“How important is morality for constituting a national culture? This was the point of discussion among intellectuals of the era of Saadat Hassan Manto, whose short stories were used as a reference point.” This was discussed at an event titled ‘Progressives and Perverts: Pakistan’s Past and Present’, which was arranged by the Habib University Foundation (HUF) at The 2nd Floor on Manto’s 57th death anniversary on Wednesday.
Rich homage was paid to Manto’s contribution to Urdu literature by the participants of the discussion held under HUF’s Yohsin Lecture Series.
Dr Kamran Asdar Ali, Anthropology Professor and South Asia Institute Director at the University of Texas in Austin, participated in the discussion aimed at revisiting the early period of Pakistan’s history through Manto’s versatile writings.
Ali said, “Manto’s voice helps us to rethink the moment in Pakistan’s history when contesting voices of uncertainty and confusion against an emerging nationalist framework discussed and debated the shape that Pakistan’s social, political and cultural life would take in the ensuing years.”
He said, “Manto’s short stories can be read as representing his ambivalence about the consolidation of a unitary identity in the Pakistani state.”
Asif Aslam Furrukhi, the moderator of the discussion, shed light on Manto’s vision that provided a space for dialogue and inquiry in the pre- and post-Partition society of the Subcontinent.
HUF is a not-for-profit organisation that supports educational initiatives, research and innovation.
Established in October 2007 by the House of Habib, HUF’s primary project is the establishment of Habib University, a world-class liberal arts and sciences university in Karachi.
57 years on, Manto’s contribution to national culture still remembered
