Dear Zahira, With Love: Love Letters Across Borders

A love story stuck in the Partition of India Ghulam Ali meets Zahira when he briefly returns to India, his motherland. Zahira falls for him almost instantly. India, however, refuses to take him back. All Ghulam wants is to return to Lucknow and be with the woman he loves. Instead, he finds himself injured and starving in a Hindu Refugee Camp in Lahore, suspected of being a jasoos. Having been forced to serve in the Pakistani Army, India now rejects him completely. Trapped across the border with no hope in sight, Ghulam begins writing letters—to ministers, bureaucrats, journalists, and anyone who might listen. And to Zahira Raza, the love that keeps him alive. Zahira has always dreamed of dancing freely, but her desire is held back by a secret only Ghulam knows. As she waits for him in Lucknow, living with her naani and sister, she navigates the struggles of being a working Muslim woman in 1950s India. Written as an exchange of love letters, Dear Zahira, With Love is the true story of Havaldaar Ghulam Ali, as relevant today as it was then. An earlier version of this book was published under the title "Hindu Refugee Camp, Lahore". Read more