Taslima Nasrin

A screed about the extensive, extended anti-Hindu riots and persecution of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh after the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque in India in 1992. Page after page is either quoted directly from non-fiction sources or inserted into the mouths of her characters. And sadly, although everything she cites or quotes is horrifyingly factual, the book is so overdone, so one-sided, that it runs a real risk of alienating otherwise-sympathetic readers. The incidents she cites are all-too-real, all-too-numerous, and nauseatingly offensive. But as in any set of events like these, the truth is not black-and-white, the facts not so simple as Nasrin would suggest.… (meer)

This book describes the impact of religious intolerance and the persecution of minorities through the experiences of the (nominally Hindu) Dutta family in Bangladesh. The main focus of the story traces the life of the family through 13 days following the destruction of the Babri Masjid mosque in India by Hindu fundamentalists and the anti-Hindu violence which takes place in response in Bangladesh. Inter-weaved with this narrative are memories from the lives of the four main characters which describe individual and communal humiliations and give perspective on the movement away from a secular Bangladesh after independence in 1974 towards a state whose official religion is Islam,.

I have mixed feelings about this book hence only 3 stars. I was previously only vaguely aware of the events it describes and found it informative and at times powerful. After tragedy strikes the family, the different ways the family members respond is movingly portrayed. I however have reservations over the clumsy writing style which does make me wonder about the quality of the translation. More frustrating was the way the author often uses minor characters to present documentary information on cases of abuse and destruction in a didactic manner. These become extremely repetitive and are often just long lists of unfamiliar names and places (this is a problem more specific to a non-Bangladeshi reader) which continually interrupt the narrative. While I can see why the author has taken this approach, a greater focus on specific examples with more context and background would have been more effective to this reader. (Or the use of an appendix.) There are also a few examples where some of the statistics given seem to be contradictory although this may be the haphazard way they are sometimes presented.

One obviously cannot underestimate the bravery of the author in writing this book and her emotional honesty and empathy is striking. I have reservations about the execution but at the same time believe it is well worth reading to anybody with even only a passing interest in South Asia.
… (meer)