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$16.25
21. From the Colonial to the Postcolonial:
$10.49
22. Frontline Pakistan: The Path to
 
$49.88
23. A Suppressed Chapter in History:
$22.97
24. Constitutional and Political History
 
25. India (World Regional Studies)
$40.99
26. Judging the State: Courts and
 
$17.80
27. Prejudice and Pride: School Histories
$8.25
28. Constructing Pakistan: Foundational
$22.58
29. East Pakistan: The Endgame: An
$18.74
30. Pakistan: A Primary Source Cultural
 
31. The Making of Pakistan: A Study
 
32. Lahore Fort: A Witness to History
 
$65.93
33. Encyclopaedia of Punjabi Culture
$21.95
34. Sindh through History and Representations:
$119.51
35. The Final Frontier: Unique Photographs
 
36. Uchchh: History and Architecture
 
$107.49
37. Peshawar: Heritage, History, Monuments
 
$39.95
38. Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub: Vision
 
39. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
$16.10
40. Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan

21. From the Colonial to the Postcolonial: India and Pakistan in Transition
by Dipesh Chakrabarty
Hardcover: 368 Pages (2007-04-19)
list price: US$55.00 -- used & new: US$16.25
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Asin: 0195679563
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This volume addresses some of the key issues marking the process of decolonization in India and Pakistan. It looks at decolonization as a long-term process and highlights some of the historical complications involved in nations born under the aegis of the colonial rule evolving into postcolonial polities. It concentrates on particular aspects of the social and political processes involved in the transition from the colonial order to postcolonial regimes. The contributors include a range of distinguished scholars from North America, the United Kingdom, South Asia, and Australia. They approach the issue of decolonization in different but mutually reinforcing ways, through constitutionalism, sports, regionalisms, housing, gender, minority issues, mass-politics, and class formation, The contributors include Dipesh Chakrabarty, David Washbrook, Barbara Metcalf, Ian Copland, Gynaesh Kudaisya, and Anumpama Rao. ... Read more


22. Frontline Pakistan: The Path to Catastrophe and the Killing of Benazir Bhutto
by Zahid Hussain
Paperback: 240 Pages (2008-01)
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Asin: 1845118022
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan stands on the edge of an abyss, in to which it may plunge the world. As this nuclear power nation, the front line of the West's struggle against Al Qaeda, enters the worst political crisis in its history, Zahid Hussain's acclaimed and updated book unravels the key questions: who really controls the country? Will Pakistan be Talibanized? Has Al Qaeda infilitrated the state?After 9/11, Pakistan's controversial President, Pervez Musharraf stunned the world by announcing his support for America's 'War on Terror'. But in Pakistan, as Zahid Hussain reveals, nothing is as it seems.Hussain documents for the first time in detail the incestuous relationship between Pakistan's jihadis and its all-powerful military intelligence agency - the ISI.Based on exclusive interviews with key players, he shows us the fall-out from Musharraf's momentous decision to support America. He penetrates the jihadi networks, revealing their sources of funding, and their links with the Taliban and Al Qaeda.From the dangerous mountain passes of Waziristan to the mess tables of Rawalpindi and the sectarian madrassas of the Punjab, Hussain portrays a country which was already seething with unrest before political violence claimed its highest profile victim in December 2007.As Hussain shows, whoever was behind the assasination of Benazir Bhutto, its main effect has been to accelerate the country's fragmentation, creating a level of uncertainty and chaos from which only extremists and terrorists can benefit. Whatever lies in wait for Pakistan - Talibanization, civil war or worse - it will have grave implications for the entire world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

5-0 out of 5 stars Vital information about the current situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan
This is a very relevant book if one wants to understand the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. These two countries are now major issues for president Barack Obama to deal with when it comes to foreign policy. When I was in Berlin in July and heard Obama speak he was really selling his idea of moving the war to Afghanistan and creating a troop surge there. The US war in Afghanistan is closely linked with Pakistan and therefore I think its important to look deeper into what has been happening inside of Pakistan. Obama has said that he will not hesitate to enter into Pakistan should American intelligence tell him that they have spotted targets there. But once you start to analyze the situation within Pakistan you start to realize exactlly how problematic this situation could become for the new president.

