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Bangladesh and Pakistan

Abarasan Ethirajan in Chittagong meets supporters and critics of those accused of war crimes in 1971; Owen Bennett Jones in Islamabad asks if chaos can stir literary creativity.

Pascale Harter introduces two dispatches with personal stories and analysis of the subcontinent. Bangladesh has been roiled with protests and demonstrations in response to its judgement on crimes commutted during its journey to independence on 1971. From Dhaka, Anbarasan Ethirajan describes a journey to Chittagong to meet some of the most passionate defenders of some of the accused and their allies in the Jamaat e Islami party.

On the other hand, isn't it always best for writers to live in interesting, even if dangerous times? Owen Bennett Jones in Islamabad asks if chaos can stir creativity - and whether the current Pakistani literary renaissance draws on the country's risky "front-row seat to history".

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10 minutes

Last on

Fri 15 Mar 2013 04:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 14 Mar 2013 19:50GMT
  • Fri 15 Mar 2013 01:50GMT
  • Fri 15 Mar 2013 04:50GMT