Saadat
Hassan Manto (Punjabi, Urdu: سعادت حسن منٹو) (May 11, 1912 – January
18, 1955) was an Indian Urdu short story writer who migrated to Pakistan
after Partition of India. He is best known for his Urdu short stories ,
'Bu' (Odour), 'Khol Do' (Open It), 'Thanda Gosht' (Cold Meat), and his
magnum opus, Toba Tek Singh'. Unfortunately having spent life on both
sides of the border he was portrayed as an Indian writer in Pakistan and
in India he was portrayed as a Pakistani writer. But truly he was a
writer above distinctions of country or religion.
Saadat Hasan Manto was also a
film and radio scriptwriter, and journalist. In his short life, he
published twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five
collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections
of personal sketches.
Saadat
Hasan Manto was tried for obscenity half-a-dozen times, thrice before
1947 and thrice after 1947 in Pakistan, but never convicted. Some of his
works have been translated in other languages.
Combining psychoanalysis with
human behaviour, he was arguably one of the best short story tellers of
the 20th century, and one of the most controversial as well. When it
comes to chronicling the collective madness that prevailed, during and
after the Partition of India in 1947, no other writer comes close to the
oeuvre of Saadat Hassan Manto.
Since
he started his literary career translating works of literary giants,
like Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde and many Russian masters like Chekov and
Gorky, their collective influence made him search for his own moorings.
This search resulted in his first story, Tamasha, based on the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar. Though his earlier works,
influenced by the progressive writers of his times showed a marked
leftist and socialist leanings, his later work progressively became
stark in portraying the darkness of the human psyche, as humanist values
progressively declined around the Partition. So much so that his final
works that came out in the dismal social climate and his own financial
struggles reflected an innate sense of human impotency towards darkness
that prevailed in the larger society, cultivating in satirism that
verged on dark comedy, as seen in his final great work, Toba Tek Singh,
that not just showed a direct influence of his own stay in a veritable
mental asylum, but also a reflection of collective madness that he saw
in the ensuing decade of his life. To add to it, his numerous court
cases and societal rebukes, deepened his cynical view of society, from
which he felt ever so isolated. No part of human existence remain
untouched or taboo for him, he sincerely brought out stories of
prostitutes and pimps alike, just as he highlighted the subversive
sexual slavery of the women of his times. To many contemporary women
writers, his language far from being obscene brought out the women of
times in realism, seen never before, and provided them with the human
dignity they long deserved. Unlike his fellow luminaries, he never
indulged in didacticism or romanticised his character, nor offered any
judgement on his characters. No matter how macabre or immoral they might
seem, he simply presented the characters in a realistic light, and left
the judgement on to the reader's eyes. This allows his works to be
interpreted in a myriad ways, depending on the viewpoint of the reader.
They would appear sensationalist or prurient to one, while exceedingly
human to another. Yet it was this very non-judgemental and rather
unhindered truism of his pen that put him in an opposite camp from the
media censors, social prejudices and the legal system of his times, so
much so that he remained banned for many years and lost out on many
opportunities to earn a healthy living. He is still known for his
scathing insight into the human behaviour as well as revelation of the
macabre animalistic nature of an enraged peoplw, that stands out amidst
the brevity of his prose.
Saadat
Hasan Manto is often compared with D. H. Lawrence, and like Lawrence he
also wrote about the topics considered social taboos in Indo-Pakistani
Society. His topics range from the socio-economic injustice prevailing
in pre- and post- colonial era, to the more controversial topics of
love, sex, incest, prostitution and the typical hypocrisy of a
traditional male. In dealing with these topics, he doesn't take any
pains to conceal the true state of the affair - although his short
stories are often intricately structured, with vivid satire and a good
sense of humour. In chronicling the lives and tribulations of the people
living in lower depths of the human existence, no writer of 20th
century, came close to Manto. His concerns on the socio-political
issues, from local to global level are revealed in his series, Letters
to Uncle Sam, and those to Pandit Nehru. On his writing he often
commented, "If you find my stories dirty, the society you are living in
is dirty. With my stories, I only expose the truth".
