INTERNAL ASSESSMENT- INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH (TRANSLATION)

Name: Shreya Chauhan

Roll number : 2022/1082

Submitted to: Prof Indu kumari

EXPLORING THE FEMINISM IN “LIHAAF” BY ISMAT CHUGTAI

Ismat Chugtai’s Lihaaf was published in 1942 in an Urdu journal, Adab-i-Latif. Also referred
to as the “most audacious work in the canon of Urdu literature”, Lihaaf sparked a controversy
soon after it was published. The story led Ismat Chugtai to a court trial under the charges
of obscenity in 1944, which highlighted the social discomfort with openly discussing such
themes. Ismat Chugtai won the case. The work beautifully mirrors the revolutionary ideas
and thoughts of the author itself. Born in 1915 into a progressive Muslim family, Ismat
Chugtai critiques and challenges various societal norms and taboos. She explored themes
like gender equality, oppression faced by women, female sexuality, and desire,
which were not talked about openly in the orthodox-patriarchal-conservative society of her
times. Lihaaf, which throws light on issues and taboos related to female sexuality and same-
sex desire, was a bold move on Chugtai’s part.

Various debates continue to surround the nature of the text. Is it a feminist text? Or it is a text
addressing the issue of child sexual abuse? The latter perception of the nature of the text is a
more recent one. However, Lihaaf being a feminine text or a text on child sexual abuse
depends on various things that range from the author’s intent and the author’s reputation of
being renowned as a “feminist”, to elements and instances within the story. Considering this,
this paper attempts to draw out the elements and instances of feminism from “The
Quilt” by Ismat Chugtai.

"The Quilt" is set within the corners of an upper-class household, where the narrator (a young
girl) is left in the care of Begum Jaan (around whom the whole action is) while her mother is
away. Begum Jaan is married to a Nawab of “ripe years” who responds with indifference to
her physical, emotional, and sexual needs and keeps her “tucked away in the house with her
other possession”. The Begum, as a consequence, finds solace in her relationship with her
masseuse, Rabbu. The narrative unfolds through the eyes of the young girl, who becomes a
silent observer of the intimate relationship between the two women in the private quarters.

At the core of Lihaaf is the aspect of female sexuality. In a society where it is

considered taboo to discuss female desire and the desires are repressed and hidden as much as
possible, Chugtai does not shy away from presenting to us, the intimate relationship between
Begum Jaan and Rabbo. The work “Uses of erotic: the erotic as a Power” by Audre Lorde
underscores the importance of embracing female sexuality as a source of power and self-
knowledge, a theme that resonates strongly with Lihaaf.

The relationship is the result of unfulfilled and repressed desires of Begum Jaan. After
spending “sleepless nights yearning for love” from a Nawab who “kept an open house for
young fair and slender waisted boys”, Begum Jaan finds solace in the massages of
Rabbu who “rescues her from the fall”.The portrayal of the relationship challenges the
patriarchal suppression of female desire and posits it as an undeniable part of identity.
The Nawab, a homosexual himself, can fulfil his sexual desires under the mask of a
heterosexual marriage with Begum Jaan. The access to the public sphere makes it easier for
Nawab to “satisfy his sexual desires”, whereas the only way left to Begum Jaan who is
restricted to the four walls of the household is the massage of Rabbu which satisfies her
“itch”. Chugtai explores female sexuality boldly which makes us think how sexual desires are
natural to one's self and cannot be repressed by a patriarchal society as they usually
are.Chugtai, highlights the need to accept the desires of women in a phallocentric and highly
patriarchal society.

The feminist underpinning of Chugtai’s direct critique of the patriarchy and its hypocrisy
cannot be overlooked while analysing the text. She criticizes the patriarchal structure that
marginalizes women. Nawab’s neglect of Begum Jaan’s sexual and emotional needs is a
microcosm of a broader societal tendency to disregard women’s desires and autonomy. The
Nawab is nowhere in his wife’s life as a companion or friend. As Dr Alka Rani Agarwal
says “Begum Jaan is the representative of all the women who are kept aside by their partners
and are not given quality time”. However, instead of giving in to the repression of desires,
Begum Jaan practices her autonomy and agency and satisfies her desires through the
medium of Rabbu. Lihaaf aligns with the feminist critique by Simone de Beauvoir in “the
second sex” wherein she discusses how patriarchal society has historically treated women as
the “other”,as in the case of Nawab.

