Sabirah-- the real protagonist of Basti?

We all agree at large with the failure of Zakir as the protagonist within Basti; Intizar Hussein’s “hero” is simply a flaneur wandering in search of ‘his place’ where he can settle away from the tumultuous events of Partition and the 1971 war. Along his oblique journey, the people he meet including his friend Surrinder, his ‘yaars’ in Lahore, Aneesa, Tasneem and even his parents do not seem to make much of an impact on him-- all apart from his cousin and his apparent ‘love’; the beautiful yet elusive Sabirah.

Though Zakir’s childhood conversations sealed with his flesh memories of Sabirah make her a very real character, she seems highly metaphorical and behaves as a constant background force driving Zakir through the his fears of Partition and the reader through the novel in hopes of somehow seeing the lovers separated by Partition unite. However, Zakir being the antithesis of the idea of a novel’s ‘hero’ never makes the effort to reach to her and this is his one of his biggest failings as the protagonist of the novel.

Though Zakir is never able to find the will to pursue Sabirah and his romantic fantasy remains unfulfilled, Sabirah emerges as the stronger of the two—the eminent character who withstands warring forces around her to remain where she wishes to.  Sabirah’s strength to remain in Delhi, to refuse to marriage, to find a job as a radio announcer, to stand still and silent against the verbal attacks of her family allows her to create a lasting impact within the novel despite her rare appearances. Her strength emanates from her encounter with Surrinder who constantly tries to fit her into the mold of a ‘shareef’ Muslim girl: “Tumhara shaadi waadi ka koi program hai?” / “…Eid manao aur hamari khaatar karo”, and she constantly evades his questions and puts him at a distance with “Dekhaiye aap ne ghalat ilaaqay mei qadam rakh diya hai”. Her ability to stand up against the world, to appear strangely beautiful in a white saari and a simple plait and her constant presence within Zakir’s mind make her a memorable character—much more pleasing than Zakir himself.

Hence since Sabirah comes across as a fully embodied character, much more than Zakir and is the force that drives Zakir through the events within the novel, she may be the real protagonist within Basti. In the final chapter, even Zakir/Intizaar Hussein seems to concede to her power within the story as she exclaims “Zakir meri qabar teri qabar se achi hai!” and Zakir puts his foot inside her grave to see how much more moist and cool it is. In fact this final scene is a play on their entire relationship—Sabirah asks Zakir to build her a grave and he denies her with “Mein kyu banaon, khud bana le.” What she builds turns out firmer and better than what Zakir makes—very much a shadow of their relationship when Zakir doesn’t take any step to get his lady love and Sabirah ends up in building her own life which seems all the more attractive to Zakir who again fails to do anything to better himself.