8th Lit Salon with Ghazala Wahab

The ULAB Lit Salon, organized by the Department of English and Humanities, ULAB, held its 8th Literary Salon on March 14, 2023 at the premises of its co-organizer, The Bookworm at Shahabuddin Park, Gulshan 2. Moderated by ULAB Visiting Faculty, Sudeep Chakravarti, this Lit Salon showcased a conversation with the award-winning author Ghazala Wahab.

In conversation with Ms. Wahab, the session delved into her personal experiences and stories, wherein she discussed her latest non-fiction, Born a Muslim: Some Truth about Islam in India.

Ms. Wahab started with a thought-provoking discussion, drawn from events she has experienced in her lifetime while living in India. She talked about how communal violence is not innate but is rather instigated and often veiled under the same label as patriotism, mostly to favor the benefactors. Next, she spoke about the treatment of Muslims in India and her family’s experience with prejudiced ideology aided by the insurgence of terrorism. This discussion led to a discourse on the political strife between Hindus and Muslims in both India and Bangladesh.

Following this, Ms. Wahab talked about how she addressed these topics in her book. She mentioned that, in her book, she wrote about the history of Islam in India and the socio-economic factors that have led the people of the country to be so skeptical of them. Moreover, she also talked about some of the political uproars discussed in her book and how they affected Indian Muslims. She spoke of how this contributed to her sense of insecurity in the country as a Muslim.

The floor was later opened to the audience for a question and answer session.

Report by Ereti Rhidil Rahman (193013068).