Published Paper Details:

This paper explored the silences in Saadat Hasan Manto's stories Thanda Gosht, Khol Do and Toba Tek Singh. Woven in the background of partition these stories highlighted the echo of the silence during the partition. Toba Tek Singh was not the only person who had become silent. Sakeena and the dead women in Thanda Gosht was among thousands who had been silenced. The victims of violence and bloodshed were silenced due to the trauma of losing identity, native places and their loved ones. Words were no longer capable to heal their wounds. However, there was another silent community that consisted of the people indulged in performing violent activities. These people rejected any kind of dialogues. They were so much intoxicated by hatred that they were making statements with actions. Carl Schmitt's concept of friend and enemy explained the actions, which had happened with utmost silence, both in these stories as well as in history. Narratives were developed around the silence during the partition. Ramesh Chandra Sen's The White Horse clarified how the actions ignored the words or, how the silence provoked actions. These three stories by Manto represent the two different kinds of silences which were associated with the bloodshed and violence. The trajectory of the silence does not limit here only. Same silences echo in the stories by Gulzar compiled in Ravi Par. Like situations have the same kind of silences. Khuda Ki Kasam by Manto and the story of Boota Singh, in Kamaleswar's Kitne Pakistan represent the counter-narrative of the silences in Manto's stories. Analyzing the silences in contrast to different kinds of silences provided a better understanding, in this paper.