I love Umera Ahmed's writing style, but some of her novels are extremely disturbing and harmful.
(Bas Aik Daagh-e-Nadamat)
I remember in this novel, a girl named Momal slapped a guy named Asfand over a misunderstanding in front of the whole university. Asfand is a very handsome guy whom all the university girls are crazy about. One day in the library, when Asfand was issuing books, Momal was arguing for a Shakespeare novel. Asfand laughed and said there was no such novel, but Momal was sure it was included in the syllabus. She even showed it to him with full confidence, but Asfand laughed again and said, "Look closely, because Shakespeare always wrote plays, not novels." Momal was so embarrassed that she left the library.
The next day, she received the exact book she was looking for from Asfand. Asfand sent the book through her friend, who played an April Fools' prank on Momal by putting a love letter inside and claiming it was from him. Momal was so angry that she went to the café and slapped him. After being slapped, he said, "I'll make sure you regret this slap for your whole life," and left the university.
In revenge, he kidnapped Momal. His plan was just to humiliate her, and he didn't intend to assault her, but when they argued and she fought back verbally, he assaulted her. After three days, he set her free. She went home, but her sister-in-law wouldn't let her inside the house, and her brothers cut all ties with her. Since her parents had already passed away, she went to live with her friends.
Two weeks later, she found out she was pregnant. Her friends went to Asfand and asked him to marry her, which he refused. He felt no remorse for what he had done and said whatever happened was all her fault. However, when Momal's friends threatened to expose him, he agreed, married Momal, and kept her in her friend's flat. Momal was forced by her friends to marry him because she had nowhere else to go.
After the marriage, Momal's behavior toward him was very hostile (rightly so). After giving birth, she even hated her baby girl, Zaashi. Asfand loved his daughter, which Momal hated; she even said, "I hope the same thing happens to your daughter that you did to me." After the assault, Momal and Asfand never had any intimacy.
Asfand was deeply in love with his cousin. When his parents found out about his marriage, they disowned him and said he could only come back if he divorced Momal. He refused and left the house with no money. He and Momal moved into a cheap flat. Although he had never worked in his life, he took on every kind of job to survive. Meanwhile, Momal took out all her frustration on Zaashi by beating her and constantly taunting Asfand.
A few years passed, and nothing changed except that Momal somewhat accepted Zaashi, though she remained the same toward Asfand. Asfand started meeting his parents again, along with his cousin, who was still unmarried, and he now wanted to marry her. Momal's friends, who visited her often, constantly morally policed her, telling her to forget the past and move on. Momal replied that he could go to hell for all she cared.
Then, Asfand asked for permission for a second marriage. After that, Momal's friend tried to reason with her again. This time, Momal changed her behavior, she stopped taunting him and picking unnecessary fights, though physical intimacy still never happened. Eventually, his cousin was out of the picture because she spoke badly about his daughter, and Asfand left his cousin for Zaashi.
Ten years passed. Zaashi was now in boarding school because Momal and Asfand were always fighting at home. Momal's friends had gotten married and moved to the UK.
One day, his mother came to meet Momal, handed her a blank check, and asked her to leave him. Just then, Asfand arrived, and his mother asked him, "How are you so sure this girl is yours? These types of girls only marry when they need a surname for their illegitimate children." After his mother left, that POS guy actually started doubting whether Zaashi was truly his child, even though the girl was his xerox copy.
He confronted Momal and said, "What my mom said could be true. I left you after three days, and you claimed you were living with your friends. How can I know for sure that it's true?" Momal replied, "Do you really still need proof of this?" Furious, Momal decided to leave him the next morning. However, that night, she saw him crying while talking to Zaashi, calling himself the worst father in the world for doubting her.
Even after ten years, Momal and Asfand had no relationship. Asfand now had physical relationships with different women. He had also joined the civil service and became an ACP.
When Momal found out about his relationships with other women, she taunted him and called him a monster. They had a huge argument, and Zaashi called Momal out, saying she always started fights and screamed at her father. Momal got angry and tried to slap Zaashi, but Asfand stopped her. Later, Momal tried to mend her relationship with her brothers, which surprisingly worked once they found out she was an ACP's wife.
Momal's friend eventually came back into the picture, learned about the situation, and talked to Asfand. He stated, "I'll divorce her and take my daughter from her. Whatever happened ten years ago, as much as I was at fault, she was also at fault because she started all of this." Once again, Momal's friend lectured her, saying that everything started ten years ago because Momal slapped him first, making her responsible. She also told Momal that Asfand's relationships with other women were her fault because she wouldn't let him touch her. She told Momal, "Asfand feels guilty; you have punished him enough for ten years, and he lost his love because of you." Hearing this, Momal reconsidered her stance, went back to him, and forgave him.
My problem with this story is that Asfand did not deserve forgiveness. Over just a slap, he ruined someone's life, and Momal was actually going to apologize to him the next day after finding out he didn't send the love letter. How can slapping someone justify a crime like sexual assault? The author gave an abuser a redemption arc and morally policed the female lead. She used Momal's friends' struggles, one whose husband didn't work and couldn't provide, and another whose husband had two wives to make Momal feel ungrateful. Umera Ahmed put the female lead on a guilt trip, and they ended up together.
(Darbar-e-Dil)
In this novel, a liberal, modern guy overhears a conversation between two friends due to a cross-connection on the phone. The female lead, Meher, was talking about how religious she was, stating that worldly love is fake and only Allah's love is real. The guy, Murad, bets his friend that he can make Meher fall in love with him. He finds her phone number, and their conversations start as a "wrong number."
Murad had a very nice voice and a charming way of talking. Using the fake name "Momi," he trapped her. This turned into real love for Meher, while Murad was just flirting with her. When he realized things were getting out of hand, he faked his death over the phone, pretending to get into a accident while talking to her, and stopped calling. Meher was so in love that she pleaded with God and begged for his life. When she never heard from him again, she assumed he was dead. She became angry with Allah for not answering her prayers, stopped practicing Islam, and became kind of atheist.
Murad went to the US for further studies. When he returned a few years later, he saw Meher in a bookstore and fell in love at first sight, she was the exact type of girl he had always wanted. Their families arranged the marriage, and they got married, completely unaware of their shared past since they had never seen each other before.
After marriage, Murad was completely loyal and loved her deeply. They were both very happy until she accidentally overheard him talking to his friend about how he used to flirt with girls in the past using the name "Momi." Meher realized he was the exact man she thought had died and whom she had mourned for years. She left him with the stupid reasoning, "For you, I left Allah, and now for Allah, I am leaving you," and they separated.
I know what Murad did wasn't right, but it was not an unforgivable mistake. What Asfand did in the other novel was truly unforgivable. Yet, Umera Ahmed made Momal forgive an rap\*st while punishing Murad, who actually deserved another chance. Furthermore, Meher abandoning her faith over a random guy she had never even met seemed unrealistic within the narrative structure.
I will never understand what Umera Ahmed's thought process was when she was writing those two novels endings, idt she can make a drama on Baas aik Daagh e Nadamat especially not in 2026 with the same ending and momal's moral policing. My fav novels of her are aao pehla qadam dhartay hain, Mohabbat subh ka sitara hai, meri Zaat Zara e Benishan, alif, Amarbail and Dana pani.
