A Study of Womanhood into the Quagmire of Religious and Cultural Hypocrisy in Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar

Name of Author : Anam Jabeen

Abstract: Amrita Pritam in her magnum opus, Pinjar, has represented a time when one?s communal identity superseded personal identity, preferences and beliefs and in such time role of women was a determining factor for the prestige of the community. In this novel Pritam exploits Pooro?s situation to throw light on the exploitation of such women who have been used as mere a tool of vengeance in the hand of patriarchy. She has also showed the use of religious and cultural hypocrisy in different communities on the name of honour for example Pooro?s reputation and honour has been devoured for the sake of another girl?s dignity. Ironically, two girls lost their prestige and chastity in this game of patriarchal supremacy. Pooro?s father bound in old-age canon of patriarchal blames couldn?t dare to accept her back in the family. Her condition symbolises trauma and stigma, suffered not only by the person concerned but also by her community. In my paper I would endeavour to scrutinize that how Pinjar connects the issue of partition with the general question of the societal-traditional control on the women and also how our heteronormative culture plays an influential role in making women?s physical and psychological enslavement an acceptable norm in our society.

Keywords : deracination of women, religious hypocrisy, cultural boundaries, humanity

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