STRATEGIZING VIOLENCE IN KARACHI: AN ANARCHIST PERSPECTIVE OF THE PRISONER BY OMAR SHAHID HAMID

Abstract

The present study explores the ongoing conflict between state power and non-state actors as presented in Omar Hamid’s novel The Prisoner published in 2013. It employs Bakunin’s anarchist perspective derived from Statism and Anarchy and God and the State published in 1873 and 1882 respectively to analyze how characters resist the coercive mechanisms of state authority. From an anarchist perspective, the analysis focuses on the interplay between organized institutions and non-state actors, revealing the inherent violence used to sustain power. Through the defiance of the key character’s refusal to comply with unethical directives, the text exposes the moral corruption and clash of state organs with each other embedded in the state’s machinery. Additionally, this study argues that the violent confrontations between state agents and militant groups blur the line between legitimate and illegitimate use of force, thereby revealing the cyclical nature of institutional repression. The findings of the study reveal how both state and non-state entities employ violence to assert dominance, ultimately undermining the state’s moral authority. The study further reveals how The Prisoner serves as a powerful commentary on the ethical ambiguities and destructive consequences of institutionalized power in contemporary socio-political context centering around Karachi.