Reconciling Communal Violence and Confronting South Asian History in Rahad Abir’s Bengal Hound
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Mir Arif reviews Rahad Abir’s Bengal Hound observing how the book is all about reconciling communal violence and confronting South Asian History.
- ISBN: 9781958652022
- Publisher: Gaudy Boy
- No. of Pages: 210 pages
- Price: $19.00
Rahad Abir’s debut novel, Bengal Hound, highlights a pivotal chapter in South Asian history: The 1969 East Pakistan mass uprising, which started a year earlier and demanded autonomy for East Pakistan, heightening political tensions that ultimately led to Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. At the heart of the story is Shelley Majumder, an English literature student at the University of Dhaka. The Partition of India had compelled many Hindus in the newly created Pakistan to migrate to India, and vice versa for Muslims. Being Hindus in East Pakistan, Shelley’s family, excluding his father, left for India, witnessing communal violence in their homeland. Amid these tumultuous times, Shelley decides to marry Roxana, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl from his village, Gopala.
