Kisse Kahani, Ismat ki Zubani – Reliving Chugtai’s Feminism

November 3, 2017

Ismat Chugtai was a prolific writer of Urdu literature; Chugtai was known to be fiercely feminist in her ideology and literary works revolving around feminine sexuality.

Her most celebrated story is Lihaaf, a short story that explores homosexuality which at that point was time, taboo, when it was first published in 1942. She was, in fact, charged with obscenity and summoned by the Lahore Court in 1944.

Kisse Kahani, Ismat ki Zubani (based on this very incident) was performed on the second day of the International Theatre Festival. It was a platform performance, wherein the artist, Aarti Tiwari, took to the stage to read and enact significant passages from the famed author, Ismat Chugtai’s autobiography Kagazhi Hain Pairahaan.

The performance follows the trial from Chugtai receiving the summons to her winning the case, and concluding how she has no regrets for having published the story. The performance, while addressing a very serious matter, is also peppered with humour.

Emphasising on the light-hearted attitude of Chugtai; all she seems to be bothered about is going around Lahore, which would prove to be a once in a lifetime opportunity for her.

It also points to the hypocrisy of a society in which men are allowed to write whatever they please, irrespective of how “indecent” it seemed, but women were called out for it, on religious grounds.

“Well, this may not be obscene. But it is reprehensible for an educated lady from a decent family to write about such things,” the witness thundered.

Also in her defence was the acclaimed writer, Saadat Hasan Manto, a fellow playwright and author. Their friendship is also highlighted in the performance as his trial for obscenity in his works is scheduled at the same time as hers.

‘Can you put your finger on a word which is obscene?’
Witness: ‘The word “chest”.’
Lawyer: ‘My Lord, the word “chest” is not obscene.’
Witness: ‘No. But here the writer means a woman’s breasts.’
Manto was on his feet instantly and blurted out: ‘A woman’s chest must be called breasts and not groundnuts.’

The performance is quite interesting as a one-woman act. Interestingly, this remains relevant even today considering, how society often functions.