An American scholar, Leslie Fleming, has accomplished what no one among our litterateurs could in 40 years: a bio¬graphical assessment and a critical study of Manto’s writings against the backdrop of contemporary literary trends in the Urdu-speaking world. Instead of being inspired by this effort, Anis Nagi of Lahore has plagiarized the book and published its translated version in his own name. This is our way of paying tribute to a foreign lady whose lifetime’s labour it was supposed to be. Ms. Fleming begins with Manto’s birth in 1912 in Sambrala, Ludhiana, traces early influences on him of Russian literature via the personality of Bari Alig, the journalist-politician of Amritsar. His first book was a translation of Victor Hugo, his second a translated Gorky and other new Russian writers for Urdu magazines, fascinated by his own ability to write Urdu. Amritsar supplied the personalities he was shaped by: Bari, Chiragh Hasan Hasrat, Haji Laq Laq. His first story was published Aug./Dec, 1985 in the prestigious Humayun of Lahore (Bari Sahib). Then he went to study at Aligarh and had his now famous Inqilab Pasand (Revolutionary) accepted for the college journal. In 1935, he fell ill and was diagnosed as having tuberculosis.
Aug-Dec 1985, volume 10, No 8/12