Blasphemy – Durrani Tehmina

I bought the book from Karachi Airport, while waiting for my flight to Lahore a couple of weeks ago. As I was browsing through the bookstore looking for books written by local writters, the store owner handed me Blasphemy. Without thinking much, although the title and the color didnt look interesting, I paid, since it is one of the cheapest. Then off I boarded my flight.

Last night I picked it up and started to read it. OMG..!! It is the most depressing book that I’ve ever read. I could not let go the book until I woke up in the morning with headache and heartache. I’ve only completed half through.

Just read part of the summary…………

'To me, my husband was my son's murderer. He was also my daughter's molester. A parasite nibbling on the Holy Book…'. Set in South Pakistan, the novel inspired by a true story, is a searing study of evil, an uncompromising look at the distortion of Islam by predatory religious leaders. In prose of great power and intensity, the author tells the tragic story of the beautiful Heer, brutalized and corrupted by Pir Sain, the man of God, whom she is married to when barely fifteen.

I could not believe such an inhumanity exists in this world. Thank God we are living in this peaceful country of ours. Salam 1Malaysia!