Zeeba Sadiq’s 38 Bahadurabad (1996) precedes the recent spate of Karachi-centric novels in English that examine the city’s descent into ethnic chaos. While Bilal Tanweer’s The Scatter Here is Too Great (2013) examines how everybody in Karachi “has their own crime story” (Tanweer 188), Zeeba Sadiq’s novel reminds us of a time before violence and ethnic strife laid siege to the city. As a result, 38 Bahadurabad escapes the portrayal of Karachi as a riot-riddled city that is “too dangerous to walk around” in (K. Shamsie, 29) or, for that matter, as a “wasteland of failed opportunities” (Shah 30).
At its core, 38 Bahadurabad …
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Citation: Kehar, Taha. "38 Bahadurabad". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 February 2021 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39337, accessed 08 September 2024.]