Victimization of Women in the Writings of Saadat Hasan Manto

Abstract

Saadat Hasan Manto is considered as a great artisan of short stories and an analyst of human passion and social hypocrisy. He surpassed his time and nationality through the sensitive portrayals of human tragedy. His stories are beyond the limits of nationalistic borders and ages. The partition of the subcontinent witnessed the most gory and gruesome violence against women. The country, which considers a woman as goddess saw their victimization openly. The great divide of India and Pakistan blemished the essence of womankind. Large number of people became the witness of partition but women were the most victimized of all. During the communal riot, woman’s body became a cultural symbol, and a territory to be conquered and dishonouring it became the symbol of dishonouring the entire community. Saadat Hasan Manto’s stories have projected how women were victimized and denigrated as mere territory. Being a Progressive writer, Manto has displayed women`s oppression in a patriarchal society.