The National Law Institute

University,Bhopal

SEMESTER 1

English Project
An essay on Sadat Hasan Manto as a writer of realist fiction,with particular reference to
the theme of obscenity, forwhich he was tried in a court of law

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Deepanshu Mandli Prof. (Dr.) Mukesh Shrivastava

Roll no. 33

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Certificate

This is to certify that the Project titled- an essay on Sadat Hasan Manto as a writer of realist
fiction, with particular reference to the theme pf obscenity, for which he was tried in a court of
law. Deepanshu Mandli who is currently pursuing his BA LLB. (Hons.) at National Law

Institute University, Bhopal in fulfilment of English - 1 course. It is also certified this is original
research report and this project has not been submitted to any other university nor published in
any journal.

Date

Signature of student

Signature of research supervisor

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Acknowledgement

This project has been made possible by unconditional support from various people, I would like
to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to prof. Mukesh Shrivastava for guiding me
throughout the development of this project into a coherent whole by providing helpful insights
and sharing their brilliant expertise.

I, also would like to thank the members of the library staff and computer section for the
cooperation in making available the books and accessing the internet even during their free time.
I am deeply indebted to my parents, seniors and friends for all the moral support and
encouragement.

Deepanshu Mandli

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 1. Table of Content
1. ABSTRACT................................................................................1

2. Review of literature.....................................................................2

3. Statement of problem..................................................................2

4. Hypothesis...................................................................................2

5. Research questions......................................................................2

6. Objective of study.......................................................................2

7. INTRODUCTION......................................................................3

8. MAJOR WORKS........................................................................4

9.A REALIST PAR EXCELLENCE.............................................5

10. MANTO AND THE OBSCENITY LAWS..........................6

12. MANTO’S CHALLENGE ON OBSCENITY......................7

13. THE JUDGES WINDOW- LEGALLY

PERMISSIBLE ART ; SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE
CREATIVITY...............................................................................9

14.CAPTURINGOBSCENITYMULTIPLEMETHODOL
OGIES;DIVERSE DEFINITIONS................................................9

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 15.THE JUDGES’ WINDOW- THE LAW, NOT
THELITERATURE DECIDES, WHAT LITERATURE
IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT.........................................................10

16. MANTO’S CONTINUING RESONANCE........................11

17. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION................................12

18. BIBLIOGRAPHY...............................................................14

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 “….and it is possible, that Sadat Hasan dies, but Manto remains alive.”

1. ABSTRACT

The paper discusses the unique storylines in Manto's short stories, and also comments on
Manto's art of giving voice to this neglected section of the society. This also seeks to capture the
distinctive critique of Manto's law-imposed structures for 'acceptable' artistic expression, as well
as his unforgettable picture. A colonial and post-colonial spectacle of court trials.

There is something exceptionally reminiscent about extraordinary fiction or artistic stories by

incredible journalists of fiction on the subject of coercive position. The observed South Asian
Urdu writer also, short story author Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) has a place with a long
custom of profoundly talented creators who had the event of expressly experiencing and defying
the bulky ruses and the now and again careless and harsh rationale of power. Manto, being a
modernist, chooses to comment on the existing one. By making these dejected people as social
norms and belief. The characters in the stories. Manto does not discriminate between classes;
and he doesn't make the mistake of taking a particular side. He remains neutral and yet strong
when it comes to his views. Like that, other eminent writers of his ilk, his thoughts on his
encounters – Manto had a few. Criminal prosecutions for allegedly pornographic writing – have
left posterity with even more than a frustrated chronicle of someone confounded by an
exhausting personal ordeal. We are legacies Instead, with a wealth of deep, astute, and
convincing insights of a keen- eyed, sensitive mind, and articulate man – insights that continue
to have great significance and broad appeal.

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2. Review of literature

Jalal, Ayesha (2013), The Pity of Partition: Manto’s Life, Times and Work across the
IndiaPakistan Divide (Cambridge 2013).
Kolsky, Elizabeth (2010), Colonial Justice in British India: White Violence and the Rule
of Law (Cambridge 2010).
Manto, Saadat Hasan (1995 a), Zehmat-e-Meher-e-Darakhshan (Torment of the Blazing
Sun), in Manto Nama, (Sang-e-Meel 1995).

3. Statement of problem

Laws related to obscenity were different at the time of British India and during independence
as compared to the present scenario so there are some difficulties in analysing the actual factors
to determine obscenity and the various charges related with it.

