Customer Reviews

The Other Side of Terror: An Anthology of Writings on Terrorism in South Asia

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An excellent collection of writings from South Asia on the phenomenon of terrorism, the book offers valuable insight with it coverage of diverse movements.

As far as I know, "The Other Side of Terror" is the only book of its kind to exist: an anthology of fiction, poetry, and essays illustrating from various perspectives the whys and wherefores of terrorism in South Asia and, by extension, the rest of the world. Majumdar makes clear in her solid introduction that while she has no sympathy for the suicide bomber who blows up innocent shoppers in a vegetable market, it is important to know who is committing acts of violence and under what circumstances. Majumdar expands the definition of terror (it is sometimes seen as the military behavior of colonies but not colonizers, revolutionaries but not soldiers), limiting her work primarily to post-colonial conflicts in the region.

The book serves secondarily as a useful introduction to low-grade conflicts that are in the news only when major fighting occurs, as was the case with the recently ended long war in Sri Lanka. In additon to that confrontation, the author writes about India's independence struggle against the British; the Naxalite movement in India, flaring up again in recent years; the Maoist conflict in Nepal; the little reported but long-term struggle taking place in India's North-East hill region; the independence movement of the Sikhs; and, best known, the ongoing dangerous conflict in Kashmir.

As is the case in any anthology, some of the selections are stronger than others. Nevertheless, the reader, especially one hitherto possessing only a passing awareness of the conflicts the author limns, comes away from the book with a much clearer understanding of a vital part of the world and many of the struggles that affect us all whether we know it or not.