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Copyright by Imran Hameed Khan 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Imran Hameed Khan certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: A ROOM OF HER OWN: ROMANCE, RESISTANCE, AND FEMINIST THOUGHT IN MODERN URDU POETRY Committee: ____________________________________ Syed Akbar Hyder, Supervisor Carla Petievich Gail Minault Kamala Visweswaran Heather Hindman Mahboob A. Mohammad A Room of Her Own: Romance, Resistance, and Feminist Thought in Modern Urdu Poetry by Imran Hameed Khan, B.A.; M.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2015 Dedication In loving memory of ali Acknowledgements I would like to begin by thanking my supervisor, Akbar Hyder, who always believed in me and never gave up on me. His confidence in me was a source of motivation for me to embark on this project. He guided me through every step of this process and supported me at every obstacle. This project would not have been possible without Akbar’s invaluable investment in it. Thank you for making late evening Urdu poetry classes fun and sharing your passion with your students. My special thanks to Ishart Afreen who graciously agreed to work with me and shared her poetry, wisdom, and experiences. She was extremely generous in giving me her time. I enjoyed our numerous conversations during which she helped me tremendously in thinking through the nuances of Urdu poetics. Thanks to my committee members who generously gave their time and attention: Gail Minault, who is an inspiration and a role model as a teacher; Carla Petievich, for all the detailed feedback and continuous encouragement she provided; Kamala Visweswaran, whose knowledge and guidance were irreplaceable; Heather Hindman, who pushed me to think of issues outside the box; and Afsar Mohammad, who was always encouraging and a source of many interesting conversations and laughter. Thanks to Jennifer Tipton who works tirelessly to support and guide all the graduate students. Her knowledge of and help with all the official processes prevented many headaches. Thanks also to the South Asia Institute, Kamran Ali and Rachel Meyer. Rachel’s warmth and kindness were always appreciated. Thanks to Shahnaz Hassan who was always there to help and offer guidance. Thanks to Martha Selby, Joel Brereton, v Cynthia Talbot, Oliver Freiberger, Rupert Snell, Kathryn Hansen, Jishnu Shankar, Vidhu Chaturvedi and Salwa Uzri who have always been supportive. Thanks to Suzanne Schulz, you have been a wonderful friend. Thanks also to other friends who have been a source of support throughout this long process: Michaela von Paumgartten, Ali Sengul, Sundar Vadlamudi, Asiya Alam, Vibha Shetiya, Kathleen Longwaters, Hillary Langberg, Robert Ellis and Caitlin McClune. Thank you all for the camaraderie, commiserating, and the laughs along the way. Thanks also to my wonderful friends outside academia: Gina Turner, John Purves, and Chelsea Aldridge. I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to my sister Umber, and the rest of her family, Amer, Raza and Noor, for their love and support. I am eternally grateful to my sister for being a source of comfort. Thank you for always looking out for me. Last, but not least, my sincere gratitude to my writing partner and dear friend, Keely “Frodo” Sutton. You have been my anchor. Your friendship and support made this arduous journey manageable and very pleasant. vi A Room of Her Own: Romance, Resistance, and Feminist Thought in Modern Urdu Poetry by Imran Hameed Khan, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 Supervisor: Syed Akbar Hyder This dissertation examines the ways in which the female figure has emerged, and the ways in which women’s issues have been addressed in Urdu poetry in various ways during the twentieth century. In order to track these changes and shifts in the Urdu poetic landscape I examine five poets: Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), Akhtar Shirani (1905- 1948), Kaifi Azmi (1919-2002), Parveen Shakir (1952-1994), and Ishrat Afreen (b. 1956). I argue that each of these poets represents a distinct trend in the way women are discussed in Urdu poetry. While looking at these five poets I will consider the social context in which they were writing and how their poetry engages the canonical aesthetics of the past, along with the socio-political agendas of the present. By analyzing their poetry we can trace how through romance and resistance feminist thought developed in increments throughout the twentieth century. This poetry is a reflection of the social and cultural milieus in which it was written; it can help us understand how these poets understood their roles within their culture, as well as how they tried to push the boundaries of accepted cultural norms. vii Through these poets we can observe how the subject of Woman, women’s issues, and gender ideology evolved in twentieth century Urdu poetry. Furthermore, studying these poets shows us how the space created by earlier poets eventually led to women using the Urdu poetry landscape for overt feminist poetry, lending authentic women’s voices to women’s issues and movements in South Asia. