Many Rivers One Sea: Bangladesh and the

In July 2016 the worlds attention fell upon a café in a leafy Dhaka neighbourhood as the barbarity of a distant Caliphate was visited on this corner of South Asia. Twenty-nine died in the assault on the Holey Bakery affixing an unbidden nightmare to the image of a supposedly tolerant Muslim nation. Joseph Allchin dives into this burgeoning Muslim nations travails with extremism and politics in this penetrating work. Examining Bangladeshs recent and not-so-recent past Allchin explores a recent rise in Islamist politics as well as violent terrorism. With a compelling blend of history narrative journalism and political analysis Allchin demonstrates how Bangladeshs society and politics are starkly contemporary and relevant to our inter-connected world.Delving into the local and global differences between political actors he exposes the continued influence of the countrys independence struggle and global geopolitics on todays tumultuous body politic. Scrutinizing the careers and dissensions of the countrys political rivals: current prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her predecessor Khaleda Zia. This deep-dive investigation examines the multitude of relationships between radical Islam and politics in Indias neighbourhood laying bare the forces that seek to shape Bangladeshs present and its destiny.