A Research Study of Minority Issues in Urdu Novels (From Inception to the Partition of India)

اردو ناول (ابتدا تا تقسیمِ ہند) میں اقلیتوں کے مسائل کا تحقیقی مطالعہ

Abstract

This research paper critically examines the representation of minority issues in Urdu novels written between the inception of the genre in 1869 and the Partition of India in 1947. The study explores how Urdu fiction, emerging under the shadow of colonial rule and socio-political upheaval, subtly and sometimes explicitly portrayed the challenges faced by various minority groups. The novels of prominent writers such as Maulana Abdul Haleem Sharar, Munshi Premchand, Krishan Chander, and Aziz Ahmad have been analyzed in detail. These literary works address the struggles of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, peasant, laborer, and female minorities, who were often subjected to religious intolerance, social discrimination, political marginalization, and systemic exploitation. The paper demonstrates how these authors used fiction as a tool to reflect on the broader societal issues of their time while also giving voice to marginalized communities. Although overt discussions on minority oppression were limited due to colonial censorship and socio-political constraints, several Urdu novels included symbolic, incidental, or partial depictions of minority suffering. This study highlights the role of Urdu novels in documenting the complexities of identity, power dynamics, and cultural conflict, thereby contributing a significant perspective to the socio-literary discourse of pre-Partition India.                                      

Keywords: Minority representation, Urdu novels, colonial India, socio-political issues, religious intolerance, marginalized communities, literary analysis, cultural conflict, identity and power, pre-Partition literature