Lihaaf – a tale that taints Lesbianism

Lihaaf by Ismat Chughtai has been a story hailed by scholars and critics of the contemporary world as
one of the flagbearers of feminism and LGBTQ Rights. Amidst the darkness of patriarchy, it has
thrown light upon the subjects of female sexuality and desires which has established its prominence
as a great piece of feminist literary work. Its depiction of homosexuality in 1942, an era when it was
excessively taboo and looked down upon makes Lihaaf a bold piece of literature that attempts to
become an expression against heteronormativity. Inspite of being hailed as an outspoken, forward-
minded and liberal piece of work, there are certain elements of the story Lihaaf, that on further
analysis in line with the prevalent social context, make it highly problematic. This is because the
depiction of normality of homosexuality in the story, inadvertently normalises sexual assault as well.
This element of sexual assault in the story is conveniently ignored by the critics and hence, is posed
to the world as an ingrained trait of lesbianism. Therefore, the image of Lesbianism painted through
Ismat Chughtai’s story is a perverted and stained one since she mixes it with predatory elements.
Some might argue that it instead glorifies feminism and lesbianism, but they fail to take into account
the fact that sexual assault can never showcase true ideals of feminism.

The story has been presented as the narration of a little girl who stays in her aunt Begum Jaan’s
house for a week. During her stay, the narrator discovers Begum Jaan’s secret i.e. her sexual
inclination for her masseuse Rabbu. Through the narrator’s view point, Chughtai gradually pulls the
‘quilt’ off Begum Jaan’s sexuality. Her sexual encounters and exploration of sexuality with Rabbu has
undergone a lot of analysis in the current world among activists. The analysis of this aspect of Begum
Jaan’s sexual indulgence has been critically focussed on the homosexual nature of it. This bold
depiction of homosexuality deserved the attention it has received but has left another prominent
aspect of Begum Jaan’s sexual acts highly unrecognised – Paedophilia. Begum Jaan, in Rabbu’s
absence goes on to violate the little narrator who remains confused since she is still ignorant about
the intricacies of sex. The non-consensual and violative nature of Begum Jaan’s sexual exploitation of
the little child narrator has not been recognised as an important aspect of the story and so Lihaaf’s
critical acclaim owing to its presentation of sexual fluidity has inadvertently rendered the assault
irrelevant. Ishmat Chughtai was brought to trial for depiction of obscenity for the showcasing of
homosexuality in the story Lihaaf. This court trial has been a significant contributor for the
popularity of Lihaaf in the liberal context. The repressive narrative witnessed against the LGBTQ
Community and the stigma attached to homosexuality in this trial, still sparks flame in the modern
society[ CITATION Chu86 \l 16393 ]. Hence, Lihaaf, at the centre of attention became a story that
was given the tag of revolutionising against the heteronormative conceptions of the society. On
critically analysing the storyline and text of this piece we get a picture of this other aspect i.e. Begum
Jaan’s predatory nature, that did not garner much attention. The narrator in the story recounts how
Begum Jaan “made me lie down with my head on her arm[ CITATION Chu42 \l 16393 ].” She also
mentions her discomfort and dissent as “I tried to protest”[ CITATION Chu42 \l 16393 ] and “I
wanted to run away, but she held me tightly. I tried to wriggle out and Begum Jaan began to laugh
loudly[ CITATION Chu42 \l 16393 ].” It was a clear emotional outcry and trauma of the victim of an
assault when the narrator mentions “A strange fright overwhelmed me. Begum Jaan’s deep-set eyes
focused on me and I felt like crying. She was pressing me as though I were a clay doll and the odour
of her warm body made me almost throw up. But she was like one possessed. I could neither scream
nor cry[ CITATION Chu42 \l 16393 ].” Therefore, it can be evidently interpreted throughout the
child’s narrative how she became a victim of assault at the hands of Begum Jaan[ CITATION Som18 \l
16393 ]. Once this aspect of assault is uncovered, the reverence of ‘Lihaaf’ as a story depicting
lesbianism and a work that is a flagbearer of lesbianism becomes concerning, because it leads to the
association of the unquestioned assault as an ingrained trait of lesbianism and homosexuality. A
linkage is drawn between these elements of assault and the social image of Lihaaf as pro-LGBTQ and
feminist work and hence, the problematic conclusion of predaciousness being inherent in lesbianism
is drawn out.

