Manto’s riveting socio-political relevance continues

Manto's riveting socio-political relevance continues to exist even today, as he wrote about religious bigotry and fundamentalism as a conspiracy of dividing people in the name of religion.

He touched stark truths about life and people at a time when others were writing about fairytale romances, Professor Ahmad Javed expressed this exclusively to 'The News' during the 'Manto National Literary Seminar' organised by Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) here on Monday.

Talking to 'The News', he said that Manto wrote about the emotional reaction of religious extremism at a time when no one would touch such issues. He quoted a few lines from one of Manto's columns written back in the 50s in Lahore, which reflect the same horror faced by women at the hands of militant fundamentalists in Swat and other areas. Manto writes in his column, “A man stood at the main square with a scissor in his hand, threatening to cut off the hair of all the bareheaded women he comes across.” Such was the power of Manto's vision and his commitment to truth in such a passionate and complete way that it has to go unchallenged and even his worst enemies couldn't accuse Manto of sectarianism.

Professor Javed said that Manto becomes all the more relevant today, as through his literary wisdom, he highlighted in his writings the situations unfolding today in Swat and other areas in the name of religion.

The literary seminar was organised to mark the birth anniversary of the epoch-making short story writer, whose works remain a true watershed in Urdu literature. Prof Ahmed Javed presided over the seminar, while Prof Khawaja Masood, Prof Sajjad Shaikh, Dr Salahuddin Darveish, and Manzar Naqvi expressed their views on the life and works of Manto.

Prof Khawaja Masood was of the view that Manto was one of the greatest writers of the world, whose stories were consciously revolutionary, openly ridiculing religious intolerance and suggesting the oppressiveness of traditional and social institutions, especially those relating to women. Talking about the small gathering at the seminar, Prof Masood said it speaks of the fears and the typical hypocrisy in minds that exist even today, and we need to take a principled stand against it and talk about it the way Manto did.

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