4. Hypothesis

To create a realistic world, to provide a believable storyline, credible characters etc. In order to
feel authentic, a location does not have to be real when it comes to the environment.

5. Research questions

• What is obscenity and laws related to it?

• How does a writer create a sense of realism in fiction?
• What are the consequences that have to be faced by a writer of realist fiction?

6. Objective of study

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 • To study and analyse various aspects of obscenity laws
• To create a sense of realism in fiction
• To critically analyse different dimensions of obscenity since British era

7. INTRODUCTION

Saadat Hasan Manto is one of most misjudge and dubious scholars in the Subcontinent. It is
mostly a product of the unrulyness and horror of culture that has changed culturally,
topographically, and morally in its long abstract eruption. Brought into the world in Samrala in
1912, Manto got mainstream in the whole country before he kicked the bucket at an age of 43 of
every 1955. Manto was an author with 'reformist' thoughts. He restricted the thoughts of
despotism and colonialism and composed widely for correspondence dependent on sexual
orientation, district and religion. His short stories explored the forms of a woman's body in the
most striking, conceivable structure, and were seen as chauvinistic and revolting by individuals
who did not speak loudly when women were torn apart and attacked by individuals focused on
the assurance of their standing and religion. Manto had become the target of this affectation and
had been tried several times in the official courtrooms, several times in English India, and then
three times in autonomous Pakistan. To the charges of indecency forced on him he answers,
"You discover my accounts harsh and acrid. In any case, what has mankind picked up from the
pleasantness that has till now been doled out to it? The leaves of neem might be severe;
however, they do sanitize blood." In spite of being a standout amongst other short narrators in
this piece of Asia, Manto was continually overlooked by the legislatures of the two countries, his
companions from the dingy world and from the scholarly circle. It was a direct result of this
sheer dismissal that sixty years prior his final resting place was brought down in the grave in the
midst of most extreme neediness. Manto was a decent narrator but then his commitment to the
general public and writing was not recognized even after his passing. Individuals who feared
him harming the strict feelings changed his tribute which he, at the end of the day, composed
before his passing. "Here falsehoods covered Saadat Hasan Manto in whose chest are cherished
all the insider facts and

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specialty of short story composing. Covered under hills of earth, even now he is thinking about
regardless of whether he is a more noteworthy short story essayist or God." was supplanted with
"Here falsehoods covered Manto who actually accepts that he was not the last word on the essence
of the earth."

8. MAJOR WORKS

During his profession, Manto composed in excess of 200 stories and various expositions, film
contents, and radio plays. Be that as it may, his most prominent commitments to Indian writing
were his dominance of the short story type and his utilization of the Urdu language. A portion of
his notable Urdu short stories incorporate Bu, Khol Do, Thanda Gosht, and Toba Tek Singh, that
were instantly converted into English after Manto's passes.

Manto, all through his lifetime, stayed cross with the social and abstract establishing of his
occasions. His composing was viewed as striking and foul and different charges were put on
him where he was in a real sense brought to preliminary in India and Pakistan. Be that as it
may, he didn't respect this malarkey. He stayed resistant and unrepentant. Indeed, he angered
the specialists by composing more artistic stuff on the god-men, government officials and the
tops of the general public. There were individuals who believed that he was an insane person
and all that he said or did was disagreeable and there were other sort of individuals who felt that
he was only an express and provocative author. Be that as it may, there were other sort of
individuals who believed him to be the best Urdu author, all things considered. His accounts
were dim and spoken to the corrupted side of the human mind however it was a lot of
reasonable and is pertinent to all occasions and ages. He has transparently expounded on the
frightful brutality during the hour of segment that both the individuals of Pakistan and India
face. He assaulted the political arrangement of that time, which upheld parcel, in his
composition. He not just extended the survivors of the scorn wrongdoing in a dismal light
however he likewise introduced the individuals who depended on viciousness as the casualties
of a naughty political framework. He previously felt separated from the general public yet the
analysis and scold for his express and legit composing that he used to get made him
increasingly more pessimistic about human instinct and society. He didn't think about anything
as untouchable and recognized all the
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concealed parts of the general public. He has even expounded on the sexual deception of the
general public by bringing the accounts of the whores and pimps on the cutting edge. He was
dead against the idea of sexual subjection of ladies. Numerous ladies scholars have valued
Manto's ability to depict the situation of ladies in sexual bondage in his occasions very genuine
and practical. He is commonly contrasted with D.H. Lawrence in his composing style as both of
these authors used to expound on the restrictions of their particular social orders with
explicitness and with no hindrances. At the point when Manto was accused for the irreverence in
his works, he stated, If you can't hold up under these accounts then you should realize that the
general public is additionally intolerable. Why should I take off the garments of the general
public, which itself is bare? I don't attempt to cover it, since it isn't my employment that is the
occupation of the dressmakers of the general public.

