The Jamdtith Revolution is the first book to be published of an Indian envoy's diaries during a diplomatic posting. His time in Bangladesh marked the first-ever civil society overthrow of a military-backed regime in South Asia and only the second relatively bloodless revolution in the whole of Asia. The political parties that brought down General Ershad in 1990 found it impossible to sink their differences and establish democratic institutions; a problem that continues to this day in this space of three years, there were three presidents in Bangladesh and four Prime Ministers in India, and bilateral issues between India and Bangladesh were intensely politicized on both sides of the border.
The Jamdani Revolution throws candid light on the day-to-day activities of an Indian envoy, his actions with and without instructions from New Delhi, and the frustrations with headquarters that
characterize the experience of every ambassador. The author narrates his reactions to communal riots, coup rumours, calumnies in the press, the cyclone of 1991, amnesia about the Liberation War, and the neglect of Bangladesh's Hindu and Buddhist pre-Islamic history. He records his impressions of politicians in India and Bangladesh, and the comic and sad incidents that enlivened his assignment.
