The shift of the sub-altern

We have travelled a century through this class. We have covered Manto's depiction of the self-conscious prostitute who strives to be a part of the domestic, read Intizaar Hussain's idyllic Basti, discovered the rare feminist novel within Godavari and finally arrived upon the contemporary scene with Aalu Anday and various artists. All these works attempt to depict the sub-altern-- the secular figure who attempts to penetrate the invisible bubble of frozen thought or prejudice that shrouds society, dampening it's road to progress. 

From the 20th to the 21st century, we have seen a shift in the sub-altern. From figures who view the world from afar, now it is society itself that becomes the secular figure. 

Manto's prostitutes desired domesticity. Intizaar Husseins's Zaakir wanders around to find some fulfilment for homelessness. Maa from Godavari desperately desires some amount of usefulness and love. These are all figures who are disparate-- rejected from society either by choice or by profession. In the 21st century, the Beyghairat Brigade, Shahzad Roy's "Laga Re", Ali Azmat's "Bum Phata" and Saba Khan's paintings all depict society as being removed from itself. Failure in politics, acts of terrorism combined with general "dont-care" attitudes towards studying and attention to excessive socializing are all indicators of the general populace adopting the role of the subaltern and being thoroughly secular by removing itself from all that is going wrong.  Shahzad Roy especially highlights this aspect in Laga Re:

Buzurgon nay mujhsay poochha mulk kaisay yeh chalega?
Buzurgon ko main yeh bola lagay raho, lagay raho
Buzurgon nay mujhsay poochha mulk kaisay yeh chalega?
Buzurgon ko main yeh bola

Mujhay fikr yeh nahi kay yeh mulk kaisay chalega. Mujhe fikr yeh hai kay kaheen aisay hee na chalta rahay.

These songs are not preachy; they do not tell the people of Pakistan to take a certain route but just highlight that we are in a self-imposed exile and choose to be secular and removed from what's happening to the country. This is a far cry from Manto's Saughandi, Sultana and Bismillah who were secular in such a different way. Perhaps this is what we can conclude from class-- that the secular doesn't necessarily have to be a prostitute or a single person it can be an entire society within itself.