Khol Do
Manto's historically progressive work also details the forms of
violence that particularly affected women, including sexual assaults on both
sides of the border - considered a threat to the 'dignity of women and their
communities, and lead to mass suicides to prevent this 'disgrace'. For a long
discussion on the spectrum of violence against women in the Hindu, Muslim, and
Sikh communities, see here in the short story Khol Do.
Khol Do (Khol Do) is a story that is told in parallel to the depths of
human misery that was witnessed during the partitions and after independence.
The short story is told in the context of Sirajuddin, whose daughter Sakina
goes missing when the train on which he was traveling was attacked by rioters.
Sirajuddin asks some social workers in Pakistan to form a search party
for his daughter. It turns out that on finding her, the men themselves rape
her, and leave her to die near the refugee camp, where Sirajuddin lives. In the closing scene, in which Sakina barely regains consciousness in the doctor's
office, takes off her shalwar, expecting to be raped again, especially the
trauma of the victims, who were perpetrated by men from their own communities
as well as others of the.
Khol Do challenges the inter-religious continuing narrative of violence
with which divisions are often perceived. Questioning the institution of social
work, which was central to the nationalist movement's agenda, Manto portrayed
the futility of nationalist ideology on both sides of the border, based on
hyper-masculinity.
"PERPETRATORS WERE MEN WITHIN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES AS OFTEN AS
THOSE OF OTHERS."
References:
https://urduwallahs.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/khol-do-saadat-hasan-manto/
http://ghalibana.blogspot.com/2011/03/khol-do-by-saadat-hasan-manto-shocking.html/
0 Comments