Lajja

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–Sudhamoy and Kironmoyee, and their children, Suranjan and Maya– 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.