A MODERN HISTORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR, VOLUME THREE IBD

Sinopsis

This third volume in Harbans Singh?s important and insightful trilogy on modernJammu and Kashmir examines the period from 1975, when Sheikh Abdullahreturned to active politics, after the Indira-Sheikh Accord, to head a Congresssupportedgovernment, to the present day. The book discusses the emergence ofthe separatist movement, the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, and thedrastic decision of the BJP Central government to abrogate Article 370 of theIndian Constitution-which granted special status to the state-and bifurcate thestate into two Union Territories-Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.Since the time of its creation, Jammu and Kashmir has always been fraught withconflict. But nothing can compare to the decades of aggressive militancy that thestate has seen since the 1980s, with Pakistan playing a central role in the violenceand chaos. Separatist groups like the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, amongothers, and terrorist organizations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is backed byPakistan, have pursued a campaign of ?freeing? Jammu and Kashmir from what theydescribe as ?Indian rule?. India?s security forces have maintained a heavy presence inthe state to counter these plans. These turbulent years-when thousands have diedand there have been protests across the state-have thrown Jammu and Kashmirinto a limbo. As political parties-the National Conference and the Congress, andthen the People?s Democratic Party and the BJP-tried to wrest control of thestate from each other, it is the people who have suffered the terrible consequencesof the power struggle.As he concludes his monumental 3-volume study of Jammu and Kashmir-from thetime it was created as a political entity by the Dogras in the 19th century to its currentstatus-the author also looks to the future, warning of the possible consequences of theSupreme Court?s verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370.