A glimpse into the life of "Manto "
Like Allama Iqbal, he predicted that the same people
who jeered at him would praise him in times to come, so he continued to show society its own reflection and wrote: “If you find my stories dirty, the society you are living in is dirty. With my stories, I only expose the truth.”Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto who had published 22 collections of short stories, one novel, and five radio plays knew then that he would be remembered.
A Life Clouded by Controversy;
Although Manto was never convicted, he was tried six times for obscenity in his writings in India prior to 1947, and three times after migrating to Pakistan. In his short and poverty-racked life of 43 years, Manto wrote only what he believed in. “Manto could foresee what would happen, he told the truth,” says award-winning playwright Shahid Nadeem. “He showed that a writer should be closely linked to his society and that should reflect in his writing; in a creative way.”
Nadeem — also the Executive Director of Ajoka Theatre which works for social change — believes there hasn’t been enough focus on Manto’s work or his life. “We have only seen one-dimension in the mainstream, some people regard him as a pornographic writer who was banned not only by the courts but also by the society,” says Nadeem.
A TV Drama serial “Mein Manto,”
As this year marked Manto’s birth centenary, Nadeem and director Sarmad Khoosat teamed up to bring together “Mein Manto,” a drama serial for television audiences to rediscover the writer’s short-lived 43 years. “This is the first time that Manto’s life story is being presented alongside the socio-political conditions of the early ‘50s.”
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