In many ways his writings can be
considered a precursor to the minimalist writing movement of nineties.
Instead of focusing on composition, Manto created literary effect
through narration of facts, often mini stories, often gritty. Characters
are not defined exclusively by the way they look, but by what they've
done in their lives. Places are not described as a collection of sensory
observations but as settings for events, sad, poignant, happy or
otherwise.
Saadat Hassan Manto was born in a Kashmiri Muslim family of barristers, on May 11, 1912.
Saadat Hasan
Manto received his early education at Muslim High School in Amritsar,
but he remained a misfit throughout in school years, rapidly losing
motivation in studies, ending up failing twice in matriculation. His
only love during those days, was reading English Novels, for which he
even stole a book, once from a Book-Stall in Amritsar Railway Station.
In 1931, he finally passed out
of school and joined Hindu Sabha College in Amritsar, which was already
volatile due the independence movement, soon it reflected in his first
story, 'Tamasha', based on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre
After his father died in 1932,
he sobered up a bit to support his mother. The big turning point in his
life came, when in 1933 at age 21, he met Abdul Bari Alig, a scholar and
polemic writer, in Amritsar who encouraged to him find his true talents
and read Russian and French authors.
Within a matter of months Manto
produced an Urdu translation of Victor Hugo's The Last Days of a
Condemned Man, which was published by Urdu Book Stall, Lahore as
Sarguzasht-e-Aseer (A Prisoner's Story). Soon afterwards he joined the
editorial staff of Masawat, a daily published from Ludhiana His 1934
Urdu translation of Oscar Wilde's Vera won him due recognition amongst
the literary circles. At the continued encouragement of Abdul Bari, he
published a collection of Urdu translation of Russian stories as Russi
Afsane.
This
heightened enthusiasm pushed Manto to pursue graduation at Aligarh
Muslim University, which he joined in February 1934, and soon got
associated with Indian Progressive Writers' Association (IPWA). It was
here that he met writer Ali Sardar Jafri and found a new spurt in his
writing. His second story 'Inqlaab Pasand' was published in Aligarh
magazine in March 1935.
There was no turning back from
there and his first collection of original short stories in Urdu, Atish
Pare (Sparks; also Quarrel-Provokers), was published in 1936, at age 24.
Saadat Hasan Manto left Aligarh within a year, initially for Lahore and ultimately for Bombay.
After 1936, he moved to Bombay where
he stayed for the next few years editing Musawwir, a monthly film
magazine. He also started writing scripts and dialogues for Hindi films,
including Kishan Kanhaya (1936) and Apni Nagariya (1939). Soon he was
making enough money, though by the time he married Safia on 26 April
1939, he was once again in dire financial crisis. Despite financial ups
and downs he continued writing for films until he left for Delhi in
January 1941.
Saadat
Hasan Manto had accepted the job of writing for Urdu Service of All
India Radio in 1941. This proved to be his most productive period as in
the next eighteen months he published over four collections of radio
plays, Aao (Come), Manto ke Drame (Manto's Dramas), Janaze (Funerals)
and Teen Auraten (Three women). He continued to write short stories and
his next short story collection Dhuan (Smoke) was soon out followed by
Manto ke Afsane and his first collection of topical essays, Manto ke
Mazamin. This period culminated with the publication of his mixed
collection Afsane aur Drame in 1943. Meanwhile, due a quarrel with then
director of the All India Radio, poet N. M. Rashid, he left his job and
returned to Bombay in July 1942 and again started working with film
industry. He entered his best phase in screenwriting giving films like
Aatth Din, Chal Chal Re Naujawan and Mirza Ghalib, which was finally
released in 1954 [2]. Some of his best short stories also came from this
phase including 'Kaali Shalwar', 'Dhuan' (1943) and 'Bu' which was
published in Qaumi Jang (Bombay) in February 1945. Another hightlight of
his second phase in Bombay was the publication of an important
collection of his stories, Chugad, which also included the story 'Babu
Gopinath'. He continued to stay in Bombay till he moved to Pakistan in
January 1948 much after the partition of India in 1947.