It has been a widely argued counter claim that the depiction of the assault is just another depiction
of lesbianism as something normal. The rationale behind this has been that since there are predators
among heterosexuals, there ought to be predators among homosexuals too, and that does not mean
that the story tries to advocate assault in anyway. In fact, this rationale further stretches out to
opine that by showcasing predatory sexual tendencies in a flawed homosexual individual just like in
any other narrative about a flawed heterosexual individual, it tries to normalise homosexuality in a
very intellectual way. This argument is utterly flawed by the fact that it disregards the social context
in which homosexuality is viewed. It fails to take into account the prevalent awareness about varying
sexual preferences and the dogmatic narrative of it being a perverted act. There are various religious
scriptures, age old orthodox laws and conformist leaders which have taken the stance of
homosexuality being a lustful and perverted act therefore presenting it as an evil. Therefore, in the
contemporary world where views of homosexuality being perverted and predatory are already up
and running, by showcasing the homosexual protagonist as a predator, the story has only pushed
the idea forward of homosexuality as predatory in nature. It is extremely critical to realise that the
homophobic ideology has at its crux this idea of homosexuality as arising from lust and predatory
traits, therefore mixing this element of assault with lesbianism, only vindicates the theory of these
conformists and presents a careless idea that can hinder progress. Hence, the revering of this story
as a true depiction of ‘feminism and lesbianism’ has only done wrong to the ideals of the feminists
and LGBTQ+ community by portraying them as lustful individuals who can go to the extent of
paedophilia without batting an eyelid and care about the consequences.

Another crucial issue is that with Lihaaf being hailed as an expression depicting Lesbianism, the
character Begum Jaan, who carries this idea of female exploration of sexuality becomes the
exemplar and the character depicting and showcasing the sexuality of a Lesbian, to a world which is
already highly unaware about Lesbianism. This symbol for lesbianism is the very assaulter who
violates her own niece and is also a symbol for paedophilia. This gives a wrong and unclear idea
about homosexuality and the reason liberalism promotes LGBTQ rights. Also, the fact that Ishmat
Chughtai mentions homosexuality as a “disease”[ CITATION Chu86 \l 16393 ] and a
“tendency”[ CITATION Chu86 \l 16393 ] in the Lihaaf Trials, presents the picture of a confused idea
of homosexuality that she herself had at that stage in her life.

The contemporary and liberal view on homosexuality comes from the fundamentality of the fact
that everyone has different sexual preferences and they should be given a right to choose their
partners, irrespective of the sex. Discrimination between people on the basis of their sexual
preference is unjustified, therefore, it is required in the contemporary world that the law and the
society regards all, irrespective of their sexual preference as equals, before their eyes. Therefore,
since everyone should be regarded equally, it is an intriguing question if the sexual assault would
have still been side lined if it had been a story with another normative heterosexual character with
the same sexual abuse of the little girl happening by a heterosexual individual. It is almost certain
that the contemporary society would identify the paedophilic character as an assaulter, no matter
which cause he was a symbol of. Since, unfortunately, this fails to happen with the prevalent sexual
preference of the assaulter in the story, society’s position on Lihaaf, goes against the very non-
discriminatory ideals of homosexuality. Moreover, then it also challenges the notion that consent is
supreme, irrespective of the gender, sexual preference and situation.
In conclusion, Lihaaf to showcase the ‘lesbianism’ of Begum Jaan, which could have been perfectly
fine, she stains it all by involving the element of sexual abuse which showcases as if it is something
that has predatory tendencies inherent in it. “What could I have said to anyone? That I was afraid of
Begum Jaan? Begum Jaan who was so attached to me?” The narrator is not the only victim of sexual
assault in this state of fear, trauma and anguish. There are millions of children today facing this
gruesome reality. Uneducated and unaware about sexuality, left clueless. Assaulted by their own
trusted ones, family and relatives, left silent in fear. All in all, Lihaaf is a shocking heart-wrenching
narrative of a gruesome and barbaric assault of a child and calling it depiction of female sexuality or
Lesbianism only tarnishes the ideals of the LGBTQ+ community and if Begum Jaan is seen as the
flagbearer and symbol for a social cause, then the society has made a grave error in its judgement
because glorifying such perpetrators leaves millions of households haunted by this horror in the dark
abyss of injustice.