Pakistani Readers discussion

Assalam O Alaikum All

Please recommend me as accurate book as possible on the partition of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Preferably two books each from the point of view of both east and west Pakistan

The blood telegram by Gary J. Bass

Abubakar wrote: "The blood telegram by Gary J. Bass"

thanks

If you're looking for a more personal look at it, Siddique Salik's Witness to Surrender (I haven't read it so I can't guarantee how much his army and ISPR career tilted the narrative) and Janhanara Imam's (I think?) translated books are nice, too. Pakistani and Bengali POV, respectively.

Osama wrote: "If you're looking for a more personal look at it, Siddique Salik's Witness to Surrender (I haven't read it so I can't guarantee how much his army and ISPR career tilted the narrative) and Janhanara..."

thanks i will definitely give them a try

If it's novels you're interested in, here are some ideas. I readily recommend The Golden Age by Tahmima Anam. It's the first of a trilogy. The Good Muslim is the second.

Kamila Shamsie's Kartography has a story element about East Pakistan/Bangladesh.

I vaguely recall that Sorayya Khan's City of Spies has a character who returns from that war.

Lastly, In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman references East Pakistan.

Agree with The Golden Age. Its one of my favorite novels. Its written from the East Pakistan standpoint. Kartography is also one of my favorite books, it has some about East Pakistan, also written objectively, but its a very small part of the story. The Golden Age is entrenched in partition and its aftermath and gives us a very different viewpoint from the one-sided version we had been taught in school.

Siddiq Salik's Witness to Surrender is an excellent book.It is a stinging indictment of the failures of the high command and also idepicts the hopelessness of the situation confronting the Pakistani troops who had a hostile local population as well as amuch larger enemy force to contend with.

One must read book on the subject is Dead Reckoning by Sharmila Bose an Indian researcher. It's available with the National Book Foundation in Pakistan at a reduced price, since it was reprinted here with permission.

Witness to Surrender,is also available as an Urdu translation,Main Ne Dhaka Doobtay Dekha

On a related subject,Siddique Salik also wrote a memoir,regarding his experiences as a prisoner of war in India,after the 1971 war:
The Wounded Pride (published as Hama Yaran Dozakh in Urdu).

The Last Days Of United Pakistan by G.W. Choudhury

looking for this book for quiet some time .. is it worth reading?

Aasia wrote: "Assalam O Alaikum All

two books: pakistan kyoun toota by dr safder mehmood and other how Pakistan got divided by Rao Farman Ali, there is one other book by sultan muhammad khan then foreign secretary chaman par kya guzri it has too valuable info on the subject

Saad wrote: "looking for this book for quiet some time .. is it worth reading?"
Siddique Salik frequently refers to it in his book,Witness to Surrender.And I trust what he writes.
I haven't found this book either.

Hama Yaran Dozakh / ہمہ یاراں دوزخ by Siddique Salik
A book on a related subject in the same war.The memoir of a Pakistani soldier in Indian captivity.

The Betrayal Of East Pakistan by Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi

General Niazi wasn't the only one to blame for what happened.