Tamas (India) Book

1947. As the British prepare to leave India they announce the division of the country into two separate nations - India and Pakistan. This decision leads to one of the worst outbreaks of violence the world has ever seen - over a quarter of a million people die as Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus butcher one another. Tama [Darkness] perhaps the most powerful novel writtion on the Partition, looks at the chaos preceding the splitting of the subcontinent in a small town [and the villages surrounding it] in the North West Frontier Province [now in Pakistan]. The novel which is based on actual events, follows the tragedies that unfold in the town after a pig, considered unclean by the Muslims, is found slaughtered on the steps of the local mosque. The enraged Muslims massacre scores of the town's Hindus and Sikhs who, in turn, kill every Muslim they can find. Finally, the area's British administrators call out the army to prevemt further violence. The killing stops but nothing can ever erase the awful memories from the minds of the survivors, nor will the various communities ever trust one another again.Read More