Author: Abdus Samad
Translator(s)/Editor: Om Prakash Anand
Publisher: Sahitya Akademi
Year: 1997
Language: Punjabi
Pages: 256
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8126002670
Description
This English translation of Akademi award-winning novel Do Gaz Zameen deals with the life of a cross section of people in the Indian subcontinent of Bihar(India), Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and the complex issue of loyalty they face.
The novel is the story of a small but respectable family of a town in Bihar with feudal links. Caught in the vortex of the Pre-partition politics of the Congress and the Muslim League, the family disintegrates as a result of the riots, migration to East Pakistan, the abolition of Zamindari and the confiscation of urban property by the custodians as evacuee property. All this not only reduces the family to destitution but also makes it alien to its homeland.
For its perception of cultural identity as shaped by emotional, intellectual and historical compulsions, this novel is regarded as an outstanding contribution to Indian literature in Urdu.
The novel is significant for its characterization, its lucidity of style and portrayal of problems.