The book begins by speaking about the Reagan administrations foreign policy and how obbsessed it was with erradicting the percieved communist threat. When Russia invaded Afghanistan in december of 1979 America became determined to give them their own version of the Vietnam war on the Afghan battlefields. Soon a plan was drawn up to pour in millions of dollars into the conflict by covertly funding the Mujaheddin fighters who took up the battle against the Soviets. The CIA ran this operation by channeling the money and weapons through Pakistan. Pakistan became the launching pad for this anti-communist war. The Pakistan intelligence agency, the ISI, distributed the American millions to different jihadist groups who where functioning within Afghanistan. But many of these recruits where drawn from the Pakistani population as well. Some where taken directly out of the madrasas (religious learning centers) that are run inside of the country.

The author of the book writes "Pakistani madrasas were once considered centers for basic religious learning, mostly attached to local mosques. The more formal ones where used for educating clergy. The development of simple, sparse religious schools into training centers for Kalashnikov toting religious warriors was directly linked with the rise of militant Islam. Many of the religious parties operating the madrasas turned to militancy courtesy of the US-sponsored jihad in Afghanistan. "

So the USA both directly and indirectly promoted militancy, and the culture of jihad. There where "special textbooks published in Dari and Pashto by the University of Nebraska -Omaha and funded by USAID, with an aim to promote jihadist values and military training. Millions of such books where distributed at Afghan refugee camps and Pakistani madrasas, where students learnt basic math by counting dead russians and Kalashnikov rifles. The same textbooks would later be used by the Taliban in their madrasas". A fourth-grade mathematics text noted that "If a Russian is at a distance of 3,200 meters from a Mujahid, and that Mujahid aims at the Russian's head, calculate how many seconds it will take for the bullet to strike the Russian in the forehead?". Many of these more radicalized madrasas would rally behind Bin Ladin and the anti American cause he represented.

This set the trend that would lead to a collaboration between the Pakistani intelligence agency and the jihadi warriors. This alliance continued after the Russians where ousted from the country and had to admit defeat. Later, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and enjoyed the continuing support of the ISI and even the American government. After the 9/11 attacks all this would change. The former president of Pakistan, the general Musharraf, recieved a phone call from George Bush asking him if they where with the Americans or against them in the new war on terror. Musharraf agreed and this would come to mean that his government would have to perform an about face in their alliance with the Talibans in Afghanistan. Their former allies who they had been supporting since the early 80s now over night, where supposed to be their arch enemies. This ofcourse created huge problems since a large part of Pakistanis intelligence agency was still collaborating and had deep connections with many of the Taliban. Musharaf had to now tone down the previously fostered militancy and religious extremism. But according to the author the madrassas in Pakistan are harbouring fighters in the war against the Americans in Afghanistan and also creating new ones. Another reason for the growth of this movement is that Musharraf has supported the religious right to counter the liberal opposition, thereby secular democratic influences have been marginalized.

When America invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks thousands of Al Qaeda fighters fled from the US bombardment in the Tora Bora mountains and crossed into the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan by bribing local Afghan warlords. Once they had crossed over the border they cold easily melt in among the sympathetic locals.The US didnt have enough troops to cover the borders and many of these troops where not acclimatized to the altitudes that they where fighting in. Some ISI officers in Pakistan arranged for safe passage for the foreign fighters to enter the country, while the Pakistani army attacked and killed some of the fighters trying to cross over. Others where caught by local warlords and sold for hefty prices to the CIA. Many of these captured Al Qaeda fighters would later end up in Guantanamo bay. In these areas there was a strong anti American sentiment and a strong pro Bin Ladin one. There was also an increasing hostility among the local Pakistanis against the Americans that made tracking down the Al Qaeda fugitives at the outset very difficult. Once across the border many of these Al Qaeda men recieved help in leaving the country while some remained in Pakistan hidden in the busy city centers.

