Lajja

Lajja (Bengali: লজ্জা Lôjja) (Shame) is a novel in Bengali by Taslima Nasrin, a writer of Bangladesh. The word lajja/lôjja means "shame" in Bengali and many other Indic languages. The book was first published in 1993 in the Bengali language, and was subsequently banned in Bangladesh, New York Times, June 8, 1994. New York Times, August 28, 1994. and a few states of India. It nonetheless sold 50,000 copies in the six months after its publication, New York Times, March 13, 1994. though Taslima fled her native Bangladesh after death threats from Islamic radicals. New York Times, July 6, 1994.

Nasrin dedicated the book "to the people of the Indian subcontinent", beginning the text with the words, "let another name for religion be humanism." The novel is preceded by a preface and a chronology of events.

Synopsis

Lajja is a response of Taslima Nasrin to anti-Hindu riots which erupted in parts of Bangladesh, soon after the demolition of Babri Masjid in India on 6 December 1992. The book subtly indicates that communal feelings were on the rise, the Hindu minority of Bangladesh was not fairly treated, and secularism was under shadow.

Plot summary

In a far off place in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, on 6 December 1992, Babri Masjid is demolished, and the demolition has repercussions even in Bangladesh, a different country, and a...
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