According to the ANA news agency, the book “Battle of the Bullets” by Syed Ali Akbar Hosseini includes a narrative from the formation of terrorism to the assassination of individuals in the form of the life of a Pakistani teenager.
This book is the childhood memories of Syed Ali Akbar Hosseini, written in the form of a story. The author, who is from Pakistan and the city of Quetta, witnessed the growth of terrorism in his own neighborhood and saw the negative impact of terrorism on the people of the area firsthand and wrote it in the form of a story, trying to portray the negative effects of terrorism on the lives of people in a safe place; A place where Shiites and Sunnis once lived side by side, and with the growth of terrorism in Pakistan, especially Quetta, a strange distance has arisen between them, causing pessimism towards each other. This pessimism reaches a point where many local people lose their lives, and those who survive either emigrate to foreign countries or stay there, spending every moment in fear and terror, waiting for their sudden death. This book talks about bitter and sweet events that sometimes make the audience laugh, sometimes cry, and sometimes terrify.
The book “Battle of the Marbles” is about a subject that has always been in the category of permanent unknowns for the concerned Iranian audience; namely, Pakistan and its political situation, the reasons for insecurity, explosions, and terrorist attacks that seem to never end.
In this novel, the social, cultural, and religious atmosphere of Pakistan is very tangible and admirable. The expression of various local, religious and national customs and traditions, along with the different or similar behavior of individuals and families, paints a vivid and lively picture of Pakistan, and specifically the city of Quetta, and more specifically of the city’s Alamdar Street. The atmosphere and characterization of the novel are so precise and beautiful that after reading the novel, the reader feels that he or she has lived in Alamdar Street in Quetta for a long time and has seen those lovely and warm-hearted people up close. He or she has witnessed the tensions with his or her own eyes and has grown up with the character in the novel.
At the beginning of the novel, the reader becomes a child with Akbar; he or she is shocked to lose Nasiruddin and unconsciously sheds tears, as if that innocent friendship should be considered lost forever.
As the chapter progresses, he, along with Akbar, becomes heartbroken and overcome with fear and anxiety when he realizes the hands behind the scenes and suspicious movements. Hearing and reading the news of martyrdoms and suicide operations like his, his blood boils and sometimes he becomes confused. The reader will probably ask himself at the end of the book, why should these unfortunate events take place in our neighborhood and why we do not even know the truth of the matter for years, let alone take a step to solve the problem of our brothers and sisters.
In a part of this book, we read:
“Days passed. People were assassinated and families were mourning. Behesht-e-Zeinab seemed more prosperous than the entire region. During the day, the number of people who came to the graves of their loved ones was more than the people present in the place. “The situation had become such that news of explosions and suicides were part of the regular news, and upon hearing such news, people only tried to find out whether someone from their family had been martyred. A strange numbness had developed among the people. Some who had become rich with the money of foreign countries were thinking about a prosperous life and did not think about this chaotic situation at all.”
