The Ardeshir Cowasjee Center for Writing (ACCW) conducted a dramatic reading of Manto’s selected works

May 2, 2019: The ACCW conducted a dramatic reading of some of
Manto’s works. Different pieces were read by a number of
students followed by a discussion led by Coordinator ACCW Ms.
Maria Hasan.
The session began with a general discussion on Manto and the
controversy regarding his works. Attendees shared their stories
on how they were first introduced to his works and how much of a
taboo the society believes Manto is. One of the students talked
about how fascinated she was by Manto because it was the first
time she had come across an Urdu writer who was so open.
A short story, titled Kholdo was read by an SSLA student Aisha
Qureshi. The story was about a man in search of his daughter,
and his reliance on a group of men who swore they would find
her. The story showed a different perspective of the Muslims and
the society in general; destroying the so called hero myth and
showing the beastly side of humans. A second story was read by
Ms. Tahira titled Toba Tek Singh which made use of juxtaposition
and tried to capture what partition meant for different people.
The piece was as chaotic as the partition was.
The session was wrapped up after the two pieces were discussed
and people gave their interpretations of the stories. One
student pointed out how Manto focused mainly on the sufferings
of women and things that seem to have been erased from history.
The reading session was a great way to introduce Manto to an
audience, who had been curious about the writer but had never
read any of his stories.