Thanks to a 2006 tele-film, this has become Urdu writer Rajinder Singh Bedi’s signature story. Set in the violent upheaval of British India’s 1947 partition, it follows Sunderlal, a Hindu activist whose wife, Lajwanti, is abducted into Pakistan. The ironic descriptions of domestic life (Lajwanti considered vicious beatings from Sunderlal “normal”, and appears confused by the kind treatment of her Muslim captor) highlight traditional Indian attitudes towards women at the time. A second irony is that although Sunderlal campaigns for the rehabilitation of abducted women, he refuses to discuss Lajwanti’s experiences with her, preventing both from finding closure. More…