Pakistan

Abstract

The Jam Maker" won the Harper's Bazaar short story competition. In Britain, Maham Javeed's "Instruction Manual: How to Find Your Vagina" was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (Asia). British-born 28-year-old Sairish Hussain's The Family Tree was shortlisted for a Costa Book Award.Hussain's incisive and riveting first novel captures three generations of a British family of Pakistani origin. In Bradford, 1993, Amjad's wife dies, giving birth to Zehra their daughter. Amjad refuses the advice of his traditional mother Ammi to re-marry. He brings up both Zehra and her older brother, Saahil, with Ammi's help, but the friendships between Amjad and the supportive Harun and between Saahil and Harun's son Ehsan, are both disrupted by unexpected tragedy. Through their families and Amjad's competitive, more successful brother Javed, the novel interweaves Muslim rituals and celebrations into daily life and tells of the bright, intelligent Zehra developing into a strong, socially-committed woman. The text constantly challenges stereotypes and portrays the many manifestations of racism, from overt violence and abuse to prejudiced opinions, innuendoes and exclusions, personal and professional. The narrative quietly builds in politics and the television and press coverage of 9/11, 7/7 and other events which contribute to the Islamophobia faced by the protagonists. At the same time, supportive English friends and acquaintances and a Sikh businessman play a pivotal role at a time of need, adding to the multi-dimensional text that Hussain skillfully creates.Today's Covid-19 world assumes a particular significance in the medical doctor Faraz Talat's debut novel Seventy Four, set in a dystopian, post-pandemic world. Razia Nikoladze, an expatriate scientist of Pakistani origin, is almost 74-years old. She cannot receive medical treatment after that age, according to a national edict. This law is thrown into question when Razia falls ill; her research work is of vital importance to the world: she is exploring the possibilities of permanently eliminating mutant pathogens. Narrated by her caring brother Faiz, the text alternates between first and third person, to tell of medical advances, close sibling bonds and Razia's relationship with her ex-husband, Vadim Nikoladze.Osman Haneef's accomplished debut Blasphemy: The Trial of Danesh Masih blends fact and fiction, the real and surreal, to make a biting critique of Pakistan's blasphemy laws and their misuse, particularly the victimization of minorities. A young lawyer, Sikander Ghaznavi is shot by unknown assailants outside Quetta high court while defending Danesh Masih, a 13-year-old Christian boy, falsely accused of blasphemy by the local holy man, an all-powerful Pir, a holy man. The narrative moves between past and present to tell of Sikander's return to Quetta, his homeland, after many years in the United States, of his sense of responsibility towards his late, much loved nanny's Christian friend Alice and Alice's children, Mena and Danesh, and of his discovery that th...