Book Review: ‘The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur’ by Rahul Pandita

After reading the unputdownable ‘Our Moon Has Blood Clots’, I decided to mail the author Rahul Pandita and express my heartfelt gratitude for writing the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. He was gracious by replying to my e-mail. I have a similar feeling with this book too and its importance can’t be stated enough because of the unnecessary controversy that the Pulwama attack was mired in!

Rahul Pandita’s latest book ‘The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur’ gives a wonderful insight into the much talked of Pulwama terrorist attack and keeps the reader glued almost like a web-series. The book is a crisp reading and the characters tend to stay back with the reader. ‘The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur’ should be read for the following reasons:

1. Gain an understanding of counter insurgency operations and understand. how complex they are! The variables at play are diverse and persistence along with luck plays an important role in cracking such cases.
2. No case is small or big, easy or difficult. The book explores how the cases are often interlinked and cracking one seemingly irrelevant link might clear the cobweb of unsolved cases.
3. The role of paramilitary forces in counter-terrorism operations hasn’t been acknowledged enough and officers like Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey have gone unsung, despite their supreme sacrifice.
4. Hardcore terrorists radicalize youth in Kashmir by preaching Islam while they themselves lead a life of debauchery.
5. This book should also come as a stern reminder to the journalists and politicians who questioned the intelligence agencies, defence forces and the government after the Pulwama attack to make petty political gains to not jump guns and cook conspiracy theories.

Hope to see this book soon turn into a movie or TV series!