9. A REALIST PAR EXCELLENCE

Manto's most prominent blessing was his capacity to portray the truth of society without
breaking a sweat that he would leave the peruse entranced and in absolute amazement. His
thoughtfulness regarding minor subtleties and his unique style of portrayal was top notch. Manto
was a pragmatist and a puritan who despised false reverence in each given manner.

Having encountered childhood in a setting where Manto's notice was inseparable from the
composition of Urdu short stories, there was consistently an exceedingly disputable big question
over his compositions. We have all the entrance to his books on the planet and have never
stopped looking at his works, whether in Urdu or in English, which continued in the mid-1990's
to mid-2000's. Everyone thought about what created him so contentious and why a particular
section of society was heartened to consider him a 'Fahaashi'.

The cruel reality of the general public under which we now live applied to his compositions. The
dynamics of his works were fairly touching; the importance of the man was proclaimed by his
concern for problems that were delicate in nature. Being called a 'Fahaashi' was something
incredibly difficult for many people to process, but they realized with the passage of time that he
was a person of note subject to review and acceptance. The more we read about him, the more

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we thought about his ability in each time to predict the future and the immediate significance he
commands.

Manto was a touchy man, and he was influenced by the abstract masses and the public
everywhere by his mistreatment and blacklist. He was denied the choice of obtaining a job in a
general public that marginalized him because of his compositions that propagated society's
disturbing reality. Manto was not stopped by the violence and blacklist from releasing his
inventiveness and compilation that was perceptible in his works until the end.

Manto's comprehension skills and honesty of his dialect, when writing, were obviously top
notch. He was glad and pompous in nature, which was a goodness of his capacity, a humanist
second to none but his liquor abuse. He never predicted confidence and values in his
relationships. Manto built bonds with individuals from various backgrounds, independent of
trust, and Ashok Kumar, Shyam, and Pran are instances of that.

Manto's uniqueness lay in considering a spade a spade, and would not move the slightest bit
from what he composed.

Blunt and reckless in nature, this made him vulnerable to assault from all quarters which thus
drove him into inconvenience among the scholarly tip top of that time. He was an agitator, who
had shaped his own specialty of composing, and was exceptional in each given feeling of the
word.

10. MANTO AND THE OBSCENITY LAWS

As stated earlier, the writing of obscene stories was prominent among the many charges that
were routinely hurled against Manto. He was also brought to court to hammer home the case in
order to obtain legal punishment for such a literary and spiritual denunciation. The applicable
legislation was the British Colonial Obscenity Act, which was enforced in 1860 by the Indian
Penal Code in colonized India. It was a law that, like many other colonial laws of that time, was
conditioned and focused on colonial prejudice. Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code of 1860
did not describe obscenity, but attempted to prohibit anything conceivable from obscenity in
writings and objects, just to make an acceptable exception in order to alleviate such religious

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sensitivities, thereby pragmatically taking into account the situations in which Indian
conceptions of the sacred overlapped with European conceptions of the obscenity. We are
blessed with a fascinating collage of creative writer's observations of the court system (Manto
extensively recorded his experiences in his inimitable style) as Manto frequently found himself
dragged before the courts because someone or the other complained that what he wrote was
unfit for social consumption and even anathema to the state, religion and culture.

11. MANTO ON THE PHYSICAL EXPERIENCES OF

TRIAL
For Manto, the trials were already physically and financially fragile in every sense of the
word. He is often sarcastic, but often stoic, scandalous, curious, restless, long-suffering,
and often both angry and profoundly distressed in his documented impressions of his trials.
Manto harangued endless hearings, severe weather ravages, and premises that were ill-
equipped to shelter and protect, often disdainful and easily irritable judges, the struggle to
locate and organize defense witnesses, the witnesses of the prosecution often embroiled in
ad hominem assaults, the constant fear of an unforeseeable legal result, and the absolute
indignity.

Anyone who wants to revival what Manto went through physically during his trials can
study his haunts for sixty years in courtroom halls. They're like a living museum, because
all these years have changed, but so little. Today, the mood caught by Manto can still be
breathed in.

