Our Lady of Alice Bhatti: Mohammad Hanif

Mohammad Hanif’s second book Our Lady of Alice Bhatti gives an insight into the lives of religious minorities in Pakistan. The protagonist Alice Bhatti is a Christian woman who belongs to a chuhra community who traditionally work as sweepers and manual scavengers. Despite being Christians, caste continues to play a role in the lives of these people. They are doubly marginalized in a country known for persecuting religious minorities. She starts working as a nurse in a Catholic hospital. Her experience shows her the corruption in the so-called upper echelons in the society. A member of an elite family misbehaves with her while she is on duty. She marries a Muslim man and that pushes her in an area of ambiguity. Mohammad Hanif’s uncanny humor makes the book a fun read. But it also comments on the hardships religious minorities go through. While inter-religious marriage is not unheard of, religious baggage becomes too much for many. The corrupt police force is another issue the book touches upon. It tries to focus on the outcome of multiple tensions in a society with a fragile balance. Identity becomes a big rallying point for people. And being in an Islamic country other religious minorities have to cope and maneuver with this issue. Even Alice Bhatti’s tragic death due to her husband’s suspicion is somehow related to God and miracles by her father. It’s a good, pacy read. And in a very light way focuses on important issues like caste and communal discrimination, how women and their bodies are treated in such a society, what it means to have inter religious marriage etc. In a passage Hanif mentions how honor and dishonor is intrinsically linked to what is done to a woman’s body. To get an idea of what religious minorities face on a day to day basis in Pakistan, this is a good book. While the book does not give a holistic picture, in its limited way it gives someone a peek into the lives of these people.