With their intricate interplay, of the diverse identities that shape Pakistani society, art and literature serve as crucial tools in challenging the narrow definitions of Pakistan, particularly those imposed by the West. The terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, which ushered in a binary view of the world as ‘with us or against us’, marked a pivotal moment for Pakistani literature and its global recognition, particularly in the West.137 Since 2001, the West’s increasingly Islamophobic perspective has compelled Pakistani literature to distance itself from violence by actively condemning it. Unfortunately, violence had become deeply ingrained in Pakistani society during the 1990s, fuelled by the lingering gun culture from the Soviet-Afghan War, Zia-era policies and the state’s backing of groups such as the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir.
Extracted with permission from Chequered Past, Uncertain Future by Tahir Kamran, published by Speaking Tiger Books.
Omar Shahid Hamid’s novels are particularly notable for their portrayal of the ethnic violence perpetrated by the mqm in Karachi. In works such as The Prisoner and Party Worker, Hamid deftly caricatures the city’s political figures, while vividly depicting the violence and militancy that had tragically become a part of everyday life. Likewise, Fahmida Riaz’s novel Hum Log (We, the People) skilfully captures the ethnic violence that plagued Karachi, tracing its roots back to the broader sweep of history and drawing a poignant connection with the politics surrounding Bengali separation in 1971.
In Karachi, both political and cultural representation – through literature and media – has seen a shift in demographics. The migrant presence, once considered foreign at partition, has now surpassed the native Sindhi presence. The new literature emerging from Karachi reflects this reality; it writes back to the native, autochthonous tradition while also challenging Islamophobic representations of Pakistan in global media. The city’s dominance of English-language writers, many now based in the United States or the UK, highlights its urban focus and well-developed educational infrastructure. Karachi also hosted Pakistan’s inaugural international literary festival in 2010, which has since been replicated in Lahore and Islamabad, with the Lahore festival even travelling to London and New York. Post-9/11, international pressure forced Pakistan to revise its alliances and address its violent past. As a result, Pakistani literature in English has been striving to portray the country as a non-violent society. A prime example is Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which follows the radicalization of a young Westernized Pakistani man, Changez, who returns to Lahore after the upheaval of global events in the United States. The novel’s enigmatic conclusion leaves unresolved the question whether Pakistani society is inherently violent. As the story draws to a close, it remains uncertain whether Changez harbours violent intentions towards the American to whom he has recounted his life story, or whether the American himself is plotting violence against Changez. Meanwhile, Mohammed Hanif’s Our Lady of Alice Bhatti offers a distinct portrayal of violence that takes on a different form altogether.
Kanza Javed’s Ashes, Wine and Dust skilfully shifts the narrative lens away from war and religious violence, instead illuminating the devastating effects of violence against women and minorities. Similarly, the novel highlights how Pakistan has often been the victim of violence, rather than its sole perpetrator, as underscored by a heart-wrenching suicide blast. Pakistani literature that defies Islamophobic stereotypes represents the country’s pluralistic and tolerant identity and highlights the internal resistance against extremism and terrorism. These novels portray the multidimensional aspects of Pakistani society, countering one-dimensional portrayals that fuel negative stereotypes.
Despite state policies that reinforce an ‘anti-India’ identity, Pakistani literature has been influenced by Indian writers and publishers, with several Pakistani writers gaining global popularity through Indian publishing houses. Notably, Asif Farrukhi’s Shahrazad has republished Shamsur Rahman Faruqi’s Kayi Chaand Thay Sar-e-Asmaan (Multiple Moons in the Sky), widely considered the greatest Urdu novel of the last two decades.
To comprehend the inclinations in Pakistani literary history, it is vital to consider the interactions among bickering neighbours. Pakistani writing in English, both fiction and non-fiction, witnessed a surge after 9/11, and its global recognition is well documented. Recent studies on the history of Pakistani anglophone literature, such as the reissue of Tariq Rahman’s History of Pakistani Literature in English, have contributed to this field. Muneeza Shamsie’s Hybrid Tapestries, and The Routledge Companion to Pakistani Anglophone Writing edited by Aroosa Kanwal and Saiyma Aslam, provide evidence of the critical mass generated by the humanities in Pakistan. Works by Uzma Aslam Khan (The Geometry of God and Trespassing), Mohsin Hamid (Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia and Exit West), Kamila Shamsie (Kartography, Salt and Saffron, Burnt Shadows and Home Fire), Nadeem Aslam (Maps for Lost Lovers, The Wasted Vigil and The Blind Man’s Garden), Mohammed Hanif (A Case of Exploding Mangoes, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti and Red Birds), Bilal Tanweer (The Scatter Here Is Too Great), Aamer Hussain (Another Gulmohar Tree) and Daniyal Mueenuddin (In Other Rooms, Other Wonders) have found an audience, both local and global, wider than any of the earlier Pakistani writers.
Critically acclaimed and translated into various languages, the works of Pakistani writers have aided in the decolonization and indigenization of the English language and literature, fostering a more dialectical dialogue between cultures and promoting a global sense for the humanities. The youth of today, in contrast to previous generations, are more in tune with the international culture of humanities-led social reform and social justice, a result of their identification with global practices and vocabulary through social media. The ever-expanding reach of the Internet has played a significant role in this development. While assumptions about English writing in Pakistan suggest that it is the domain of a circumspect liberal elite, writers such as Bapsi Sidhwa, Mohammed Hanif, Kamila Shamsie, Uzma Aslam Khan and Ali Sethi challenge these notions by advocating for Pakistan’s idea, nation and state as well as its creation. This significant observation suggests that the elite education and English access previously seen as promoting anti-Pakistan agendas are now recognized as vital tools in defending Pakistan. While these writers of fiction aim to align the policies of the state with Pakistani society, they do not necessarily challenge the notion of the nation state’s failure, instead focusing on the successes achieved by Pakistan and Pakistani society.