12. MANTO’S CHALLENGE ON OBSCENITY

The artistic soul and hyper-sensitive personality of Manto grappled with the ephemeral legal
complexities of obscenity against this crippling context. He vociferously argued in his trials that
what he wrote was not obscene and that what he found he simply defined. Therefore the blame
rested with those who found fault with it, not with what he wrote. Manto would include an
analogy to assert that no theme was inherently or actually obscene when his legal opponents said
they discovered that his choice of writing on a sexual theme was inherently inspired to
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encourage immoral impulses in people, but it was obscene only if the artist wanted it to be
obscene. What’s more, what in fact sets Manto separated is his open hatred for the pervasive,
more commended, sentimental and tasteful subjects of traditional Urdu writing. All things
considered, Manto took up and dominated sensible depictions of life in the entirety of its
unpleasantness, insignificance and grotesqueness. The holders on in the by-lifestyles; the
subordinate, the overlooked and the underestimated; and, even the emphatically disdained and
disapproved of are the very individuals he discovers deserving of consideration. The absolute
meanness of people is regularly Manto's motivation, however not without a fastidious exhuming
of any leftover signs and trusts in humankind – his own mankind drives him to search for
beguile where others simply observe revoltingness and to uncover temperance and goodness
where everything except a couple of just see bad habit. He consistently compares and surveys
his characters against what society blesses as decent and commendable, and unwinds the false
reverence and inward decay that good society frequently experiences yet cunningly
camouflages. And afterward there are the complex multi-layered sexual strains between the
other genders, further convoluted by social restrictions, famous biases, settled in creeds and
hardened abhorrence for any open conversation of the equivalent, despite the fact that
voyeurism may somehow be the cultural standard. Manto is boldly resistant about his
opportunity to communicate as an innovative essayist and his freedom to choose his own
subjects – including sexual ones. Manto also throws down the gauntlet for those readers who
frequently find his tales lewd and provocatively asks them if the perversion lies in their minds
rather than in his writings.

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 13. THE JUDGES WINDOW- LEGALLY
PERMISSIBLE ART ; SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE
CREATIVITY
The First-Class Magistrate who oversaw the Manto trial, as well as the editor and publisher of
the story, according to the Order of 16 January 1950: "I have read this story carefully and found
it to contain a filthy language style and impolite swear words." I also felt that in this story there
are some libidos inducing elements and sexual insinuations. To judge whether or not a story is
obscene, to assess obscenity, it is necessary to set a benchmark. The Magistrate states, when
establishing a benchmark, that all Indian courts have followed the standard established in an
1868 English case. The judgment described any impugned materials as obscene that can incite
immoral and depraved conduct to any such individual who can access such materials and whose
minds are susceptible to such influences. Expert testimony is also required to determine existing
literature standards for sophistication of speech, vulgarity, moral/immoral meaning and the
inclinations it inspires in the readers' minds. After that, on the basis of all this, it is for the court
to determine if anything meets the 'obscenity' requirements or does not meet them.

14. CAPTURINGOBSCENITYMULTIPLEMETHODOLO
GIES;DIVERSE DEFINITIONS

It might be said the Meeting Judge's point of view isn't not at all like Manto's who had kept
upend down that as an author everything he did was to give verbal previews of the genuine
condition of society. The Appointed authority at that point proceeded to bring up and talk about
different predominant social practices that he respected more shocking than the denounced short
story. This was not to state that he affirmed of the story for he said that he didn't; in any case,
significantly, he said that he didn't think that its more profane or more questionable than
different things that regularly continued and were endured in the public arena. All in all, Manto's
yield was not any fouler than the general public he expounded on – it fulfilled the low good
guideline that the general public really clung to. This may be viewed as a somewhat

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underhanded commendation yet the result was gratifyingly genuine for Manto's allure was
effective.

15. THE JUDGES’ WINDOW- THE LAW, NOT

THELITERATURE DECIDES, WHAT
LITERATURE IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT

But Manto hasn't yet done his trials and tribulations. The State lodged an appeal with less
sympathy from the high Court of Lahore. Some words used are rather vulgar, whereas others
refer to the exercise of a sexual act as gross metaphors. It is noteworthy that the judge is forced
to agree that morality is a subjective and comparative concept and that by any definition of
morality the tale is condemned as reprehensible.' His argument, however is fundamentally
circular, as he eventually rediscovers the universal norm of morality. He pleaded that, regardless
of whether they were hideous or comely, he sought to merely represent the countless real faces
of society and nothing more and nothing less. If he wanted to write about what was ugly, then it
was a choice that needed to be unassailable or else the audience would see nothing in art and
literature but an unrealistic and highly sanitized and monotonous sameness. He proclaimed his
freedom of choice to choose his themes and characters as a creative writer. He urged that the
fundamental intent of the writer is definitely what really mattered and not his final output; there
was no intent to titillate or arouse anywhere in his impugned tales. Both his plot twists, his
particular use of words, and his specific explanation of events were an important part of the
stories he told and the characters he portrayed.

