Kashmir at the Crossroads
15 December 2021Synopsis
'[Written] with admirable clarity' Literary Review
'Excellent . . . concise and chilling' Independent
An authoritative, fresh, and vividly written account of the Kashmir conflict ― from 1947 to the present – now with a new epilogue
The India–Pakistan dispute over Kashmir is one of the world’s incendiary conflicts. Since 1990, at least 60,000 people have been killed – insurgents, civilians, and military and police personnel. In 2019, the conflict entered a dangerous new phase. India’s Hindu nationalist government, under Narendra Modi, repealed Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomous status and divided it into two territories subject to New Delhi’s direct rule. The drastic move was accompanied by mass arrests and lengthy suspension of mobile and internet services.
In this definitive account, now with a new epilogue looking back on the years since the abrogation of Article 370, Sumantra Bose examines the conflict in Kashmir from its origins to the present volatile juncture. He explores the global context of the current situation, including China’s growing role, as well as the human tragedy of the people caught in the bitter dispute. Drawing on three decades of field experience in Kashmir, Bose asks whether a compromise settlement is still possible given the ascendancy of Hindu nationalism in India and the region’s complex geopolitical context.
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15 December 2021
9789390742745Reviews
'The book is an incredibly detailed, informed and comprehensive view of the challenges facing Kashmir in 2022. . . . Those wanting an overview of the historical background, introduction to the major players of the conflict and up-to-date political analysis of the Kashmir Crisis will be hard pressed to find a better place to start' Maximillan Morch, Asian Review of Books
'This is a work of solid, unafraid scholarship peppered with personal reminiscences from the author’s decades of engagement with the area and the subject' Samrat Chaudhury, Hindustan Times
'An urgent scholarly intervention at this juncture of Kashmir’s changed political existence' Ajit Kumar, LSE Review of Books
'With admirable clarity, Sumantra Bose’s Kashmir at the Crossroads helps to explain the tensions and the motives of the various parties involved in the intractable Kashmir conflict, including Chinese cartographers, Indian Hindu nationalists, Pakistani intelligence officers, violent jihadists and the group that barely gets a look in, the Kashmiris themselves Owen Bennett-Jones, Literary Review{::}**
'In the excellent Kashmir at the Crossroads: Inside a 21st-Century Conflict ... Sumantra Bose has written a concise and chilling guide to a precarious region, one in which China is playing a growing, dangerous role in the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan' Simon Jenkins, Independent{::}**
'Sumantra Bose is one of the world's leading experts on Kashmir. His brilliant new book explains how the advent of Modi and growing Indo-Chinese tensions have transformed the Kashmir question into potentially one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints' Dominic Lieven, author of Towards the Flame
'After years on the ground in Kashmir, Sumantra Bose has written a passionate and fascinating account of how the present tragic situation arose over the past 75 years. Unlike most of today’s published accounts, it focuses mainly on the Kashmiris rather than the other contestants. For those who want to understand Kashmir’s “ground truth,” this is the place to start.' Teresita Schaffer, former US diplomat
‘By far the most objective account of today’s Kashmir’ Telegraph
