DefinePK

Abstract

Younas Javed occupies a significant and enduring place in the landscape of modern Urdu fiction. A versatile literary figure, his contributions extend across multiple genres. He is not only a distinguished novelist, short story writer, and dramatist, but also a poet and critic. He first rose to prominence with the iconic Pakistan Television (PTV) drama serial "Andhera Ujala", which became a cultural landmark of its time. However, beyond the world of televised drama, Younas Javed has made substantial contributions to Urdu prose fiction. His fictional work includes two novelettes and three novels, each of which reflects a profound engagement with themes of social injustice, gendered exploitation, communal violence, migration, and the erosion of traditional moral values. His most noted novels are published with the titles as "Aakhir-e-Shab", "Kanjri ka Pul", and "Satwant Singh ka Kala Din". The first two novels offer powerful narratives centered on the women’s condition in a patriarchal society, portraying the lived experiences of women subjected to systemic exploitation and their subsequent acts of defiance and uprising. These works not only foreground gendered resistance but also critique the moral hypocrisy embedded in societal norms. In contrast, "Satwant Singh ka Kala Din" lays its narrative within the backdrop of partition-era riots, forced migration, and the communal ruptures that cracked the fabric of the Indian subcontinent. Here, Younas Javed delves into the collective trauma of displacement and the collapse of shared cultural values, reflecting on how historical violence reshapes personal and communal identities. This paper undertakes a thematic study of his novels, with a particular focus on how his fiction serves as a literary response to marginalization, violence, and cultural decline. His narratives challenge the reader to confront uncomfortable truths and reconsider the boundaries between oppression and resistance, memory and history, identity and otherness.