This argument stands in contrast to existing work on Partition testimony, which often seeks out testimony as a mode via which we may collectively heal from the trauma of Partition.
This succinct formulation sums up a general theme in Partition scholarship in which the genre of testimony func- tions as the primary means via which the pain of Partition and its unthinkable violence might be exorcised and ultimately forgotten. Within the sphere of Urdu literature, and specifically within the ghazal and broader poetic universe, a mole on the cheek is a characteristic feature of the beloved.
In this sense, then, Sakina is both shaahid and shaheed—both beloved and martyr—and, through this play of Urdu-inflected allu- sions and tropes, she is doubly implicated in a discourse of witnessing and testimony. Furthermore, the name Sirajuddin recalls the Urdu poet Siraj, who was one of the foundational figures of Urdu ghazal poetry in the early eighteenth century, and who composed ghazals that are still widely performed in qawwalis and annual poetry gath- erings; by deploying this reference, Manto further marks the specifically Urdu-inflected tropology of his text.
The notion of Sirajuddin as witness also rests on this fundamental inter- relationship between witnessing and faith in Islam, in which the one cannot exist with- out the other. According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet and his wife were travelling when Aisha, realising that her neck- lace was missing, became separated from the caravan while searching for it. Waiting in the desert to be rescued, Aisha was found by a nomad and returned to the caravan.
Part of this con- troversy is related to the difficulty of practically establishing four witnesses to rape or, indeed, any sexual transgression. It is not my intention here to engage with this contro- versy or to interpret these verses, as I am neither religiously qualified nor compelled to do so for the sake of my interpretation. There are two ways that I read four witnesses in the story. See Sahih Bukhari, Vol. Kumar, Limiting Secularism, p. She moved her hand painfully towards the cord holding up her salwar.
In his breast have been buried all the secrets of the art of story writing. Even now, beneath mounds of dirt, he is wondering who is the better story-writer—he or God? Mufti, Enlightenment in the Colony, p. Mufti, Enlightenment in the Colony, pp. Just as I have argued that reading fic- tion as testimony erases the mediation of genre in our understanding of narrative text, we must similarly remember that translation, too, acts as a mediator that changes our reading of any given text.
In contrast to these perspectives, I show that while Partition stories do not operate in the absence of a historical archive, nevertheless the move to read these fictions as testimony suggests that we read them in the same way as one would read a historical archive. See Kumar, Limiting Secularism, pp. In other words, testimony implies the possibility of fiction in the sense that it relies solely on the faith of the reader in order to distinguish itself from fiction.
See Kumar, Limiting Secularism, p. Christi A. I argue instead that the tropology of the text relies on a culturally inflected reading of the story, whether that reading occurs in English or Hindi or Punjabi or in Urdu. However, these allusions to Islamic witnessing only operate, whether in English or Urdu, if we focus on the text as a self-conscious representation opening itself to the possibility of metaphorical signifi- cation beyond the realm of testimony.
And in this translation, the proper name retains a singular destiny, since it is not translated in its appearance as proper name. Now, a proper name as such remains forever untranslatable, a fact that may lead one to conclude that it does not strictly belong, for the same reason as the other words, to the language, to the system of language, be it translated or translating ….
One would then be tempted to say first that a proper name, in the proper sense, does not properly belong to the language; it does not belong there, although and because its call makes the language possible what would a language be without the possibility of calling by a proper name? Graham ed.
Merrill, Riddles of Belonging, p. This theme of bodily witnessing points to the ways in which the body is not simply the pri- vate property of an individual, but also public and publicly embedded in social rela- tionships and meanings. Zinda hai—meri beti zinda hai! It was a young woman with a mole on her left cheek. September 2, at 9: He knew then that he needed help.
At night, he would pray for the success of the young men who were looking for his daughter. Shilpi Saraswat rated it it was amazing Nov 14, Not always was he acquitted. She gave a start at the sound of the lorry and began to run. Is your name Sakina? Story starts with Sirajuddin finding himself on the railway platform of Mughalpura, Lahore. The complete effacement of all so structures due to created a situation of utter panic and chaos, which further exacerbated the ongoing rioting.
Had she got into the carriage with him? The people handed her over to the hospital and left. Saadat Hasan Manto Urdu: A few days later, he had a break. It made him feel better. Munazza marked it as to-read Dec 08, Had he brought her as far as the railway station? Mwnto Mohankar April 4, at 6: Then slowly, he went in. Garima rated it it was amazing Apr 21,. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.
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