This reporter's diary on Bangladesh War is a brilliant read

Manas Ghosh, the writer, says it's a pity that efforts by Indian diplomats to secure support for the cause of the war hardly find space in the history books of Bangladesh.

- SHANTANU GUHA RAY

Almost half a century ago, Manas Ghosh, a brilliant reporter, walked the talk in the bloody killing fields of what was then East Pakistan, chronicling news reports of the war for the Statesman, then a staple morning diet for many in Calcutta.

As a school student, I grew up reading Ghosh's brilliant reporting, and it was obvious I would pick up his brilliantly written book, Bangladesh War: Report from Ground Zero (printed by Paper Missile, a wing of Delhi's Niyogi Books). Ghosh spent days, weeks, months covering the war with a handful of other reporters, among them Udipi Ramraj Kalkur and Gopal Krishna Roy of UNI. The latter earned more fame because he penned a book on Suchitra Sen, Bengal's answer to Greta Garbo.