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Read the complete reviews for this book.

Read the complete reviews for this book.
“An unforgettable read. I learnt more about India from reading this book than from attending an international seminar devoted to trauma and reconciliation in India. Years ago, when I was visiting a refugee camp, the local scholars who accompanied me told me the history of what had happened to people now living at this miserable place and how they had become victims of their old neighbors with a different ethnic background. Then I met an elderly man who was a well-known poet. I learned that since his arrival there he had written a poem each day and shared it with his fellow refugees. When some of his poems were translated for me I realized that they taught me more about his people and the impact of an ethnic conflict than had all the intellectual explanations provided for me. In the above conference, scholars and speakers from a range of disciplines spoke of trauma and religious violence in India and especially on Kashmir. Rajat Mitra’s book, like the poems I heard years ago, enlightened me and I understood why a divide exists between Hindus and Muslims in India. This book tells us as to why healing and forgiveness can take place in the midst of mass violence. I recommend this book, not only for those working on societal trauma and peace, but for anyone who wants to understand the conflict between bad and good aspects of human nature.” — Vamık D. Volkan, M. D., Nobel prize nominee , Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Virginia and the author of ‘Enemies on the Couch: A Psychopolitical Journey Through War and Peace’

“This is the story of the sufferings of a people who are destined to be Refugees in their own Home Land and that too in Largest Democracy of the World. For a Jihadi, his neighbour is either a Kafir or a Muslim but never a human being. In the process the silent screams of the Hindus and the voice of the liberal Muslims are violently stifled out. And still, they have the audacity to preach from the pulpit that Islam means peace. What a sheer irony of fate it is! The book deeply touches your inner soul.” — K K Muhammed, Archaeologist

“Weaves through Indian culture and perspectives as if in a delicate dance, each step precisely described and completely intriguing.……one needn’t be familiar with Indian society to appreciate this compelling story which draws together disparate lives in an engrossing saga that is hard to put down.” — Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review
To read full review: http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/apr_17.htm

“The Infidel Next Door is an important book. It deserves to succeed, and deserves to be widely read. However, it is not for squeamish people, because it reveals violence at its worst without excuse. The reason is to reveal the message: Hate only begets hate. Only tolerance and mutual respect can save us from horror. I have read and enjoyed many books set within the cultures of the Indian subcontinent, including Malala’s wonderful autobiography, but none has brought the ways of life and thinking to life for me as well as this one. I now have a gut-level understanding of how Hindus and Muslims within Indian culture see the world. It is fascinating how different common sense, the naturally expected, is from what is natural to me. From the opening paragraph, Rajat Mitra has enabled me to enter this other universe on the same planet. In the opening chapters, the story has the feel of a parable. This impression returns in the closing chapters: an unashamed delivery of the lesson that all humans are equal and deserve respect, regardless of caste, religion, history, ethnicity. At the same time, I don’t feel preached at. It is a story, with real live people feeling emotions I just have to identify with. In between is a thriller: the story of the attempted genocide Muslim extremists aimed at Hindus in Kashmir in the 1980s, with the Indian army eventually putting down the revolt with equal harshness. The story is about two fine young men: a Hindu and a Muslim. This is its theme: “but both of them represent the best of what religion stands for. Through their conflict they have discovered a profound humanity in themselves.” My writing for many years has had the theme that only love can defeat hate. This is not a specifically Christian message, as The Infidel Next Door proves: the message is the same. You may have nightmares after reading this book, but all the same, we need to know the depths to which humans can sink to — and the countermeasure to lift us from savagery to truly serving God.” — Robert Rich, author of ‘Ascending spiral- Humanity’s last chance’

“Few authors have the courage to talk about such a topic…….has the marks of a bestseller.” — ThinkerViews – Views and Reviews
To read full review: http://thinkerviews.com/books/english-books/the-infidel-next-door-by-rajat-mitra-book-reviews/

“A moving story about the never ending battle between tolerance and bigotry……. unsparingly depicts the crimes committed by Kashmiri Muslims against Kashmiri Hindus…….to argue against radicalism in all religions.” — Kirkus Book Review
To read full review: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rajat-mitra/infidel-next-door/

“A deeply moving book about human suffering and human condition.” — James Lavelle, Founder, Harvard Program for Refugee Trauma

“A must read to understand the social plight and political landscape of Kashmir. A reader may take a long time to forget Aditya, the priest and Zeba, the imam’s daughter.” — Kevein Book Review
To read full review: http://www.keveinbooksnreviews.in/2018/05/book-review-infidel-next-door-by-rajat.html

“Hubristic and self-righteous utterances from the imam of the mosque that no religion has ever fared better than Islam struck a chord. Rajat Mitra’s book The Infidel Next Door, is a moving story of pious but misled clergymen from both the Hindu and the Muslim faith. This book is a depiction of how closely, Rajat has studied the psychology of such demigods or priests and their misplaced ideologies and religious views. In the heart of it, the conflict of faith and conscience has never been put to the test as it has been perhaps in this book. In the end, what prevails is the resultant effect of the test of course, but what comes of it is by far most interesting; whether or not it be triumph of conscience over faith or the other way around borne in the heart of the sufferers is the ultimate question. Kashmir has been a bone of contention for India for many years now. Its history is both daunting and uplifting for that nation. Rajat’s book, not unlike those of others, such as Arundhati Roy’s’ Ministry of Utmost Happiness, describes Kashmir and the how it played out on human lives in great detail. Attention to details is one of many facets of his mastery which has come to play in this book.
I highly recommend it to both enlightened readers of religion and Indian politics.” — Mehreen Ahmed, author of the award winning novel ‘The Pacifist’

