When men go to war, they do unspeakable things, often in the name of religion. Though it can make for uncomfortable reading with its gritty realism, nevertheless the reader will feel great empathy for the main protagonists. It is set in 1971, during the Bangladesh Liberation War, and documents the atrocities that were endured at this time.
In 1971, a freedom fight took place between the former West Pakistan and East Pakistan. It involved a fight against the Islamist Pakistani regime by the secular Bengalis, who lived in former East Pakistan. In this nine-month war, it is estimated three million people were killed. Many girls and women were raped by the Pakistani army and their collaborators. Some say these female victims numbered three to five hundred thousand. For the ones that survived, the horrifying events of that time have continued to blight their lives up to the present day.
It is sad that, because of complicated global politics, the story of the Bangladeshi war victims has not been heard in the West. This novel is a tribute to these victims, who never had a home or a life after the war.