The same-sex/homosexual relationship between Rabbu and Begum Jaan subverts the gender
roles and expectations of society. In a society where women are confined to being wives
and mothers,Chugtai presents her characters as individuals seeking emotional and
physical fulfilment outside these norms. This act of defiance is significant from a feminist
perspective, highlighting the agency of women in carving out spaces of personal satisfaction
and identity beyond social prescriptions. Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity
suggests that gender is a repeated performance, not an innate reality, Begum Jaan
and Rabbu disrupt the performative acts expected of them, thereby challenging the notion
of femininity and sexuality dictated by their culture.

Lihaaf, when read from a feminist perspective challenges the patriarchal order but also
provides a nuanced exploration of the complexities of female identity and sexuality. Chugtai,
through the medium of Lihaaf, invites readers to reconsider the norms of gender and
sexuality. Her portrayal of Begum Jaan as agents of their desires presents a powerful
critique of social structure that seeks to confine and define women.

However, putting forth Lihaaf as a feminist text “only” deprives the text of being interpreted
from various other possible interpretations. The text is seen as feminist text when we consider
the actions and situations that characters like Rabbu, Begum Jaan, and Nawab undertake and
find themselves in. But when viewed from the perspective of the child narrator, the
narrator is not only the observer but a victim of child sexual abuse also. Since violence has
always been carried by the powerful over the weak, the lack of power that the girl has makes
her an “easy alternate” for Rabbu when she is not there. Hence, child sexual abuse can be
viewed as a power hierarchy. The “experience of the child has been that of abuse, trauma,
and harassment”.
When we go by the definition of child sexual abuse as mentioned in the encyclopaedia of
child abuse1, we see that the definition applies perfectly to the narrator of “The
Quilt”. Begum Jaan is an agent of her will and so determined about her purpose that in
Rabbu’s absence, she makes the child narrator her victim who is unaware of what has
happened to her due to her innocence and lack of knowledge. The relationship that Begum
Jaan has with Rabbu can be interpreted as a mutual expression of sexual desires. But the one
she seeks from the narrator is not mutual and hence the narrator becomes a victim of child
sexual abuse at the hands of Begum Jaan.“Begum Jaan as an elder woman than the child uses
her physical power to make the child a victim for her happiness”.

The narrator wants to escape the “disgusting act”, but is helpless. The narrator’s helplessness
is evident when she says” I wanted to run away but she held me closer”. The idea of getting
new dresses for the child by Begum Jaan illustrates the hierarchical power with which
the powerful people console and exploit the powerless. Therefore, Begum Jaan plays a
double role as a victim and the perpetrator, and the powerless and powerful as the story
proceeds.

Ismat Chugtai is referred to as a “feminist writer” by most critics. The title is given to her
because of the nature of her writing and the issues which she addresses. Considering her other
writing, issues in lihaaf, and the primary intent behind writing lihaaf, “The Quilt” is a
feminist text. However, we cannot completely overlook its sub interpretation of Lihaaf as a
text on child sexuality. Completely denying this fact also denies the interpretation of the story
from the perspective of various characters (including Narrator) in the story. “Lihaf’ is a story
where femininity in a woman is being protected; her desires are getting their way; her
suppressed wishes are being fulfilled; her fantasies are being lived; womanhood is being
explored; a woman is surviving”.

1
Child sexual abuse, also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent
uses a child for sexual stimulation.
Bibliography

1) Ismat Chugtai, “The Quilt”,Lifting the Veil: Selected rwitings of Ismat Chugtai. Tr.
M. Assadudin.
2) Dr Alka Rani Agarwal, A Study of Ismat Chughtai’s “The Quilt” From the
Perspective of Homosexuality and Marginalization, The Criterion: An International
Journal in English Vol. 12, Issue-VI, December 2021.
3) C. Susila,Child sexual abuse in Ismat Chugtai’s Lihaaf (The Quilt), Vol. III & Issue I
(April- 2018).
4) Fatima Shabina, Resurrecting the Victimized Voices: A Study of Ismat Chughtai’s
“The Quilt”, Volume 1, Issue 1.