Shame

Shame, Taslima Nasrin, Prometheus Books, 1997

In 1992, Hindu fundamentalists in India destroyed a 450-year-old Muslim mosque at Ayodhya, saying that it was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple. The incident sparked religious rioting in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which is where this novel takes place. This book tells the story of the Dutta family, part of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. Muslim fundamentalists use the Ayodhya mosque destruction as an excuse to go on the rampage, including looting of Hindu homes and shops, destruction of Hindu temples, rapes, and disappearances, with the intention of forcing the Hindus to leave Bangladesh permanently. The anti-Hindu violence, intending to turn Bangladesh from mostly Muslim to totally Muslim, is carried out frequently with the connivance, even active participation, of the police and government.

The book was first published in India, then found its way to Bangladesh, the author's homeland, where the people and government got extremely upset. What ensued were three days of bloody rioting, a nationwide general strike, and the government putting a price on the author's head (like Salman Rushdie)-because of this book. What was more unacceptable for the government was that Nasrin, a medical doctor now living in exile in Sweden, was a Muslim saying sympathetic things about Hindus.

To put it mildly, this book is highly recommended.