the outcome that he was being hauled up in courts. He got into trouble for five of his stories. Boo (Odour), Kali Shalwar (Black Trousers), Thanda Ghosht (A Lump of Cold Meat/Flesh), were three of them.
In the short span of his life, he published 22 collections of short stories, a novel, 5 collections of radio plays, 3 collections of essays, and two collections of personal sketches, besides a full-length play. He wrote in Urdu but was as popular in Hindi, Punjabi, Kashmiri and some other languages.
It will not be wrong to say that Manto was a born story writer. He paid special attention to the structure of the story, bringing out precisely its significant details, invested with deep insight. His characters mostly comprise the fallen and rejected members of society- the fallen woman and prostitutes as in "Kali Shalwar".
Khol Do was his second story that he had written after his emigration to Pakistan and the shortest. It was published in the “Naqoosh” magazine around 1948 to 1949, which was forced to suspend its publication for six months. This was because the govt. feared that the story held a potential threat- a “breach of public peace”. Although the literary circles at the time forcefully opposed the govt.’s view, it cut no ice with the govt.
Of the several hundred stories, the court found only two stories in which he had transgressed the law and was liable for punishment. But his critics and the custodians of society declared Manto to be retrogressive and licentious. Even the so-called "progressives" betrayed him. At one strike they tarnished his entire writing career with the same dirty brush as the others... To call a writer's work nothing on the basis of two stories is crass injustice. We cannot overlook the fact that Manto's masterpieces such as "Toba Tek Singh", "Mozel", "Babu Gopinath" have nothing to do with obscenity." (Jagdish Chander)
1948 to 1955 saw Manto writing most of his controversial stories. With the outcome that he was being hauled up in courts. He got into trouble for five of his stories. Boo (Odour), Kali Shalwar (Black Trousers), Thanda Ghosht (A Lump of Cold Meat/Flesh), were three of them.
In the short span of his life, he published 22 collections of short stories, a novel, 5 collections of radio plays, 3 collections of essays, and two collections of personal sketches, besides a full-length play. He wrote in Urdu but was as popular in Hindi, Punjabi, Kashmiri and some other languages.
It will not be wrong to say that Manto was a born story writer. He paid special attention to the structure of the story, bringing out precisely its significant details, invested with deep insight. His characters mostly comprise the fallen and rejected members of society- the fallen woman and prostitutes as in "Kali Shalwar".
Khol Do was his second story that he had written after his emigration to Pakistan and the shortest. It was published in the “Naqoosh” magazine around 1948 to 1949, which was forced to suspend its publication for six months. This was because the govt. feared that the story held a potential threat- a “breach of public peace”. Although the literary circles at the time forcefully opposed the govt.’s view, it cut no ice with the govt.
References: 1. The Life and Works of Sa’adat Hasan Manto- Alok Bhalla 2. The Best of Manto- comprising a compilation of Jai Ratan’s translated works of Manto 3. Manto Naama- Jagdish Chander Wadhawan, Translated by Jai Ratan 4. “The Return”- Khalid Hasan’s translation of “Khol Do” 5. “Loosen Up”- Jai Ratan’s translation of “Khol Do” 6. Translating Partition- By Ravi Kumar & Tarun K. Saint 7. Google Website for pdf Downloads O=O=O=O=========================O=O=O=O End of the Presentation