My pick for Bangladesh is going to be Lajja:Shame by Taslima Nasrin, a controversial but important novel. Nasrin’s Lajja outlines the religious anti-Hindu riots that follow in the wake of the notorious destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992. While national borders might separate Bangladesh and India, the events thousands of miles away find common ground in communal violence.
The narration centers on Duttas, a Hindu Bangladeshi family that must decide if they have a future in Bangladesh. Predictably, the elders believe motherland trumps religion and the state will protect them. Suranjan, the young son of the family, cannot grasp the extent of the situation and isn’t able to fathom why secularism is so fragile. His journey through the streets of a riot-torn town is a reality check for both him and the reader.
Lajja is an uncomfortable read, detailing horrors of the 1992 riots in Bangladesh and some Indian cities. Nasrin’s narrative focuses not so much on who the victims are but more on why, as society we disintegrate and become savages on perceived grievances.
