While much work
has been done on exploring the communal tensions of the Independence era and
the lode of ‘partition stories’ has been sufficiently mined, the more recent
past has not been examined in any systematic way. In this collection of
nineteen stories, edited and introduced by the well-known writer and translator
Rakhshanda Jalil, we get a glimpse of the different hues and shades of
communalism as well as different ways of accepting and interpreting this grim
reality of recent times. A detailed Introduction contextualises the stories and
the concerns raised therein and attempts to clarify what communalism means in
India. Significantly, this collection does not restrict itself to stories that
deal with Hindu-Muslim tensions; it includes stories about the exodus of
Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, marginalisation of Hindus in Punjab and the
persecution of Sikhs in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. A collection such as this
is timely and important. Sixty years after the communal violence of the
Partition, once again the fabric of secular India is being challenged and
contested; these stories present us with cameos of conflict and fear and also
offer us vignettes of hope and resolution.
Reviews of Pigeons of the Domes
1. "A collection such as this is timely and
important. Sixty years after the communal violence of the partition, once again
the fabric of secular India is being challenged and contested, these stories
present us with cameos of conflict and fear and also offer us vignettes of hope
and resolution".
-MILLENNIUM POST
2. "The death of humanity is a theme that runs
through the stories - all of them point to the ultimate futility of mindless
killing and violence, whether it's against Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs. This,
perhaps is the book's greatest strength, even if it sounds repetitive. The
argument against irrational hatred can only be fought by irrefutable
logic".
-MINT
3. "Jalil, who has edited the book, contextualised
the stories around communal history and the present. "There are dark
stories, and there are those of hope. Secularism and communalism are conjoined
twins; to study one, you have to study the other. Incidents such as those in
Dadri or Muzzafarnagar take away our faith, but these stories also tell us how
to negotiate with such truths." she said".
-THE INDIAN EXPRESS