Manto the rebel voice of India’s Partition

India once a great nation was split into two halves destroying several lives and moment which led to excruciating pain for ages to come by. Today is the birth anniversary of one guy that was able to portray the pain and suffering of the partition of India. Saddat Hassan Manto was a writer and author born in Ludhiana, India on 11th May 1912.

Manto is one of the most renowned and respected writers of all times, he is best known for his works on the partition of India, which he stood to oppose all these times following the independence. He was known to write crude truth about the sufferings of society, possibly uncovering the lies that stood in support of a shattered society.

Fourteen million people were displaced following the partition which led to massive outrages and acts of violence, scaring the nation for decades to come and all this is captured in the words of this author. Saddat Hassan Manto’s understanding of a society defines the ethical and moral values that were molded and misused after the partition. He didn’t mean to ignite any controversies but merely tried to put the truth as it is without altering anything and that is what makes him a renowned writer leading to the admiration of his works by many till this date.

Many of his writings have been inspired by his time in Bombay between 1936 and 1948, and he had described those years as his happiest. He loved his country and through his writings tried to find the solitude that was lost for many after the partition of 1947.

Manto had wrestled with the fight for identity his whole life. He was considered the voice of city in the 1940s, unlike others, he didn’t depict Bombay with a touristy vision instead he wrote the truth about it pimps, riots, poverty, a footpath which was the reality, this explains his vision of life which makes his works still applicable in this generation too.

Manto lived a courageous and brave life standing and fighting for truth and reality. He never betrayed the core of reality. His works and writings are an inspiration for all of us which captured the harsh realities of life, the pain of partition, and the suffering of the people.

“If you cannot bear these stories then the society is unbearable. Who am I to remove the clothes of this society, which itself is naked. I don’t even try to cover it, because it is not my job, that’s the job of dressmakers.”
― Saadat Hasan Manto

Here are some of his acclaimed works that should be on your reading list.

  • Toba Tek Singh
  • Bekhabri ka Faiyda
  • Tetwaal ka Kutta
  • Thanda Ghosht
  • Khol Do

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