"Main bhī muṉh meṉ zubān rakhti hūṉ": Feminist Identity, Confession, Consciousness-Raising, and Urdu Autobiography: A Study of Dagar Se Haṭ Kar (1996) by Saeeda Bano (1920-2001)

My paper aims to study Saeeda Bano’s autobiography Ḍagar Se Haṭ Kar (1996) as a candid feminist autobiography. While articulating her unconventional story, the author becomes the voice of the doubly marginalized Muslim women. It examines how while documenting the socio-political milieu and disenfranchised history, the author indulges in consciousness-raising and emphasizes the relevance of female education, economic independence, and a self-reliant female identity. The paper directs our attention to the confessional nature of the autobiography, which foregrounds the most personal and intimate details of the author’s life and initiates the process of critical self-understanding and self-validation. It intends to analyze the autobiography as a revolutionary text that resists normative gender roles and urges women to create their own identity and space to exercise their freedom to live on their own terms. The paper posits how the contributions of innumerable women like Begum Sultan Jahan paved the path of independence for the author. It aims to investigate how the book critiques deep-seated sexism and charts the author’s journey from the usual to the unusual.