Saadat
Hassan Manto arrived in Lahore sometime in early 1948. In Bombay his
friends had tried to stop him from migrating to Pakistan because he was
quite popular as a film writer and was making reasonably good money.
Among his friends there were top actors and directors of that age — many
of them Hindus — who were trying to prevail upon him to forget about
migrating. They thought that he would be unhappy in Pakistan because the
film industry of Lahore stood badly disrupted with the departure of
Hindu film-makers and studio owners. But the law and order situation
post-partition of British India was such that many Muslims felt insecure
in India, just as many Hindus felt insecure in newly created Pakistan.
That was the reason that Manto had already sent his family to Lahore and
was keen to join them. Manto and his family were among the millions of
Muslims who left present-day India for the newly created Muslim-majority
nation of Pakistan.
Manto
had at least one consolation. His nephew Hamid Jalal had already
settled his family in a flat next to his own in Lakshmi Mansions near
The main Mall. The complex was centrally located. From there every place
of importance was at a stone's throw. These flats were occupied by
families of some of the people who were destined to become important in
the intellectual and academic fields. Manto's next door neighbour was
his nephew Hamid Jalal who later became an important mediaman. In
another flat, lived Professor G M Asar who taught Urdu at Government
College, Lahore. Hailing from Madras, he wrote and spoke excellent
English as well. Then there was Malik Meraj Khalid who was to play an
important role in the politics of Pakistan. Writer Mustansar Hussain
Tarars family also lived in one of the flats there after shifting from
Gowalmandi, though Tarar's presence cannot be referred to as a
contribution to literary ambience as Tarar was just an adolescent at
that time and hadn't even started to write.. Thus when Manto arrived in
Lahore from Bombay he found an intellectual atmosphere around him. His
only problem was how to cater for his family. Sadly for him, Lahore of
that period did not have many opportunities to offer.
After
the writers who had migrated from various Indian cities settled in
Lahore, they started their literary activities. Soon Lahore saw a number
of newspapers and periodicals appearing. Manto initially wrote for some
literary magazines. These were the days when his controversial stories
like Khol Do (Urdu: کھول دو Open it) and Thanda Gosht (Urdu: ٹھنڈا گوشت
Cold Meat) created a furor among the conservatives. People like Choudhry
Muhammad Hussain played a role in banning and prosecuting the writer as
well as the publishers and editors of the magazines that printed his
stories. Among the editors were such amiable literary figures as Ahmad
Nadeem Qasmi, Hajira Masroor and Arif Abdul Matin. Soon the publishers
who were more interested in commercial aspects of their ventures,
slammed their doors shut to Manto's writings. He, therefore, started
contributing stories to the literary supplements of some newspapers.
Even this practice could not go on for long. Masood Ashar who was then
editing the literary page of "Daily Ehsan" published some of his stories
but the conservative owner of the paper soon asked him to refrain from
the practice.
During
those days, Manto also tried his hand at newspaper column writing. he
started off with writing under the title Chashm-e-Rozan for daily
Maghribi Pakistan on the insistence of his friends of Bombay days Ehsan
BA and Murtaza Jillani who were editing that paper. But after a few
columns one day the space appeared blank under the column saying that
due to his indisposition Manto couldn't write the column. Actually Manto
was not indisposed, the owner was not favourably disposed to some of
the sentences in the column.
