THE DIARIST HAD PARTICIPATED IN MOVEMENTS DEMANDING PUBLICATION OF THE ELECTORAL LIST IN SINDHI AS WELL AS IN ENGLISH AND URDU, AND ATTEMPTING TO BREAK UP THE AMALGAMATION OF THE FOUR PROVINCES OF WEST PAKISTAN INTO THE ONE STATE KNOWN AS 'ONE UNIT.' SHE DESCRIBES HER EXPERIENCES IN TWO INSTITUTIONS: A CENTRAL JAIL AND A PRISON. IN BOTH, WOMEN ARE INCARCERATED WITH THEIR CHILDREN. IN THE JAIL, THE DIARIST PARTICIPATED IN A HUNGER STRIKE. SHE DESCRIBES HER FEELINGS, HER THOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE FOR WHICH SHE WAS IMPRISONED, AND THE EFFORTS OF PRISON OFFICIALS TO BREAK HER FAST. WHEN THE AUTHOR WAS MOVED TO PRISON, SHE WAS CLASSIFIED AS A CRIMINAL RATHER THAN A POLITICAL PRISONER AND WAS PLACED IN A UNIT WITH WOMEN WHO WERE SERVING SENTENCES FOR MURDER. SHE DESCRIBES HER TALKS WITH THESE WOMEN, THEIR EXPLANATIONS OF WHAT THEY HAD DONE, AND THEIR COMMON EXPERIENCES IN PRISON. AN INTRODUCTORY SECTION, WRITTEN BY A NON-INDIAN WOMAN WHO HAD SPENT TIME IN AN INDIAN PRISON, POINTS TO THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE SINDHI WOMAN'S DIARY AND COMMENDS THE DIARIST'S AND HER FELLOW PRISONERS' COURAGE. (LKM)