Demystifying Kashmir

Kashmir is often reduced to a simple border quarrel between two hostile South Asian neighbors. This book argues that the region is far more layered. Jammu and Kashmir contains a wide mix of ethnic communities, tribal groups, languages and faiths, making it one of the most varied areas of the subcontinent. Behera contends that grasping this complexity matters both for understanding why the conflict persists and for finding a fair, workable and durable settlement.

The author follows the story from the period before Partition up to the present. She examines the ideas behind each side's position and the local, bilateral and international forces at work among the main actors. These include New Delhi, Islamabad, political parties and armed groups on both sides of the Line of Control, and outside powers. The book looks at the political and military parts of India's and Pakistan's Kashmir policies, the debate over self-determination, and the insurgency that started in 1989.

The concluding section organizes its analysis around what Behera calls the four P's: parameters, players, politics and prognosis of the peace process. The author also considers the destruction caused by the October 2005 earthquake and what it means for the region's future. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and primary sources, the book presents the conflict as a contest over state-building between India and Pakistan, not a fixed Hindu-Muslim ideological struggle. It is aimed at journalists, scholars, activists and policymakers, and at anyone concerned with preventing war between two nuclear states.