Bhisham Sahni

Tamas es una palabra sánscrita que expresa la cualidad de la estupidez. El sacrificio y posterior abandono de un cerdo en las escaleras de una mezquita van a desencadenar uno de los acontecimientos mas dramaticos de los dias anteriores a la particion de la India, que daria lugar al nacimiento de la republica islamica de Pakistan. Esta novela, galardonada con numerosos premios (entre los que se encuentra el Sahitya Akademi Award), se desarrolla en 1947 en una indeterminada poblacion fronteriza entre ambas regiones, y recoge los acontecimientos ocurridos en Rawalpindi, de los que el autor fue testigo.

A poignant and politically charged novel about the 1947 Partition translated by Booker Prize winning translator Daisy RockwellTamas Bhisham Sahni s 1973 novel is a product of the Partition s devastation It drew immediate and universal critical acclaim for its poignant and striking retelling of Partition and its bloody aftermath Tamas is a story about how simmering communal tensions snowball into full fledged riots that grip villages across the subcontinent In a city in undivided Punjab Nathu a tanner is bribed to kill a pig When the animal s carcass is discovered on the steps of the local mosque the next morning brewing tensions explode into riots and massacre A seemingly well planned and executed job by the British plants seeds of mistrust and hatred among those who until the day before had been close friends and neighbours Tamas is a chilling reminder of the consequences of religious intolerance and communal prejudice