The ISI set up an anti terrorist branch together with the FBI and the CIA. By being supplied with lots of new and modern surveilance equipment and large monetary funds it became easier to capture Al Qaeda members hiding out in the Pakistani cities. Musharraf had great success in capturing several high level Al Qaeda operatives in the country which seriously wounded the network. But there was a backlash to these successes. Thousands of Islamic guerillas, who had been trained by the ISI and where now fighting in Kashmir would become frustrated with Musharrafs new anti terror policies and become willing recruits to join in new cells. Musharraf faced a major problem when it came down to capturing Bin Ladin. If he did this then he would recieve massive respect and back up from America but he would on the other hand suffer a huge backlash within his own country since many people living there saw Bin ladin as a hero.

In 2004 there where 7000 Pakistani troops combing the lawless tribal regions looking for Bin ladin and other Al Qaeda fugitives. This area, Waziristan, was known as Pakistans "wild west", and was the most likely place where he could be hiding out. This same area had been used by the CIA and the ISI during the 1980s as a base for covert operations against the Russians. Therefore this area was by no means new for the old fighters who at one time had been funded by the US and Pakistani intelligence agencies.The local tribesmen where very reluctant to let the military or the Americans into their territories and this tension finally escalated into a undeclared war. Its interesting to note that NO FOREIGN INVADERS, be it Alexander the great, Genghis Khan or the British empire has been able to control Waziristan. The area has served as a buffer between two empires since the elventh centrúry. This area is perfect for guerilla warfare, since it contains many small mountain forts left behind by the British colonists. The men who live in these areas are "born fighters" learning to shoot at very early ages. Smuggling, drug trafficking and gun running is common. The Pakistani suffered great opposition from these tribal warriors, and they took major losses. Soon the area became a full on battle ground between those tribes supporting the Pakistani army and those who went against it. This would in turn set in motion a long string of revenge killings of all those who had cooperated with the Pakistani army. These militants have now established rigid Islamic rule in the Waziristan region. ... Read more


23. A Suppressed Chapter in History: The Exodus of Hindus from East Pakistan and Bangladesh 1947-2006
by Tathagat Roy
 Hardcover: 515 Pages (2007-12-30)
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Asin: 8189640437
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Some ten millions minority Hindus, with a handful of Buddhists and Christians, migrated to India after 1947 from the land mass ealier known as East Pakistan since 1947, after the descendant of the invading Muslims took their country. ... Read more


24. Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan
by Hamid Khan
Hardcover: 986 Pages (2004-03-04)
list price: US$69.95 -- used & new: US$22.97
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Asin: 0195793412
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This book analyzes constitutional development in Pakistan from its conception to the present day. It provides a case-by-case account of constitution making in Pakistan, and the inclusion of all pertinent documentation makes this essential reading for the student of law and politics. It also provides a liberal, humanitarian reading of the travails of law members and the role of politicians and bureaucrats in the implementation of the law. ... Read more


25. India (World Regional Studies)
by Michael Kublin
 Paperback: 276 Pages (1991-01)
list price: US$22.56
Isbn: 0395470803
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Introduces the history and civilization of India. Includes a discussion of the problems facing Pakistan and Bangladesh. ... Read more


26. Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan (Cambridge South Asian Studies)
by Paula R. Newberg
Paperback: 300 Pages (2002-05-16)
list price: US$45.00 -- used & new: US$40.99
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Asin: 0521894409
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In an original study of the relationship between state and civil society in Pakistan, Paula Newberg demonstrates how, over the course of almost five decades, the courts have influenced the development of its constitutions and state structure. By examining judicial decisions, particularly at times of political crisis, she considers how tensions within the judiciary, and between courts and other state institutions, have affected the ways political society views itself, and explores the effects of these debates on the organization of political power. ... Read more


