The Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi (ACP), on Saturday paid tribute to renowned fiction writer Saadat Hasan Manto in connection with his death anniversary by holding a talk discussing relevance of Manto’s works to the present era.
Titled ‘Manto aur Aaj ki Dunya, the session took place at the Haseena Moin Hall of the ACP. It featured an in-depth talk by human rights activist and poet of Urdu, Punjabi and English Harris Khalique with journalist Absa Komal.
The audience comprised a large number of literary enthusiasts, including ACP President Muhammad Ahmed Shah, veteran journalist Ghazi Salahuddin, Noorul Huda Shah, Ayub Sheikh, Dr Qaiser Sajjad and educationist Sadiqa Salahuddin.
The talk began with references to Manto’s letters written between 1951 and 1954. Khalique said there was no fixed continuity in Manto’s work, which distinguished him from other prominent writers. During Manto’s time, there was a clear division between right-wing and left-wing writers and even those who were considered progressive writers often criticised Manto, he said.
He added that Manto viewed Pakistan and India equally and wrote in the language of a marginalised nation.
The global trends of the 1950s and 1960s still existed today in different forms, the speaker said, adding that although technology had changed, basic issues of humanity remained the same.
Manto had understood that the process of Partition did not end in 1947 but actually began then, Khalique remarked.
He emphasised that it was incorrect to view the entire West as a uniform ideology. Alongside unity, dissenting voices had always existed in the West, he asserted.
It was said that in Lahore and across the region, several individuals challenged the dominant narrative, and a large number of writers and artists continued to present alternative perspectives.
Khalique explained that when we referred to the West, it did not mean ordinary people, but rather the powerful class that had dominance, authority and control on the market economy.
He lamented that the relationship between the working class, writers and journalists had weakened, and there was a strong need to reconnect them at the global level.
The speaker was of the view that great writers emerged in every era, though they may not write in the same language.
Writers continued to face restrictions, he said, adding that patriotism meant different things to different individuals.
He quoted Manto as saying: “Neither am I the country, nor the government, nor the treasury; I am only one who speaks the truth.”
He said that people remained unaware of many realities. In today’s time, there was no writer documenting their era the way Manto did, Khalique said. Manto did not see people as Hindu or Muslim, but as human beings, he added.
Absa said that Manto’s famous line, “I am poor because my country is poor,” still held true today. No matter how many cars we bought or housing societies we built, increasing population and limited employment opportunities continued to reflect this reality, she added.
She emphasised that in order to hold mirror to today’s narrow-minded society, a writer like Manto was needed.
