Author Rahman Abbas' award winning Urdu novels to be translated into English

Critically acclaimed Urdu writer Rahman Abbas' two novels, including Sahitya Akademi award-winning "Rohzin", will be translated into Urdu, publishers Penguin Random House India have announced.

The other work is "Khuda Ke Saaye Mein Aankh Micholi".

It won the Maharashtra State Akademi Award in 2011, which Abbas returned in 2015 during the award wapsi movement that protested against the killings of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, M M Kalburgi and Govind Pansare.

While the 2016 book "Rohzin" is a love story set during the 2005 floods in Mumbai, Abbas in "Khuda Ke Saaye Mein Aankh Micholi" uses humour to explore how religion is used to camouflage social degeneration and provoke communal riots, wars and genocides, and as a means to win elections.

"I have lost many things in my life due to my decision to write my novels exactly as I wanted to write them but fortunately, I have regained a lot without compromising on my writing. The news that my two novels would be published by Penguin-Random House in English has pleased me beyond words. It's like a dream coming true before my eyes," the author said.

The 47-year-old novelist is also known for "Nakhalistan Ki Talash" (The Search of an Oasis, 2004), which drew the ire of traditional Islamists and he was accused of spreading obscenity through his work.

A case was filed against the book and the trial ran for over ten years, after which Rahman was acquitted in 2016.

"I have known Rahman since the past few years, and have seen him grow as a talented and fearless writer. His ability to write about human emotions and relevant social issues, and weave it beautifully into his stories is unique," Milee Ashwarya, Publisher, Ebury Publishing and Vintage Publishing, Penguin Random House India, said.

The books will hit stands in 2020 under the Vintage imprint of the publishing house.