Comment on Toba Tek Singh
The short story Toba Tek Singh by Sadat Hasan Manto illustrates the severe impacts the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 had on the affected population. It takes place in an asylum, where “lunatics” are treated and exchanges of said patients between India and Pakistan are organized. The title Toba Tek Singh is the name of a patient’s hometown, which also acts as a symbol for the confusion and displacement not only the patients of the asylum, but also the whole population experiences. The unknown end, whether his hometown is in India or in Pakistan, sends the patient in such psychological distress, that he finds a tragic end. Sadat Hasan Manto portrays the psychological effects to the inmate’s identity and thereby reveals the unseen reality that followed due to the partition.