The only paper that published
Manto's articles regularly for quite some time was "Daily Afaq", for
which he wrote some of his well known sketches. These sketches were
later collected in his book Ganjay Farishtay(Bald Angels). The sketches
include those of famous actors and actresses like Ashok Kumar, Shyam,
Nargis, Noor Jehan and Naseem (mother of Saira Banu). He also wrote
about some literary figures like Meera Ji, Hashar Kashmiri and Ismat
Chughtai. Manto's sketch of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was also
first published in Afaq under the title Mera Sahib. It was based on an
interview with Haneef Azad, Qauid-e-Azam's driver of Bombay days who
after leaving his job as driver became a well known actor. The article
included some of the remarks related to the incident when Dina Jinnah
married Wadia. Later when the sketch was included in the book these
lines were omitted.
Manto
created a new tell-all style of writing sketches. He would mince no
words, writing whatever he saw. "I have no camera which could wash out
the small pox marks from Hashar Kashmiri's face or change the obscene
invectives uttered by him in his flowery style," he wrote.
Manto once tried to present the
sketch of Mulana Chiragh Hasan Hasrat in a literary gathering organized
in YMCA Hall Lahore to celebrate the Maulana's recovery from heart
attack. The sketch entitled Bail Aur Kutta was written in his
characteristic style exposing some aspects of Maulana's life. The
presiding dignitary stopped him from reading the article and ordered him
to leave the rostrum. Manto, however, was in 'high spirits'. He refused
to oblige and squatted on the floor, and was with difficulty prevailed
upon by his wife, Safia, to leave the stage.
Those days Manto was writing
indiscriminately in order to provide for his family and be able to drink
every evening. For everything he wrote, he would demand cash in
advance. In later days, he started writing for magazines like Director.
He would go to its office, ask for pen and paper, write his article,
collect the remuneration and go away. This Manto was different from the
one who arrived in Lahore in 1948.
The
Manto in 1950 had a glowing Kashmiri complexion and a thick crop of
long brown hair on his head. He was wearing a light brown gabardine
shirwanee with a silken trousers and saleem shahi shoes. He came to
Government College, Lahore to read his article How Do I Write a Story.
But the necessity to earn his
livelihood consumed him very fast. In a few years, his complexion became
pale and his hair turned grey. We saw him reading his story Toba Tek
Singh at YMCA Hall at the annual meeting of Halqa-e-Arbab-e-Zauq. He
looked older than his years wearing an overcoat with collars turned up.
The big eyes that darted out of the thick-rimmed glasses looked pale and
yellow. But he read his story in his usual dramatic style and when he
finished reading it there was pin drop silence in the hall and there
were tears in everyone's eyes.
In
later days, though Manto appeared in the Pak Tea House and other
literary functions regularly but he seemed to be in great stress.
Earlier, he was known for his witty remarks in literary gatherings.
However, in later days he would present his writings in literary
meetings but would not tolerate any criticism. He had become extremely
touchy and would shout back at his critics. There were days when he was
welcomed everywhere and literary organisations clamoured for his
participation in their meetings. But then came the days when people
started avoiding him because he would not hesitate from borrowing money
from them.
Simultaneously
he had embarked on a journey of self-destruction. The substandard
alcohol that he consumed destroyed his liver and in the winter of 1955
he fell victim to liver cirrhosis. During all these years in Lahore he
waited for the good old days to return, never to find them again.He was
42 years old at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife
Safiyah and three daughters.
On January 18, 2005, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, Manto was commemorated on a Pakistani postage stamp.
Though Manto was not in need of any action like Postage Stamps and his
work itself was sufficient to remain his name live in the minds of Urdu
readers especially those who are fond of reading short stories, but this
action of Pakistani government was right as it could spread his name in
those who were not aware of him and his work
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Ahfaz-ur-Rahman (Urdu: ا حفاظ ا لر حما ن )(born April 4, 1942), is a Pakistani journalist, writer and poet. He has always struggled for the freedom of the press
and for the rights of working journalists and other media workers. He
has raised his voice both against the numerous dictatorial Pakistani
regimes and the corporate media houses who refuse to give the
journalists and other workers of the press industry their due.
