Customer Reviews

Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

Looking for historical facts about Kashmir? Look somewhere else.

Schofield completely ignores the history of the region that points an accusing finger towards islamic terrorism responsible for forcible conversion of Hindus and Buddhists to Islam.

She has not given importance to the fact that Pakistani terrorists tried to infltrate the region in 47 and then again in 65 but were beaten by the Indians.

She again ignores the curse of terrorism, Al Qaida and Taliban active in the valley today, all with the help of rogue elements in Pakistani army.

This book is certainly a good attempt at writing history of the troubled region but Pakistani terrorism is a part of this history. Thousands of people have been killed by these Pakistani terrorists. Lets not insult the dead by ignoring them.

Cancer of Islam? The reviewer below seems to be in the wrong category. Even though the author of this book has its main sources in India and British Libraries, it still gives a unbiased account which is a hard balance for many people related to this topic to maintain.

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. Islamic fundamentalists 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, the the 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.

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.

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