Tariq Ali’s Islam Quintet explores the mythology and traditions of Muslim Spain, as earlier traced by Intizar Hussain. Claire Chambers notes that this novel series is about Muslim societies in decline. A repressive Catholic society replaces the tolerant, pluralistic society of Moorish al-Andalus.Tariq Ali’s novel’s brief recapture of Jerusalem represents the revival of the tolerant Islamicate empire, connecting historical dots from Moorish Spain to Mughal India for Intizar Hussain. In 1989, Sara Suleri Goodyear gained literary prominence with Meatless Days, a memoir of pre-radicalized Pakistan. Suleri was born in Pakistan as one of six children to Mair Jones, a British professor who moved to Pakistan with her husband, Ziauddin Ahmad Suleri, a Pakistani journalist. Sara spent her early years in Pakistan and London, but mainly grew up in Lahore. The book’s most captivating aspect is how geography intertwines with Sara’s recollections of specific individuals, blurring the lines between them. She notes how London, with its ability to evoke a sense of home, now recalls Shahid, Sara’s brother. Meanwhile, Lahore remains inseparable from memories of Ifat, her late sister, who had a special connection to the city. Throughout the novel, Suleri evokes a sense of loss, from the loss of relationships and words to the loss of culture, history, audience and geography. She poignantly recounts a brief congregation in Lahore before returning to a more geographical reality. Shahid’s words on the phone from England, ‘We’re lost, Sara,’ are a sobering reminder of their shared feeling of being adrift. ‘Yes, Shahid, we’re lost,’ Sara responds, encapsulating the novel’s pervasive sense of displacement.
Despite the role of English-language fiction in countering Western Islamophobia and reshaping Pakistani literature and identity, Urdu continues to hold a significant place. This is exemplified by Mohammed Hanif’s A Case of Exploding Mangoes, which highlights Urdu’s continuing relevance.The novel satirizes Zia ul Haq’s dictatorship and was initially praised in English but caused controversy when translated into Urdu in 2019. The state’s resistance to the Urdu version suggests it assumes Urdu readers favour theocratic militarization, while the English-reading audience is deemed insignificant. Umera Ahmed’s Pir-i-Kamil (The Perfect Mentor) is a polemical Urdu novel that presents a certain Islamic identity as the true identity of a Pakistani citizen and justifies the denial of Ahmadiyya rights, making it the most impactful Urdu novel since 9/11. Ahmed’s novel launched her into national prominence, and she capitalized on the boom of private television by becoming a successful TV serial writer.
While the production of high-quality Urdu literature has declined in the past decade, the rise of Urdu television channels and radio stations indicates a growing demand for humanities content. However, the representation of social hierarchies, gender issues and state narratives in privately owned media demonstrates the unrealized ideal of independent media. In the 2010s, controversial tv dramas such as Meray Paas Tum Ho (I Have You) and the military-sponsored production Ehd-e-Wafa (Pledge of Allegiance), and movies like Waar (The Strike), Yalghaar (Assault) and Parwaaz Hai Junoon (Soaring is Passion), demonstrate how the state police are viewed. Nonetheless, social media remains a democratizing space for Pakistani society, as evident in the vigorous critique of state-sponsored media on these platforms. This counternarrative on social media is a necessary corollary to the acceptance and popularity of the humanities.
In addition to Intizar Hussain, Mustansar Hussain Tarar (who has been Pakistan’s most widely read and prolific Urdu writer over the past three decades), in his novel Bahao (The Flow), ventures on a daring quest to unearth an indigenous connection between the cultural heritage of the Punjab and Sindh, exploring the possibility that some of the roots of Punjabi customs may have originated from the culture of the Sindh Valley. Similarly, Raakh (Ashes) takes as its canvas the entire history of the country up until its publication in 2003. Abdullah Hussain, who was already a widely revered author with his 1964 novel Udaas Naslain (The Weary Generations), wrote Nadaar Log (Deprived Peoples) in 1996. The novel asserts that with proper leadership and an honest commitment to state building, the new state could have protected its destitute. It is a stark, postcolonial work that scathingly criticizes the failure of the postcolonial state to become a unified nation.
Among Urdu-reading audiences, a young writer who has gained significant relevance in the past decade is Ali Akbar Natiq, whose 2014 novel Nau Lakhi Kothi (The Bungalow Worth Nine Lakhs) tells a story that connects the Raj era with post-partition Pakistan. However, Natiq does not explore autochthonous links or allude to local anti-colonial heroes of his region, such as Ahmad Khan Kharal (1785–1857), who are so significant to the decolonizing trend of recent scholarship.160 The concept of decolonization has been present in Pakistani literature through oral tradition, but university academics, trained and influenced by Western discourses, have chosen not to engage with these literary strains.
Pakistani literature and art serve as powerful tools for challenging narrow definitions of the country, particularly those imposed by the West. The events of 9/11 marked a pivotal moment in Pakistani literature, and since then, Pakistani literature in English has striven to portray the country as a non-violent society. Novels such as The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid and Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif portray the multidimensional aspects of Pakistani society, countering one-dimensional portrayals that fuel negative stereotypes. Pakistani literature that defies Islamophobic stereotypes represents the country’s pluralistic and tolerant identity and highlights the internal resistance against extremism and terrorism.