Manto and the Raj - II

It is said that when the lifeless Thaila was separated from the British soldier, both his hands were fastened like an iron vice around his neck. Saadat Hasan Manto has given a story’s form to this eyewitness incident of 1919 which was a precursor to the tragedy of Jallianwala Bagh.

When news of the renowned beauty of Shamshad and Almas - the courtesan sisters of the victim of English bullets, Thaila - reached the British military officers, they are summoned to perform. At the end of the soiree of joy and pleasure, the sisters throw off their dresses, addressing the British army officers: “Come, see, we are the sisters of Thaila. Of that martyr on whose beautiful youth you rained bullets, for he had the spirit of patriotism. Come do whatever you want but...before you do it, let us spit at your face once.”

Both were shot for their courage.

Manto seeks to humanize the courtesan and explain that she possesses patriotism and a desire for freedom no less than any other. Did Almas and Shamshad become immortal by giving their lives? Did they attain the status of martyrs of the freedom movement? The conservative society of the Indian Subcontinent will hesitate to give them this position. In fact, as Manto’s story concludes, they would rather curse the courtesans - insisting that they “sullied” even the martyrdom of their brother.

In the story An Incident from 1919, Manto has presented two faces of action: on the one hand, presenting the struggle against British rule with an “idealized” emotional frame of reference. Second, that which Manto depicts to be happening in real life. The conclusion of this story was possible in both ways, but the second ending is more effective from an artistic point of view.

After the murder and arson, on the 10th of April there was a state of silence in Amritsar. Even ordinary crimes did not occur

Guy de Maupassant also narrates the bravery of a courtesan in the story Mademoiselle Fifi. After conquering France, the Prussian victors procure courtesans to rejoice in the area of Normandy. In this party, a Prussian officer Fifi addresses a courtesan while declaring: “France and the French, the woods, the fields and the houses of France belong to us! All the women in France belong to us also!” The courtesan Rachel says, “That - that - that - is not true - for you shall not have the women of France!” That officer responds, “Then why did you come here, my dear?” She says to him indignantly and vehemently: “I! I! I am not a woman, I am only a strumpet, and that is all that Prussians want.”

What Maupassant has had the courtesan say is enough to violently shake humanity. Does France regard Rachel as worthy of honour? For his part, Maupassant depicts her with the status of a revolutionary heroine.

Manto’s short story An Incident from 1919 also deserves to be analyzed in the same manner - immediately after which the sparks of Jallianwala Bagh flare up. There were those who wanted to negotiate with the British colonial authorities in the case of the expulsion of their beloved leaders from Amritsar; but in response an aggressive attitude was maintained against peaceful people and bullets were fired upon them. Due to this, incidents throughout the city assumed severity.When, amidst all the tension, stretchers were sent from nearby hospitals to the site of the incident to bring in the injured, the authorities, displaying great heartlessness, ceased work on removing the injured from there. Indeed after this, people were provoked to such a degree that rage engulfed the whole city. Now the crowd was no longer peaceful. It set fire to official buildings, banks including the Alliance and National Banks, the Town Hall, the central Post Office, Mission Hall and the Bhagtanwala Railway Station. The godowns of the National Bank were burnt. Looting intensified in the shops and bazaars. This series of murder and mayhem went on till late night. During this time, the wire and telephone system was also disconnected and European families were forced to take refuge in the fort and other safe places. This fire spread to the villages of Amritsar too. Twenty Indians were killed in these incidents and countless were injured. When the authorities had first opened fire, the crowd had started moving backwards. They had thought that the firing would stop. But this did not happen. Instead, bullets had been fired at the fleeing people. Many people were thus shot from behind: marks of bullets were found at the back of the waist on the bodies of most of the dead.

The narrow lane in which Ms Sherwood had been murdered was utilized exclusively for flogging people. In addition, it was compulsory for every Indian passing there to cross the lane by crawling along their stomach

Six goras were also killed in this carnage.Two Europeans were taking photographs with a camera in front of the great door of Darbar Sahib when two people attacked them from the turn in the street. Both men had swords in their hands. One descended into the stomach and the sword of the second got stuck in the ribs of his friend. Both died as soon as they fell. The corpses of two firangis were lying at a short distance from each other in the bazaar. Their golden hair were getting discoloured due to blood and dust. A terrible anger reigned everywhere, which was breathing within every soul and thing possessing life. In Sharifpura Chowk, an Englishman who was in a state of near-death - a pointed and thin knife had pierced right through his neck and he was crying silently - was waiting for death. A white woman was running in terror through the lane linking the Hall Bazaar to Sabzi Mandi in that a hunting party was in pursuit after her. She was from a missionary school and was named Ms Sherwood. After being subjected to the vengeful  crowd, she was thrown in the street, dead.

Military cars and gora soldiers began to patrol on the roads and in the bazaars. Governor O’Dwyer had received telephone calls in Lahore from authorities pertaining to the situation of the city. Deputy Commissioner Irving of Amritsar had given the city over to the charge of the army. The Governor had also immediately sent the Deputy Commissioner of Lahore A.J.W.Kitchin to Amritsar.

