Lajja is a description cum documentary on the spiral effects of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Bangladesh. The wounds inflicted upon the Hindus, the torture, the fires, snatching the porperties of the Hindus made for a very gruesme reading. The facts on such behaviour were put all through the book. It was the story of Dr Sudhamoy Dutta who did not want to leave Bangladesh because of the torture, was forced to ultimately leave his homeland after his daughter Nilanjana was abducted and there was no trace of her. His son Suranjan had lost his first love Parveen who was a Muslim to a Muslim businessman. His wife Neelima had given up singing hymns as it was considered as characterless. They had lost their ancestral property and the once upon a rich family was forced to live from hand to mouth. In the wake of the unrest, even Muslim friends were not acknowledging the relationship they shared because none had the courage to do so.
Overall, a very serious book. Not meant for the typical rainy day reading. Sounds like a newspaper article at places. Very poor language, practically sounds like someone is translating Hindi into English.
Rating: 2.5 star