27. Prejudice and Pride: School Histories of the Freedom Struggle in India and Pakistan
by Krishna Kumar
 Paperback: 288 Pages (2003-01)
list price: US$19.74 -- used & new: US$17.80
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Asin: 0143029053
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In this book, the first of its kind, Krishna Kumar explains how the history texts of both countries selectively narrate incidents or refrain from doing so for various ideological and cultural reasons. In order to show how widely the two perceptions vary, the author compares the textbooks currently used in Indian and Pakistani schools. He examines the representation of major episodes - like the 1857 rebellion, Independence and Partition - and the portrayal of personalities like Gandhi and Jinnah. The last part of the book analyses essays written on Partition by Indian and Pakistani schoolchildren. ... Read more


28. Constructing Pakistan: Foundational Texts and the Rise of Muslim National Identity, 1857- 1947
by Masood Ashraf Raja
Hardcover: 182 Pages (2010-06-28)
list price: US$9.95 -- used & new: US$8.25
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Asin: 0195478118
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Constructing Pakistan addresses the previously neglected aspect of postcolonial and historical engagement with the creation and construction of Indian Muslim national identity before the partition of India in 1947. Masood Ashraf Raja's main assertion, challenging the conventional and postcolonial appraisals of the Indian national history, is that the Indian Muslim particular identity and Muslim exceptionalism preceded the rise of Congress or Gandhian nationalism. Using major theories of nationalism-including works of Benedict Anderson, Anthony D. Smith, John Breuilly, Partha Chatterjee and others-and analysis of literary, political, and religious texts produced by Indian Muslims, Constructing Pakistan traces the varied Muslim responses to the post 1857 British ascendancy. This study provides a multilayered discussion of Indian Muslim nationalism from the rise of post 1857 Muslim exceptionalism to the beginnings of a more focused struggle for a nation-sate in the 1940s.

In this dual act of retrieval and intervention, a varied mixture of literary, political, and religious texts are employed to suggest that if the Muslim textual production of this time period is read within the realm of politics and not just within the arena of culture, then the rise of Indian Muslim nationalism can be clearly traced within these texts and through their affective value for the Indian Muslims.

Raja states that no such work exits either in the postcolonial field or in the field of area studies that combines close readings of the texts, their reception, and the politics of identity formation specifically related to the rise of Indian Muslim nationalism. The author's main argument hinges on two important assumptions: 1) After the rebellion it becomes extremely important for the Muslim elite to force the dominant British regime into a hegemonic view of the Muslims, and 2) this forces the Muslim elite to develop a language of politics that must always invoke the people in order to enter the British system of privileges and dispensations. Consequently, the rise of early Muslim exceptionalism and its eventual specific nationalistic unfolding, of which Pakistan was one outcome, can then be read as political acts that long preceded the Indian national party politics. The reason most Indian and European historians cannot trace a pronounced Muslim sense of separate identity before the 1940s is because they trace this identity either in the form of resistance or in the shape of party politics. The early loyalism of the Muslim elite, in such strategy, remains unexplained, as it does not fit the resistance model. Constructing Pakistan attempts to re-read this loyalism as a sophisticated form of resistance that, in the end, makes the Muslim question central to the British politics of post-rebellion era. ... Read more

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5-0 out of 5 stars Topical!
Constructing Pakistan analyzes the last 150 years of Muslim nationalism, from its beginning in India's Sepoy rebellion in 1857, when British colonialization was consolidated to the detriment of Muslim populations, to the founding of Pakistan. Dr. Raja contends that a survivalist ethic in religion, politics, and culture means that the current politics of Pakistan has its genealogical core in anti-colonial resistance. This is a very important intervention in the current political juncture, not only because it traces a history of secular features of Islamic societies but also because of the very breadth of cultural forms, where literary practices and theories end up feeding political and material realities and visa versa.

