TASLIMA NASRIN is an awardwinning
writer known for her courageous
and powerful writings on religious
fundamentalism and the oppression
of women.A savage indictment of religious extremism and man‰۪s inhumanity to man, Lajja was
banned in Bangladesh, but became a bestseller in the rest of the world.
The Duttas‰ÛÓSudhamoy and Kironmoyee, and their children, Suranjan and Maya‰ÛÓ
have lived in Bangladesh all their lives. Despite being members of a small, vulnerable
Hindu community, they refuse to leave their country, unlike most of their friends
and relatives. Sudhamoy believes with a naive mix of optimism and idealism that his
motherland will not let him down. And then, on 6 December 1992, the Babri Masjid
is demolished. The world condemns the incident, but its immediate fallout is felt most
acutely in Bangladesh, where Muslim mobs begin to seek out and attack Hindus. The
nightmare inevitably arrives at the Duttas‰۪ doorstep, and their world begins to fall apart.
