War stories

The 1971 war plays a major part in shaping Bangladeshi literature, Mahmud Rahman tells Premankur Biswas

The ghost of the 1971 war looms large over Bangladeshi literature, concedes Dhaka-born writer Mahmud Rahman. In fact, most of the stories of his short story compilation, Killing the Water, launched in Kolkata on Friday, March 6, refer to the war in some way or the other.

“One of my stories talks about a General of the war who retires and settles down in America. Another one is about a second-generation refugee in America. We cannot help but talk about the consequences of the war. It is the single-most important event in our history and has shaped the way we are,” says Rahman who is in Kolkata for the launch.

When Rahman was born, Bangladesh was still East Pakistan. It was during his formative years, in the late 1960s, when the nation was in turmoil.

Full report here Indian Express