Much of this study was done using original Urdu materials that Dr. Raja translated himself into English, granting him a nuanced version of how nineteenth century Muslim thinkers were defining their political identities. The study is enormously helpful in pushing out the limits of postcolonial thinking: it is insightful in bringing analysis of religion back into a literary field that has been historically tied to the secular philosophies of the Enlightenment. Also, at a time when the dominant voices in the field are talking about the demise of the nation in economic and political terms, Dr. Raja identifies reasons why it is more important than ever to be able to think about the nation, its histories, and its futures. Overall, Dr. Raja is formatively helpful in providing a historical rationale for why studying literary genre is central to considering the politics of aggression and counter-aggression in our contemporary world.
... Read more


29. East Pakistan: The Endgame: An Onlooker's Journal 1969-1971
by Abdul Rahman Siddiqi
Hardcover: 276 Pages (2005-05-26)
list price: US$35.00 -- used & new: US$22.58
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Asin: 0195799933
Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars
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In March 1971, the military in East Pakistan launched the suicidal attack which was to lead, over nine long months, to the collapse of military strength and civil society in the region. As chief of Inter Services Public Relations and press advisor to both the president and chief martial law administrator, Abdul Rehman Siddiqi was in a position to observe and analyse the developing tragedy in both public and political circles. His account of this traumatic episode is refreshingly free from polemic, observant and candid. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

2-0 out of 5 stars A Journal written in retrospect
I have read this book and all I can say is that though the author admits the atrocities committed by the Pakistani army, it seems he wrote it in retrospect, because it is clear he was a part of the opression and at that time was rather enjoying his power as a senior officer. What surprises me is how people like the author himself didn't feel the need to take necessary steps to shed some light of what was going on in the eastern wing of his own country at that time. Nevertheless Pakistanis should read the book, even though its biased to their favour and grow some sort of awareness about how monsterous their military regime can become, if they want to save the intigrity of what they have left. A must read for the Pak Military (Punjabi dominated)to start the process of using different tactics against the Baloch,Pashtun and Kashmiris. ... Read more


30. Pakistan: A Primary Source Cultural Guide (Primary Sources of World Cultures)
by Marian Rengel
Library Binding: 128 Pages (2004-07)
list price: US$39.95 -- used & new: US$18.74
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Asin: 0823940012
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31. The Making of Pakistan: A Study in Nationalism
by K. K. Aziz
 Hardcover: 223 Pages (2002-08-10)

Isbn: 969350870X
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32. Lahore Fort: A Witness to History
by Nazir Ahmad Chaudhry
 Hardcover: 405 Pages (1999-09-30)

Isbn: 9693510402
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33. Encyclopaedia of Punjabi Culture & History - Vol. 1 (Window on Punjab)
by Mohini Gupta, V.P.
 Hardcover: 387 Pages (1999-05-01)
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Asin: 8120205073
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The present work is planned as a reference manual for the readers interested in Punjabi culture and history. The first part of this encyclopaedia covers history, political development, religious heritage, language and liteerature, social and economic life, Art and Culture and allied aspects. The second part has registered about 3000 entries of Places, Persons, Themes and other significant aspects to Punjabi culture and history. The third part gives a date-wise account of the important events in the history of Punjabi culture. The fourth part gives a detailed bibliography of available books related to Punjabi Culture and History, Economy and Philosophy, Language and Literature, Arts and Religion. A detailed index is also included. ... Read more


34. Sindh through History and Representations: French Contributions to Sindhi Studies
Hardcover: 146 Pages (2007-12-15)
list price: US$21.95 -- used & new: US$21.95
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Asin: 0195475038
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The book aims to make available to English readers international research studies carried out by French scholars and advanced students. The topics cover the main periods of Sindh's history, literature, architecture and anthropology and the authors seek to provide a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of Sindh's legacy. The work provides a fresh perspective on Sindhi culture, and its interaction with the legacies of other provinces of South Asia. ... Read more