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………...1 I. Women’s Reform Movements in India…………………………...……...........4 II. Feminism and Islam………………………………………………………….10 III. Chapter Divisions…………………………………………………………….19 Chapter Two: Muhammad Iqbal………..…………………………….........................25 I. Historical Context Muslims and the Rebellion of 1857……………………………………...26 The Khilafat Movement………………………………………………….33 II. Biographical Information……………………………………………..……...36 III. Selected Poetry on Women……………………………………...…………...44 IV. Selected Poetry on ḳhudī and Muslim-ness……………………..…………...68 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...........75 Chapter Three: Akhtar Shirani………………………………………………………..78 I. Historical Context……………………………………………….……...........81 II. Biographical Information……………………………………………..……...85 III. Selected Poetry………………………………………………….……………88 IV. Akhtar Shirani’s Engagement with Iqbal’s Poetry…………………………128 Conclusion…………………………………………………………..……...130 Chapter Four: Kaifi Azmi……………………………………………………..……...132 I. Historical Context Progressive Writers’ Movement…………………………………..........133 ix II. Biographical Information……………………………………………...........137 III. Selected Poetry……………………………………………………………...140 IV. Kaifi Azmi’s Reception Beyond the Mushā’ira Circuit……………………181 Chapter Five: Parveen Shakir………………………………………………………..185 I. Historical Context…………………………………………………………..187 II. Biographical Information…………………………………………..……….191 III. Selected Poetry………………………………………………………...........201 IV. C.M. Naim’s Reception of Parveen Shakir…………………………............232 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….........233 Chapter Six: Ishrat Afreen……………………………………………………...........235 I. Historical Context The Process of Islamization…………..………………………..……….236 Zia’s Hudood Ordinances & Zina…………………………….………...238 Qisas, Diyat, & Qanoon-e-Shahadat……………………………............249 The Ansari Commission………………………………………..............253 II. Biographical Information………………………………………………….........255 III. Kishwar Naheed and Fahmida Riaz…………………………………….............260 IV. Selected Poetry…………………………………………………..……………...266 Conclusion………………………………………………………...........282 Chapter Seven: Conclusion I. Recent Reforms and Women’s Rights in Pakistan…………….………….........283 II. Future of Women’s Movements in Pakistan………………………………........285 x III. Woman’s Journey in Modern Urdu Literature…………………………….........289 Summation……………………………………………………………...292 Transliteration Scheme.................................................................................................297 References.......................................................................................................................298 xi Chapter One – Introduction Here’s the best bit: the extent to which men have made claims of understanding women, women have never birthed from their intellect any definitive claims about men. Men said, ‘man is cruel,’ [women] silently began to bear cruelty; men said, ‘women are cowards,’ [women] began to fear even a mouse; then they said, ‘when time comes, women risk their lives,’ and [women] instantly risked their lives. The mother’s affection is blazoned in the entire world, no one cries for the father’s fatherhood. Women’s honor can be breached, not a man’s. Perhaps man does not even have honor in the first place so there is no question of losing it. Women have illegitimate and legitimate children, not men. For centuries philosophers have arraigned women with all sorts of charges in the hopes of befuddling them. They either raise the woman to the skies or dump her in the smut. But they are terrified of standing with her on equal grounds. [Men] will turn her into a goddess or a creature of heavens but they are embarrassed to call her a friend or a companion. I do not know if this is an inferiority complex or a misjudgment. One has to wonder, why are they scared of treating women as their equals?1 Ismat Chughtai In her provocative essay ‘Aurat (Woman), Ismat Chughtai (1915-1991) is bemused by the ways in which women are turned into objects of men’s desires, values, and languages. Neither does she spare the East nor the West. If one part of the world has issued golden sayings about women, the other part has defined the ‘world’ for women. Chughtai invokes the godly guru who says a woman is only half a woman; the other