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The Black Coat

The Black Coat AuthorNeamat ImamCountryBangladeshLanguageEnglishGenreDystopian, political fiction, social science fictionPublished22 May 2013 Hamish Hamilton/ Penguin Books IndiaMedia typePrint (hardback)Pages256 ppISBN9780670086658
The Black Coat is a historical novel by Bangladeshi-Canadian author Neamat Imam. It is "a meditation on power, greed and the human cost of politics." The Sunday Guardian commented that it is "destined to be a future classic" and will be used as the "gold standard for any book which seeks to engage with South Asian politics or history."

Published in 2013 by Penguin Books India in Hamish Hamilton imprint, it presents a dark and dystopian portrait of Bangladesh under Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Sheikh Mujib is commonly regarded as the Father of the Bengali Nation, the greatest hero Bangladesh has ever had, but in this novel Imam depicts him as a totalitarian ruler who distorted truth and suppressed political opposition to strengthen his tyranny.

Plot
The novel tells the story of journalist Khaleque Biswas and his protege Nur Hussain. After Khaleque loses his job with the Freedom Fighter, he trains Nur only to turn him into a fake Sheikh Mujib. Sheikh Mujib was the leader of the Bangladesh Liberation War and Prime Minister of the country in its post-independence period. Khaleque and Nur start earning money using the blind nationalistic fervour of their countrymen during the Bangladesh famine of 1974 when thousands of people died from starvation and Sheikh Mujib began to lose his popularity.

Nur recites the famous 7th March Speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, trying to popularise Sheikh Mujib and his party the Awami League. But after observing the sufferings of Bangladeshi people during the famine, he begins to criticise Sheikh Mujib. At the height of that criticism, he calls Sheikh Mujib a 'monster' and a 'disgrace'.

After this, Khaleque has only one thing to do. To eliminate Nur or bear the consequences, as Moina Mia, Awami League MP and the person who has introduced the duo to Sheikh Mujib, thinks it is Khaleque who has convinced Nur to speak against the Prime Minister. He chooses the former.

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