35. The Final Frontier: Unique Photographs of Pakistan
by Agnes Dr. Ziegler, Akhtar Mummunka
Hardcover: 174 Pages (2005-11-16)
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Asin: 9693517733
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36. Uchchh: History and Architecture (NIHCR publication)
by Ahmad Nabi Khan
 Paperback: 148 Pages (2001-02-28)

Isbn: 969415054X
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37. Peshawar: Heritage, History, Monuments
by Ihsan H. Nadiem
 Hardcover: 152 Pages (2007-10-02)
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Asin: 969351971X
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38. Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub: Vision for Pakistan, Impressions, and Reminiscences A selection of talks, interviews, and speeches
by Mohammad Ayub Khan
 Hardcover: 350 Pages (2010-05-16)
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Asin: 0195476247
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The interviews and speeches included in this volume recreate for us, as no other book could, the era during which Pakistan was stable, prosperous, and held up as a model for other states in the continent. They contain candid comments, for instance, on Lal Bahadur Shastri and on the industrialists whom Ayub Khan is supposed to have patronized, whereas in fact he decried the concentration of wealth. He also criticizes the bureaucracy and makes decentralization his prescription for progress. The volume clears away many misconceptions about this little-appreciated ruler.
His interviews reflect a man with a vision, free from all religious and ethnic bigotry. He upheld the ideals of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan for modernization of the thought process rather than regression in the face of this fast progressing world. Ayub Khan's interviews transcend the boundaries of timesince nothing has changedespecially in the politics of the country. ... Read more


39. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah Speeches: As Governor-General of Pakistan, 1947-1948
by Mohammad Ali Jinnah
 Hardcover: 182 Pages (2004-01-01)

Isbn: 9693515056
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40. Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War
by Victoria Schofield
Paperback: 328 Pages (2010-05-15)
list price: US$22.50 -- used & new: US$16.10
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Asin: 1848851057
Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars
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How has the valley of Kashmir, famed for its beauty and tranquility, become the focus of a dispute with the potential for nuclear conflict? How does the Kashmir separatist movement challenge the integrity of the Indian state and threaten the stability of a region of tremendous strategic importance?  As Pakistan and India square up for what may become a major regional conflict, Victoria Schofield’s book examines the Kashmir question, from the period when the valley was an independent kingdom to its current status as a battleground for two of the world’s newest nuclear powers: India and Pakistan. Schofield traces the origins of the conflict in the 19th century and explains the issues that divide India and Pakistan, assessesing the military positions of both states as their troops mass along the border.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

4-0 out of 5 stars A Valley of Despond
A very detailed and dense account of the origin of the conflict and of the course it has taken up to 2003, when this second edition was published.It suffers from two drawbacks for those readers who are not already quite intimately knowledgeable: the first is the use of Indian words for administrative districts, titles etc. The Glossary lists only the many political organizations mentioned in the text (and that list is incomplete): it needs to be much more extensive and also to include abbreviations. The second is that, although there are nine maps, many places mentioned in the text cannot be found on any of them, and it takes time to look for them on all the nine maps.

Victoria Schofield quotes conflicting statements made by various politicians, observers and in memoirs after the events, generally without committing herself to which is correct.Even so, what surely emerges from this account is thatIndia has no real moral case and must bear the major responsibility for the troubles in Kashmir.

The Sikh dynasty which was ruling Kashmir before 1947 was unpopular with the majority of its people, not only because 80% of the population were Muslim, but also because the dynasty was autocratic.The Maharajah would have liked to remain independent of both India and Pakistan (he naturally refused a plebiscite on the issue), but for the ten weeks following the independence of India and Pakistan, he took a number of steps which enraged his Muslim subjects: he disarmed the Muslim but not the Hindu troops that had served in the army of British India; and the Muslims then purchased arms from the Muslim tribesmen in the North-West Frontier Province.Soon these tribesmen staged incursions into Kashmir and forced the Maharajah to flee from Srinagar to the Hindu and Sikh heartland of Jammu. He appealed to India for help, and accepted the condition that he should first accede to India, so that India could claim to be defending her own territory.Indian troops then occupied two-thirds of the country, whilst the West and the Northern Areas came under Pakistani control, the West becoming known as Azad (Free) Kashmir.