A decision of law that also requires a general indictment of Pakistan's literary stars. "...We think
all the respondents guilty, and because in some literary circles the most perverted conceptions
of decency in literature seem to prevail.

Pakistan, of which Minto is a member, is sentenced by each of the respondents to a fine of

Rs 300 each or experience a strict period of imprisonment for one month."

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16. MANTO’S CONTINUING RESONANCE

It is clear that only legal sanctions will temporarily regulate artistic and political opposition.
Manto remains as relevant as he did in his life – and so does Justice Munir, albeit for all
misplaced motives. There are still those who accuse Manto of being an indifferent, talented
writer who, by being provocative and vulgar, essentially wanted attention. Though having traces
of his characteristic wit and humour, Manto's response to this accusation is like his other
reactions to such criticism.

To conclude with Manto's own insightful words: "It is not too difficult to address the issue.

Why the writers of today focus primarily on sexual issues – we live in a peculiar era. Paradoxes-
women are today closer to each other, as well as far apart-where one encounters, they remain
absolutely naked and veiled from head to toe in other areas; one comes across. Women dressed
in male costumes as well as men dressed like women... The world is undergoing a... great shift-
eastern culture is being deconstructed and rebuilt; humanity is being exposed and embraced-
there is somewhat of a chaos everywhere. You find us writers in this cacophony who use our
pen and struggle with this dilemma. And this if you see too much debate in our writing
regarding the male female relationship. This can be predicted only – countries can be divided
politically, religions established. In addition, adjacent parts of the nation may be limited by
statute, except in terms of their core values.

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17. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

Manto's characters reflect his opinions and emotions. They are the victims of others around
them, but up until the end they keep their identity. The turbulence encountered by society in its
stories does not impact the behavior and humanism of so-called lesser human beings. It has
described the problem and the battle for their integrity, but most readers prefer to disregard it.
Conflict is concealed behind the curtains of the art and creativity of Manto. Manto, it was a
remarkable talent, a rude voice for mute sufferers, a voice to the restless mind, a voice to which,
until now, people are crying for the betterment of society. Manto lived when pity and
selflessness remained unaffected, like most of the people. Carefully protect yourself from the
social and political upheaval of the country. The characteristics are these individuals, often from
the lower strata of society. In Manto's stories. He demonstrates the characters by showing his
character lives layer by layer. Tales of passion, desire, revenge, disappointment and other
darkness are throbbing at the heart. Humans, dude. Hope and grief, life and death, accompany
these physical acts. Entangled in the feelings of concern, reverence and tolerance that contribute
to the development of a new level of truth and understanding. His obsessive fight for freedom of
artistic expression is a reflection of the long and lasting period, Manto's closely felt extremely
impressionistic and profoundly moving accounts of his trials. A great literary fiction tradition, as
well as literary essays that deal with contemporary fiction. Realities which have been attempting
to examine and unravel the dynamic phenomenon and sometimes despotic manifestations of the
official authority.

This essay explains what is above by simply discussing the tests and the perpetual. A fiction
author such as Manto who explores the law and its intricate complexities of formality, systems
of control and legalized coercion – always when the law examines them. And he attempts
without success to place him and his work in one of the definitions recommended for him. A
writer also knows how to speak very different and conceives the natural world.

This generates a confrontation that is inevitable. It also provides an invaluable independent

indicator for the assessment of the language's form and sense. The method predominates – an

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unassailable and superior language.The insularity of the system and the overwhelming system
are also liable.In culture there are other mechanisms and regulatory structures.

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18. BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Siddique, Osama (2013), Pakistan’s Experience with Formal Law: An

Alien Justice (Cambridge 2013).
• Siddique, Osama (2011), Law in Practice – The Lahore District Courts
Litigants Survey, LUMS DPRC Working Paper Series (2011)
• Manto, Saadat Hasan (1995 e), Panchwan Muqadimah (The Fifth Trial),
in Manto Kahaniyan (Sang-e-Meel 1995).
• Manto, Saadat Hasan (1995 d), AfsanaNigarAurJinsiMasail (The Short
Story Writer and Sexual Matters), in Manto Nama (Sang-e-Meel 1995).

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