Author: Victoria Schofield
Publisher: Viva Books
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 297
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8176494178
Description
Why has the valley of Kashmir, famed for its beauty, become, in the words of former President Bill Clinton, the most dangerous place on earth? Why does the Kashmiri insurgency, waged since the late 1980s, continue to threaten the integrity of the Indian union? How can India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, resolve their longstanding differences over the former princely state so that the peoples of South Asia can live in peace?
Victoria Schofield’s updated revision of the highly acclaimed, Kashmir in Conflict, examines the history of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from the period when the valley was an ancient independent kingdom to the most recent and potentially disastrous confrontation between India and Pakistan. Strategically situated on the borders of China, central and south Asia, Kashmir has once again confirmed its status as a likely battleground between the world’s latest and most belligerent nuclear powers.
Drawing upon extensive research in both countries, Victoria Schofield traces the origins of the princely state in the nineteenth century and the controversial sale by the British of the predominantly Muslim valley to a Hindu Maharaja in 1846. Assessing the implications for Kashmir of independence in 1947, she analyses the issues which divide India and Pakistan as they confront each other eyeball to eyeball in a seemingly unending war.
REVIEWS
A brilliantly detailed journey through the complex history of Jammu and Kashmir.
-Literary Review
One of the best general introductions to what a well-briefed Bill Clinton described as the most dangerous place on earth.
-New Statesman
Schofield succeeds admirably by keeping the plight of ordinary Kashmiris to the fore. Her account of a decade-long, still unfinished insurgency is scrupulous.
-The Independent
Anyone concerned with the future of South Asia will find that Ms Schofield’s book will enrich their understanding of what is at stake.
-Asian Affairs
Contents
Maps
Acknowledgements
Preface
CHAPTER I
Introducing Kashmir
CHAPTER II
Independence
CHAPTER III
Accession
CHAPTER IV
Special Status?
CHAPTER V
Diplomacy and War
CHAPTER VI
Bravado and Despair
CHAPTER VII
Vale of Tears
CHAPTER VIII
Hearts and Minds
CHAPTER IX
Conflict or Consensus?
CHAPTER X
New Century, New Vision?
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography & Sources
Index