Nehru's family came from Kashmir and he was emotionally attached to it.The case went to the United Nations. Nehru was initially prepared to discuss partitioning the state, but the Pakistanis refused that: they claim that the whole state must be free of India.A UN Commission would side with India:the Maharajah's accession gave India the right to be in Kashmir.Since then India has always refused outside mediation between Indian and Pakistan on the grounds that Kashmir was a purely internal matter; and although occasionally there were meetings between the Prime Ministers of the two countries, they never achieved a solution. Pakistan claimed that a successful and popular revolution had driven the Maharajah from his capital before the accession, which was therefore illegitimate.For some time the Indians claimed to be in favour of a referendum, but the precondition for a fair referendum would have been demilitarization, and this the Indians steadily refused.In 1949 they effectively deposed the Maharajah and installed Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah (`the Lion of Kashmir'), a popular initially pro-Indian Muslim as Chief Minister; but in 1953 when the Sheikh's allegiance to India came under question, Nehru had him deposed, arrested, and replaced with one of the Sheikh's associates, who exercised a corrupt and unpopular dictatorship for the next ten years.

Mrs Gandhi made the Kashmir Accord with the Sheikh in 1971, by which the Sheikh gave up all ideas of seceding from India in return for Kashmir being given a considerable amount of autonomy; and Kashmir entered its happiest and most peaceful decade: the Sheikh was popular with his fellow Muslims but followed a secular policy which did not threaten the Hindu minority.Before he died in 1982, he nominated his son Farooq as his successor;but after his accession Mrs Gandhi wanted to assert more control over Kashmir by trying to force Farooq's party into coalition with her Congress Party. When Farooq resisted she began to undermine him, the more so when Farooq retaliated by forming an alliance with other regional leaders in India who wanted more autonomy.In June 1984 Mrs Gandhi deposed him.She was assassinated in October that year, and Rajiv Gandhi, anxious to mend relations with the regions, reinstated him in November 1986 when Farooq agreed to go into coalition with Congress, which he had refused to do earlier.

But by this time some Muslims had become militant; they now regarded Farooq as a puppet of India and turned to Pakistan, and an armed insurgency began (1987).

From now on it was downhill all the way - a continuing vicious circle of violence as brutalities by the Indian army were countered by brutalities by the militants and vice versa, with civilians being the victims of both.Although Pakistani governments have always denied giving direct aid to the militants, the borders have always been porous, and help was given to the militants by the Pakistani ISI (the army's Inter-Service Intelligence), which has always acted independently of its government).And in the 1996 elections in Azad Kashmir, parties which stood for an independent Kashmir were banned by the Pakistani authorities.

In 1999 local militants, supported by elements of the Pakistani army, seized a mountainous area around Kargil, just on the Indian side of the Line of Control.For nearly three months there was heavy fighting on land and in the air, and India and Pakistan, both now nuclear powers, were on the verge of a fourth war since independence before Nawaz Sharif, under international pressure, called on the militants to withdraw.

The book is very topical: as I write this review, the people of Kashmir are involved in a sustained non-violent mass protests on an unprecedented scale.

1-0 out of 5 stars Kashmir in Conflict
There are numerous pages missing from this book.Pages 47-81 are missing.Pages 81-112 are repeated.

Please send me a new book or refund my account.

Thank you

Bernadette Kilgore

5-0 out of 5 stars Good Book
This book is a good read. It does show some very important highlights about the conflict.

Dont read Kafir's comments. He sounds like a disgruntled hindu radical who only survive because of hating somebody. Kashmir is a part of India and I think should remain so.

