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A review by _askthebookbug
Lajja: Shame by Taslima Nasrin
4.0
• r e v i e w •
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"People don’t leave their homeland simply because governments stage events. One’s native land is not like the soil we put in flowerpots, where we pour water and fertilizer and then change the soil after an interval." - Taslima Nasreen.
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When Lajja was published in 1993, the Bangladesh government banned it two months after. Set around the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, Taslima writes about the repercussions it had on the Hindu population residing in Bangladesh. Her bold style of writing intimidated many including the government and she started receiving death threats for being incredibly honest. When Bangladesh was found post East Pakistan's liberation from West Pakistan, millions of lives were lost. Not soon after, Islam was made the national religion, leading countless Hindus to move back to India in fear. The family in the story were the ones who chose to stay back but history repeated itself when Hindu fundamentalists destroyed the Masjid in Ayodhya.
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Lajja is told through the eyes of Suranjan who has always led an easy life, lazing around and unemployed. He is left dazed when Hindu shops, houses and temples are razed to the ground by Muslim fundamentalists as the news of demolition spread like wildfire. Suranjan and his father, Sudhamoy were born nationalists and while most of their relatives flew back to India back in 1971, they held their ground. Now in 1992 when the Hindus were being terrorized again, Sudhamoy still refuses to leave his motherland. Suranjan who once felt proud of the fact that he has loyal muslim friends still counts on them to keep his family safe. But soon he understands that he cannot remain immune to violence. It is only when his sister Maya is abducted that he learns the graveness of the situation.
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It wouldn't be a lie to say that I detested Suranjan. With an ailing father and a worried mother, he chose to remain immobile, wasting away the remaining money they had on cigarettes and liquor. Maya's disappearance instilled some fear in him as he combed through the city and when he returned home alone, he began watching everyone around him with suspicion. Lajja brings out a sense of fear in the minds of the readers about how madness overtakes people when they place religion above everything else . I could probably relate more to it considering the current political state of my country. Maya, still stays in my mind even after months of reading this book. I bought a copy of Shameless, sequel to Lajja right after I finished the latter. Taslima, undoubtedly had put her life in danger while writing this all those years ago and I respect her immensely for this act of bravery. The only drawback was how statistical most of this book felt, almost mechanical. But it doesn't lessen the horror that thousands had to go through for no fault of theirs. Lajja is a powerful book as it so happens with banned books. There is always a reason for the government to take such steps in trying to stop literature and truth from reaching the common folks. Read this and know it yourselves.
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Rating : 4.4/5.
.
"People don’t leave their homeland simply because governments stage events. One’s native land is not like the soil we put in flowerpots, where we pour water and fertilizer and then change the soil after an interval." - Taslima Nasreen.
.
When Lajja was published in 1993, the Bangladesh government banned it two months after. Set around the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, Taslima writes about the repercussions it had on the Hindu population residing in Bangladesh. Her bold style of writing intimidated many including the government and she started receiving death threats for being incredibly honest. When Bangladesh was found post East Pakistan's liberation from West Pakistan, millions of lives were lost. Not soon after, Islam was made the national religion, leading countless Hindus to move back to India in fear. The family in the story were the ones who chose to stay back but history repeated itself when Hindu fundamentalists destroyed the Masjid in Ayodhya.
.
Lajja is told through the eyes of Suranjan who has always led an easy life, lazing around and unemployed. He is left dazed when Hindu shops, houses and temples are razed to the ground by Muslim fundamentalists as the news of demolition spread like wildfire. Suranjan and his father, Sudhamoy were born nationalists and while most of their relatives flew back to India back in 1971, they held their ground. Now in 1992 when the Hindus were being terrorized again, Sudhamoy still refuses to leave his motherland. Suranjan who once felt proud of the fact that he has loyal muslim friends still counts on them to keep his family safe. But soon he understands that he cannot remain immune to violence. It is only when his sister Maya is abducted that he learns the graveness of the situation.
.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that I detested Suranjan. With an ailing father and a worried mother, he chose to remain immobile, wasting away the remaining money they had on cigarettes and liquor. Maya's disappearance instilled some fear in him as he combed through the city and when he returned home alone, he began watching everyone around him with suspicion. Lajja brings out a sense of fear in the minds of the readers about how madness overtakes people when they place religion above everything else . I could probably relate more to it considering the current political state of my country. Maya, still stays in my mind even after months of reading this book. I bought a copy of Shameless, sequel to Lajja right after I finished the latter. Taslima, undoubtedly had put her life in danger while writing this all those years ago and I respect her immensely for this act of bravery. The only drawback was how statistical most of this book felt, almost mechanical. But it doesn't lessen the horror that thousands had to go through for no fault of theirs. Lajja is a powerful book as it so happens with banned books. There is always a reason for the government to take such steps in trying to stop literature and truth from reaching the common folks. Read this and know it yourselves.
.
Rating : 4.4/5.