Different Reasons for Marginalizing Women

The noun phrase “Heart Lamp” used by Banu Mushtaq to compose the poignant story of a Kannada Muslim woman signifies more than a literal lamp. It symbolizes a metaphorical lamp that once brightened a woman’s heart; a light that dimmed over time, obscured by the shadows of her suffering as a housewife. In “Heart Lamp”, the main character, Mehrun, is a mother of five who unexpectedly goes back to her parents’ house to express her grievances about her husband’s cheating, Inayat. But instead of support, she found all of her extended family siding with him. “He is a man, and he has stamped on some slush, but he will wash it off where there is water and then come back inside. There is no stain that will stick to him,” her elder brother responded to her complaint (p.102). A few years ago, Mehrun implored him to permit her to pursue her education instead of marrying. No one, not even her parents, paid attention to Mehrun’s cries for help, and it seemed as though her entire family agreed to arrange Mehrun’s marriage at a young age. Instead of expressing concern for the suffering she endured, her brothers returned Mehrun to her husband’s house in the city.

Salma—Mehrun’s daughter—is excited to greet her mother upon her return, accompanied by her uncles. She imagined that they would confront her father, Inayat, for betraying her mother’s genuine love. But that day, what unfolded was simply a relaxed conversation among her uncles and her father at the lunch table, as if everything in Mehrun’s family life was perfectly normal. Instead of challenging Inayat, the eldest brother solely advised Mehrun; “He is a bit irresponsible, that is all. It is you who must balance all that” (p. 107)  as if he had accepted his brother-in-law’s betrayal. They appeared to tolerate Inayat’s affair over concerns about divorce. In their world, divorce meant an assault to familial pride.

If Mehrun’s resistance eventually pushes Inayat to declare the divorce (talaq), then “In one single breath—one, two, three times—I’ll say it and finish this off, tell her. And tell her that after her talaq, see if she is able to get her younger sisters and her daughters married off  (p. 106). She carried her sorrow alone, without any help from anyone. As she switched on the lights in her home one evening, the entire room was certainly bright, yet a lamp that had consistently lit up the space in her heart was now dimmed, nearly snuffed out by her husband’s betrayal. This was the moment that led Banu Mushtaq to invent the phrase “Heart Lamp”; when this light of hers extinguished, she contemplated ending her bleak existence by igniting herself. She aimed to eliminate the darkness within her heart by attempting to set herself ablaze – but thankfully, Salma intervened and stopped her from the act.

The tolerance toward unjust treatment of women is also evident in the main character Aashraf in “Black Cobras”. However, in this story, the barrier wasn’t familial pride, but Islamic teaching. She has repeatedly petitioned the Mosque for her husband’s (named Yakub) financial responsibility, as he engaged in polygamy. The Mutawalli—a religious authority responsible for addressing Muslim family’s issues at a local level—justified Yakub’s decision throughout Aashraf’s effort and even quoted Koran verses. “Let him do it. Do you know that there is a Sharia law saying he can get married to four women? Why are you jealous of that?” (p. 51). She was no longer affected by her husband’s insults against her role as a mother to three daughters, prioritizing to make sure her children were taken care of while Yakub abandon his parental responsibilites. Ashraf’s struggle to assert her rights as Yakub’s first wife led to a more tragic conclusion than Mehrun’s. Her husband colluded with Mutawalli to undermine her petition, and her beloved baby, Munni, passed away following a severe illness.

The Mutawalli not only manipulated Islamic marriage law to justify Jacob’s polygamous practice, but also deprived his own wife, Amina, of her rights to undergo a procedure to prevent childbirth. “I am the mutawalli; if people get to know that I got the operation done for a woman in my own house, I will have to be the one to answer for it, hamm,” (p.43) he reasoned. The refusal was similarly expressed by Iftikhar to his wife, Shaista, in the opening story of this anthology, “Stone Slabs for Shaista Mahal.” Nonetheless, Iftikhar’s decision was not rooted in religious faiths or familial pride, but rather in the patriarchal norms around a husband’s financial obligations. “Why are you worried? Thanks to God’s grace, I earn enough to look after all of them well,” (p. 10) said Iftikhar. In fact, after having six children and with no one available to babysit them, he requested his teenage daughter, Asifa, to look after them and handle every house chores. She had to leave school to look after her younger siblings, which Iftikhar did not find as an issue. “I made her stop studying because girls do not need much education. A high school certificate is enough. We can get her married off next year,” (p. 10-11) Iftikhar reasoned.

Banu Mustaq, the recipient of the 2025 International Booker Prize for “Heart Lamp,” exemplifies the ongoing evolution of India’s progressive literary movement, known as Bandaya Sahitya, which seeks to address the injustices stemming from caste- and gender-based hierarchies. This invited the emergence of what we now know as  Dalit (the marginalized, or the untouchables) writers, who have come to reshape the Kannada literary landscape through their spirit of resistance as practice of literary criticism. Yassen Bua’s spiritual aspiration of passing away enveloped in a shroud soaked in the Zamzam well in Mecca, as Mustaq narrated in “The Shroud,” ultimately doesn’t come to fruition. The Hajj souvenir she specifically requested—using her own funds—from Shaziya was never bought. It was considered trivial. Just as trivial as existing within the confines of a low-caste, impoverished, and powerless community. In “The Shroud,” Mushtaq illustrated the social disparities caused by caste systems and religious puritanism, which led to injustice, especially for women.