Kashmir is not based on any hindu culture. India itself was ruled by muslims for over thousand years. Kashmir was well liked by the emperors and has a deep history of muslims.

The problem with India has been the fact that the first prime minister of India was a pandit himself and during independence he had an agenda of keeping Kashmir being a pandit himself. This has caused problems for over 60 years now.

The Indian government made some wrong decisions as far as kashmir but also some wise ones. Kashmir has the highest concentration of troops per square inch anywhere in the world. The Indian army commits many crimes there as they are ones in power there. Many kashmir women are raped on a regular basis and innocent civilians killed. This happens even more because Indian army has more hindus in it and the kashmiri people are muslims. They see the kashmiri people not as indians but just some muslims. And because of this attitude you cannot blame the kashmiri people for wanting to have a separate state.

I think instead of spending so much manpower and money on India, the Indian government should focus more on the terrorist organizations like RSS, VHP and SS. They are more trouble for our country's future.

1-0 out of 5 stars Victoria Schofield is reputed to pan-Islamic and friend of Ms, Benazir Bhutto
The author is a pan-Islamist, and hence is influenced by her friend the disgraced and corrupt Ms. Benazir Bhutto. Incidentally it was Bhutto's regime that supported the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence - a spying organization of Pakistan, that was radicalized by General Zia-ul-Haq) which made terrorism and Islam boil in the same cauldron. I don't believe that Ms. Schofield can be objective.

The reasons are not hard to seek:

1. Pakistan has no identity by itself. It is a failed and garbage state. Pakistan has thrived by its anti-India campaignand nothing else since 1947. If this anti-India (read anti-kafir) agenda vanished, Pakistan would simply collapse.The various parts: Sindh, Punjab and the NWFP are at each other's throats since Pakistan's inception. Islamicfundamentalists parties play a major role in the political process.Thus, how can the author (Ms. Schofield) base an "objective" account of the Kashmir insurgency - which has become a "Islamic problem" ?What Ms. Schofield cannot fathom is that how can a secular democratic republic (India), regardless of how imperfect it may be, can accept the theocratic demands of a separate state, to be governed by the Sharia law?

2. The history of the "majority" (Muslims) in Kashmir is a relatively recent phenomenon.Kashmir has had its roots in the Hindu culture. Recently, the Hindus have been gunned down, killed, raped and brutalized beyond the pale of any sense by the Muslim terrorist groups like Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen, Lashkar-e-Toiba anbd Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen etc. The ethnic cleansing has changed the demographics; under the changed demographics achieved by ethnic cleansing it is possible to claim a "Muslim majority" state. If India allowws Kashmir to walk into Pakistan's lap, thethe other Muslim-majority parts of India would be emboldened to engage in ethnic cleansing of non-Muslms and create a "dar-al-Islam" (Land of Islam). (In recent times, thanks to Al-Qaeeda this apparatus is very effective.)I cannot understand what moral obligation the author (Ms. Schofield) may have in propagating such "ethnic cleansing induced secession claims" as legitimate political demands ?

In brief, the political status attached to Kashmir through the works of Ms. Schofield are disingenuous and polemical at best.

5-0 out of 5 stars A scholarly piece of academic research
This was one of the books I used for for my dissertation and it was certainly among the most useful sources I came across. In this book, Schofield gives a succint history of the dispute and then vividly describes how it has evolved over the past half century while presenting a detailed analysis of the many wars fought on both the military and diplomatic fronts.

As an outsider and a neutral observer, Schofield very successfully presents a balanced viewpoint in describing both the Indian and Pakistani sides of the dispute. This, I felt, was very important because it is not common to come across a book on Kashmir which hasn't in any way been influenced by either side. Among the most important aspects of this book is the fact that Victoria Schofield has carried out a lot of field work research in Kashmir itself and gives a voice to the Kashmiri people, an extremely important source which is often ignored in similar research work carried out on Kashmir.

I recommend this book highly to anyone who wants to use it for academic research work. ... Read more


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