A Case of Exploding Mangoes is a work of Mohammed Hanif linked to General Zia-Ul-Haq life who was the sixth President of Pakistan after enforcing Marshal law. He died in a Plane Crash due to an explosion and explosion material was in boxes of Mangoes. This book is considered a comic novel of Mohammed Hanif and he refers it as “provocative, exuberant, wickedly clever”, however one can easily sense that it is an amalgamation of reality and fabrication, fiction and non-fiction, truth and lies.
Zia-Ul-Haq is the favourite ruler of writers as many have discussed in his work, his death in the plane crash is still a mystery or at least the general public has no idea about it. Hanif definitely made a bold attempt to talk about Zia-Ul-Haq in a satirist tone in A Case of Exploding Mangoes.
In A case of Exploding Mangoes, the book is narrated by a fictional character Ali Shigri whose father commits suicide and was also serving in the army at a high rank, however, his death is still a mystery and no one knows about it. The explosion material was hidden in Mangoes boxes and there were only remains, “Bits of flesh splattered on the broken aeroplane parts, charred bones sticking to mangled metal, severed limbs and faces melted into blobs of pink meat.” (Hanif) According to Hanif, even no one knows if in his graves there is anything that exists or not even it’s his remains or it can be remains of someone else.
“Bits of flesh splattered on the broken aeroplane parts, charred bones sticking to mangled metal, severed limbs and faces melted into blobs of pink meat”.
Zia used religion to rule according to Hanif:
A Case of Exploding Mangoes states that to rule over the country, Zia-Ul-Haq used religion. Before every punishment including the execution of Bhutto, he used to open the Holy Quran and found a verse to serve his purpose. Hanif gives remarks on the religious life of Zia made it a little bit suspicious as no one knows what Zia was thinking before taking a decision. Hanif mentions that Zia knew that “Quran wasn’t a book of omens, to be used in worldly affairs” but he could not resist using it (p.14).
In the book, Hanif states that Zia-Ul-Haq was too much afraid of being assassinated that he always used to carry a large amount of army everywhere. He also states that the Imam used to lead the prayer only when Zia arrived. Hanif states that no one among Zia generals knew the meaning of Arabic verses so they could never understand what was the meaning of recitation. Zia own army men were disappointed in him because he was not having a complete understanding of religion and used to consult other “mullahs”.
General Zia-Ul-Haq restricted religion including the name of God and fixed one name to use everywhere. He restricted the role of newspapers and magazines they could not publish anything without the permission of Zia and that only contain praises of Zia works. He implemented the law of offering prayer in the army and made sure to force it so unwillingly that many used to offer prayer. (p.20)
Hanif remarks that it was also compulsory for the workers of his house and politician to join him in prayer whether or not they knew how to offer prayer. (p.31) There is also one more incident where Hanif clears that Zia prostration in the Holy Kaaba was merely pretension and then there is also mention of a Brigadier who did not want to go to Holy Kaaba and for him, it was merely a “black marble room” (p.85)
Hanif also states in A Case of Exploding Mangoes that Zia once made up his mind to change the national flag but after having a discussion with his advisors he stopped this thinking.
“The generals who had called Zia a mullah behind his back felt ashamed at having underestimated him: not only was he a mullah, he was a mullah whose understanding of religion didn’t go beyond parroting what he had heard from the next mullah”.
The book also mentions that to make important decisions, General Zia-Ul-Haq used to consult an old man in Saudi Arabia who was a retired judge of the Saudi Sharia court and his words were final. There is a detail description of a blind woman case that many writers have mentioned in their works on the Zia era.
In A Case of Exploding Mangoes, Hanif also describes this incident with the judgement that was given at that time. The woman was raped and it was decided that if she would be able to provide eyewitnesses, it would be declared rape otherwise she would be charged with adultery and which is a heinous crime, she will be beaten to death.
By taking the suggestion or order from an old judge, it declared that it does not matter whether she was blind or not, the law will punish her the same. Although this is absurd, on one side, it was true that Zia tried to implement punishments according to Sharia law, that as being beaten to death for adultery etc. On the other side, we do not know whether these all incident is just a satire or it really happened. Maybe Hanif just used this incident to do satire on Zia actions. (The woman case is a reality as it is mentioned in many Pakistani writers’ books such as Kamila Shamsie, Sadia Toor and Hussain Haqqani)
Hanif remarks on General Zia-Ul-Haq bedroom life and his relationship with his wife:
By giving remarks on Zia personal life, Hanif states that Zia always had a problem with his wife’s attire, he always used to criticize her if she wore western or if she wore simple cloth with a covered head. He also made a bold remark his wife caught him staring at women without covering their chest properly while he has advised applying strict rules including entertainment regarding women covering their bodies and head properly. (p.51) Moreover, he ridicules Zia that he was unable to perform well on his wedding night. Hanif is trying to use dark satire here but these kinds of personal remarks show Hanif malice towards Zia.
There were people in his army who wanted to take his position, they can be behind his death or it was just the sighs of blind women and other people who were tired of him. It is true that during Zia era women started protesting for their rights as Zia banned women to work in several fields.
A Case of Exploding Mangoes or a matter of Exploding Character:
A Case of Exploding Mangoes surely mocks the religiosity of Zia-ul-Haq and it also passes personal remarks on his marriage life. The objection that someone can make is that it shows Mohammed Hanif’s despise towards Zia or the implementation of Islamic rules because of his constant remarks on Zia relation with his wife and the disinterest of most people in religion.
However if someone reads it without being hurt by the remarks of religion, then this book can be considered as a satire or dark humour. A Case of Exploding Mangoes also clears that the writers or press has full freedom in Pakistan, otherwise no writer can write or at least publish a book that is mocking one of the most powerful institutions of the country.
A Case of Exploding Mangoes is a good read for those people who are looking for dark humour and do not hurt by any kind of criticism on Islamization. For those people who care about it, it can hurt your sentiments. This book also raises the question of whether religion should be someone’s personal matter or state can enforce religious laws.
