n the unveiling ceremony, attended by the author, high-profile cultural figures of Tajikistan, and the representatives of Tajikistan Embassy, Qahreman Soleimani, Iran’s cultural adviser in Moscow, underlined the event as “a step toward boosting cultural ties between Iran and Tajikistan.”
He praised the book, a winner of Russia’s Children’s Book of the Year prize, as “an appreciation of peace, affinity, and brotherhood, while the author delivers a report of the tough days of the civil war in Tajikistan following the incidents of 1991 in the country.”
Tensions began in the spring of 1992 in the Central Asian country after opposition members took to the streets in demonstrations against the results of the 1991 presidential election.
“Despite the constant misery and sufferings throughout the story, the book ends in peace and the concept of returning to the Motherland,” Soleimani added.
Tatyana Seminenko of the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature said the book enjoys “high dramatic potentials which could be perfect for a piece or screenplay adaptation.”
Fereydoon Usmanov paid tribute to the Shahidi family, adding the book is “full of inspiring, and at the same time bitter, memories for Tajik people.”
“The book is a reminder of the memories of all those tough years in Tajikistan which need to be preserved for the future generations,” added Usmanov.
Source: Iran Daily