“…….Immersive and fascinating….…memory can have itself rooted outside of a person, outside of people but in the land surrounding us….…story is worth reading.” — Portland Book Review

“Tells how the inner turmoil of young lives impinge on a community and blood is thicker than water….. A story with stark intimacy and sensitivity….. brings taboo subjects out into the open for discussion and debate…. true harbingers of hope.” — Andrew Spacey, poet and author of ‘21 Bird Poems’
To read full review: https://hubpages.com/literature/Review-of-Book-The-Infidel-Next-Door-by-Rajat-Mitra

“A moving and profoundly important work that reverses centuries of misrepresentation and dehumanization. To see the world through the eyes of a priest, a family man, a survivor of pogroms and exiles, is to see the limits of what we thought of as humanity, and who we forgot. Like the great S. L. Bhyrappa’s masterpiece Aavarana, Rajat Mitra’s The Infidel Next Door raises its voice against one of the great untruths of our time, a saga of political violence too often excused or sanitized by a compromised discourse. Yet, this is hardly a polemic, and all you will feel is the love that animates human beings still, even in their humble lives and struggles downstream from the aftermaths of history. I highly recommend it.” — Vamsee Juluri, Author of ‘Saraswati’s Intelligence’ and Professor of Media Studies, University of San Francisco

“A beautifully narrated and skillfully woven tale…. powerful yet melancholic…. of characters drawn in a tale of religious bigotry between monotheistic beliefs and those pursuing God through their inner experiences….” — Professor Ramesh N Rao, Columbus State University
To read full review: https://swarajyamag.com/books/the-kashmiri-pandits-a-wail-that-went-unheard

“The Infidel Next Door” is Rajat Mitra’s debute as a novelist, and what a debute! This book is beautiful. The cover photo, the language and the content, though often almost unbearable, have a remarkable charisma of knowledge, insight and love. This book can of course be red in a narrow sense, as a story of the ongoing dispute between Muslims and Hindus in India, but it would be a serious limitation to do so. After all it is a story dealing with religion, acceptance, forgiveness and grief, but also love, memories, history and most other aspects forming the eternal existential questions for all of us. The love story between the adopted daughter of a Muslim Imam and the son of a Hindu Priest have similarities to classic masterpieces like “Hamlet an Juliet”. The situation for Hindus in Kashmir is in the book compared to the Jews exposure in post modern Europe. The themes from the book are thus universal and could help the reader to recognize important phenomena in his/her own cultural background and life. Read this book. It has a lot to offer whether you are an Indian citizen or a secularized European!” — Bo Brautigam, renowned Swedish psychologist

“The Infidel Next Door is the story of genocidal turmoil in a region of the world unfamiliar to most of us, told in intimate terms by someone who is very familiar with the contexts, both historic and cultural. But it is also a sensitive and tragic, romantic tale with overtones of Romeo and Juliet. The pervasive theme is that of religious intolerance and fundamentalism, reminiscent of more current events. Underlying this grim picture of hatred and brutality, the author offers us the hope of spirituality and healing as an ultimate resolution. It is an important book, to remind us of the need for a new domain to approach seemingly ir-resolvable conflicts.” — Professor Peter Polatin, MD, Global Mental Health, George Washington University

“A very moving story….. should be read widely.” — Sudhir Kakkar, renowned psychoanalyst and author of ‘The inner world’

TimesNowNews.com: Review by Kirti Pandey: https://www.timesnownews.com/lifestyle/trending/article/book-review-the-infidel-next-door-by-rajat-mitra-is-a-compelling-novel-based-on-history-of-turmoil-in-kashmir/542042

Review by Beloo Mehra – Matriwords: https://matriwords.com/2020/04/29/book-review-the-infidel-next-door-by-dr-rajat-mitra/

Review by Shilpa Dhobale: https://hearthereaders.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/in-the-name-of-religion/

Researchgate.net: Analysis of the book by Dr. Jagdish Batra: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jagdish- Batra/publication/342815287_Rajat_Mitra’s_’The_Infidel_Next_Door’_Swimming_against_the_Tide_of_Prevalent_Discourse/links/5f073517a6fdcc4ca459c3b1/Rajat-Mitras-The-Infidel-Next-Door-Swimming-against-the-Tide-of-Prevalent-Discourse.pdf

India Facts: Review by Dr. Jagdish Batra: http://indiafacts.org/book-review-the-infidel-next-door-by-rajat-mitra/

Review by Damini Dhull: https://daminidhull.wordpress.com/2018/08/23/the-infidel-next-door-book-review/

Review by Darcia Helle: http://quietfurybooks.com/guest-post-inspiration-behind-infidel-next-door-rajat-mitra/

Review by Onkar Sharma: https://literaryyard.com/2017/06/26/characters-were-mounds-of-clay-in-whom-i-breathed-a-passion-for-life/

Review by Neena Rai: https://socialchumbak.com/book-review/book-review-the-infidel-next-door/

Review by Shourie Bannai: https://koyna-krishna.blogspot.com/2019/10/book-review-infidel-next-door.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR016zLciIhzlqyNrWEUahibPwYsAU-hRSckfgp9nyrNUwM1WgD8AkUFTVE

Review by Khyati Gautam: https://khyatigautam.wordpress.com/2020/04/12/the-infidel-next-door-rajat-mitra-book-review/

The Book is also available on other portals of Amazon like amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.de, amazon.fr, and amazon.co.au.

The Hindi version of “The Infidel Next Door” is now also available as paperback and Kindle.