General Dyer was commanding the army. The machinery of government was in motion. The inhabitants of the city, who had been scattered at every nook and corner of the city were now gathering together in groups between streets, corners and localities. One crowd advanced to enter Hall Bazaar from the street. There, a lot of armed white soldiers were standing guard. They took positions as they would on a battlefield. The crowd stopped, afraid. Meanwhile, suddenly a division of Indian club-wielding police appeared in the bazaar from the opposite direction. They began clubbing the crowd; some were hit and others were not. But what happened as a result was that people could not enter the bazaar. In the same manner, disorganized and unbridled people were stopped with the help of bullets and bayonets at other places.

At this, the Deputy Commissioner Lahore A.J.Kitchin presented a report of being fully in control to Governor O’Dwyer.

The crusaders of anti-colonial freedom Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal had been implicated by making a conspiracy case. Since Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew was a close relative of the Mantos, both the elder brothers of Saadat Hasan Manto - Khwaja Muhammad Hasan and Khwaja Saeed Hasan - who had attained higher education in law from Britain, came to Lahore from Amritsar. And in those tumultuous times, both brothers jointly began to pursue this case.

After the murder and arson, on the next day, the 10th of April, there was a state of silence in Amritsar. Even ordinary crimes did not occur. The authorities, too, after enough abuse, allowed people to bury their dead and set alight their funeral pyres - but with the instruction that they should return home by 2 pm after completing their last rites. However the supply of electricity and water was withheld as punishment. The corpses of dead Indians were returned to the heirs.

When the corpse of Tufail aka Thaila had been brought to his house for burial, general lamentation ensued in the quarter. His skin was riddled with bullets. He was not popular in his community but everyone began to roar upon seeing his bloodied corpse. His sisters Shamshad and Almas repeatedly went into stupour. When the funeral began, those sisters wailed such that the listeners, too, wept bitter tears. It was after this that they were summoned to their fatal encounter with the British officers.

Similar scenes of hurried last rites and grief occurred at the funerals of others who had been shot down by authorities.

General Dyer marched with the soldiers into the city. The bazaars which once hustled and bustled were now deserted with some unknown fear. There was even a mysterious silence within the homes. Horrible fear ruled.

Manto, too, was sitting near his father in this stifling atmosphere of colonial Martial Law in the courtyard at home and asking, “Abba jan why don’t you let me go to school?”

His father said to him, “Beta, schools are off.”

Manto argued, “Master sahib didn’t inform us. He said that any boy who will not show his copy after completing schoolwork will be severely punished – and you didn’t even let me go yesterday!”

“School is off. So is our office.” his father reasoned with him.

“Ok then that’s fine. Then I’ll hear a very nice story from you today!”

“No, not today.”

Manto was adamant: “You don’t even let me go out. If I remain at home, I’ll listen to a story from you!”

In the meanwhile, suddenly three airplanes passed overhead, screaming in the sky. Both father and son looked up, terrified. Manto remembered that on the previous day, too, planes had been circling around all day. He could not reach a conclusion, so he said to his father, “Abba jan I get really scared by the noise from these planes. Whatever it is that they scream, ask them not to pass over our house!”

“You’re mad indeed.”

“Abba, these planes are so terrible, yesterday Ammi jan was saying that these plane people also have lots of cannons...what if some day they throw a cannon on our homes?”

Manto’s father Ghulam Hasan was amused by his boy’s talk. “I will inquire from her why she talks like that at home...don’t worry, there is absolutely nothing of the sort.”

“If the planes do any mischief, remember: I, too, have a gun, the same one which you had bought me last Eid.” And Manto went into his room while practicing marking a target for his air-gun with his finger. He sat at the window of the room which opened towards the bazaar, which was very quiet.

Little could young Manto know that outside the enclosure of his home, the whole of Punjab was crying silently beneath the the Rowlatt Act. Arrests were taking place everywhere. It was not taken into consideration as to who belonged to what position and to which family. People were publicly flogged. To humiliate citizens, an order was issued for them to salute any Englishman by bowing wherever the latter was seen.

The narrow lane in which Ms Sherwood had been murdered was utilized exclusively for flogging people. In addition, it was compulsory for every Indian passing there to cross the lane by crawling along their stomach. On both sides of this “crawling lane” were double-storey houses.

The lane was extremely narrow, dirty and densely-populated. It also became a source of humiliation and misery for the residents there. They could not bring provisions and basic items from the bazaar and also could not arrange to clean their homes. Here the police had appointed patrols so that no one could be spared the punishment of crossing by crawling. Where the Englishwoman had been killed with barbarity, that spot was reserved for flogging and whoever even raised his head a fraction would be punished in this severe manner.

These punishments became the center of attention of the entire world. So much so that even Governor O’Dwyer had to contavene General Dyer because the British government was gaining notoriety around the world for its repression.

The writer is a Pakistani social scientist, book critic and an award-winning translator and dramatic reader currently based in Lahore. He is the recipient of a prestigious 2013-2014 Charles Wallace Trust Fellowship in the UK for his translation and interpretive work on Saadat Hasan Manto’s essays. He is currently the President of the Progressive Writers Association in Lahore. He can be reached at: razanaeem@hotmail.com