The History Teacher of Lahore : A Novel

From Sialkot to Lahore Arif Ali makes the journey to realize his dream of being a history teacher. In Lahore his life is upended by dramatic events unfolding in light of a General wielding far-right power after the ruthless assassination of a Prime Minister. As a teacher he resists the decree to teach a false history and as a poet articulates his emotions on unrequited love and the turbulent political atmosphere. Arifs impotent rage towards the increasing religious intolerance around him compels him to join Kamal and Nadira in their cloak-and-dagger acts of resistance. And while he presciently awaits the dreaded storm of sectarian violence to break in the wake of the Generals legacy of a brutal military rule he finds love that hitherto he could only imagine through Urdu poetry. With Roohi by his side Arif finds his muse but watches with deep frustration the public floggings persecution of minorities and the societal divide created by increasing fundamentalism. When a student in his class is falsely accused of blasphemy he decides to save him from being arrested and embarks on a dangerous mission that lands him in the middle of sectarian clashes. Will he succeed in saving the boy and making it out alive to live the life he dreamt of as a history teacher in Lahore? Tahira Naqvi recreates Lahore of the 1980s in this moving political novel showing eloquently the struggle between a besieged democracy on the one hand and thriving cultural traditions of Urdu poetry on the other.