Shaheen Bagh: From ‘Anti-National’ to Nation Saviour
Author: Asad
Pages: 264
Price: Rs 400
– Shayma S
Don’t judge a book by the cover, they say. But in this book, the cover has a lot going for it. The photo is arresting. A Muslim man, dressed in a PPE suit and a white skullcap, holding an oxygen cylinder. His eyes stare right at the reader. COVID narratives are all over mainstream and alternative media. There have been films made on the pandemic; featuring some testimonies and narratives. But overall, they have been a discomfiting read. Many people, despite appreciating the quality of the film, found themselves struggling to get through films such as Bheed (2023), a stirring black-and-white account of the workers’ migration and the quarantine. No one wishes to revisit some of the darkest times in recent history. It is also perhaps too soon. 2023 was perhaps the first year since the pandemic resembling full ‘normalcy’. But where is the normalcy for those who suffered directly from it? Asad’s book is a haunting testimony to those days, particularly in Delhi.
Ask any Delhiite and they will tell you that the sound of ambulances in those times is not forgotten. This book too, takes you back into those days.
[Read more on radiancenews.com]