Contents: I. Sri Lanka: a ravaged nation: 1. Mothers and sons. 2. Destiny. 3. From Thambi to Annai. 4. Island of blood. 5. Fighting to walk away. II. Afghanistan: the doomed land: 1. A nation of rebels. 2. On another planet. III. Ayodhya: cycle of revenge: 1. Attack! In the name of the Lord. IV. The survivors: the human face of tragedy: 1. Silence of the birds. 2. In the veils of sorrow. 3. Suffer, little children. Epilogue.

    "Island of Blood is a distillation of the experiences and insights of one of the finest journalists India has ever produced. During the eighties and nineties, when the Indian media rarely ventured into flashpoints like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, Anita Pratap braved the odds to send in reports from the front, over and over again. War, ethnic conflict, earthquakes, cyclones and droughts, wherever there was a story to be told, she would track it down.

    First in India, then in Sri Lanka, Anita managed to gain access to LTTE chief Prabhakaran, and her interviews with him made headlines around the world. In Afghanistan, she eluded the Taliban militia to discover the frightening reality of women’s lives under a terrifyingly fanatical regime. In Bangladesh, she experienced the catastrophic fury of nature, as a cyclone ripped apart homes and lives. In Kashmir, as in other war-torn areas, she was a helpless witness to the plight of little children who were physically and emotionally crippled for life.

    In this book Anita reaches beyond the headlines to plumb the tragedy and despair that are the consequence of racial and historical prejudice, religious and sexual discrimination, mindless hatred and fear." (jacket)