Book Review : “J&K Invisible Faultlines”

Edited by Sandhya Jain and Published by Pentagon Press
Writers : Sandhya Jain, Shakti Munshi, Abha Khanna, Pankaj Gupta, Nidhi Bahuguna, Yasharaj Singh Bundela, Kuldip Chand Agnihotri


Readers,
Jammu and Kashmir region has inspired lot of writers to pen down books, articles and research papers. Writers broadly with 2 categories have written on Kashmir. One category includes those writers who are possibly influenced by narratives set by
valley centric separatists, politicians, academicians and Nehruvian understanding of Kashmir. Other category of writers are those who leave you with factual information without trying to impress upon readers , an agenda driven narrative.


To begin with, I would like to highlight the chapter 6 by Shakti Munshi– “Kashmiri Pandits – Last Bastion of Nationalism”. The chapter narrates the situation in valley in 80s. What readers would appreciate the most is date wise account of murder and hate crimes which subsequently led to exodus of Hindu Community as sinisterly designed by Pakistan, Pro Pak – Militant Groups and Local Families for their own political gains — The story of intentional cold blooded, brutal and violent dislodging of Hindu community from the valley .

The book also includes issues that were never key discussion points in main stream media – “Chapter 11 on Delimitation by Shakti Munshi and Divya Roy. This chapter is an example of surfacing the untouched issues. Apart from introducing readers to the history of delimitation in India , the chapter precisely brings reader’s attention to why and how valley centric leaders, media and academicians would choose to deprive Jammu region of equitable share of membership in Legislative Assembly.


Abha Khanna in chapter 8 on Artilce 370 and 35-A grabs readers mind on why constitutional validity of both articles is presently challenged in Supreme Court. The chapter provides historical account of how both articles came into existence. The writer describes Article 35-A as – “A Fraud on the constitution of India” with reasoning on the legislative powers to amend the constitution.


J&K , invisible faultlines is one of those books which comes across as belonging to the category of writers trying to provide right information on – the story which was never told, the events which were suppressed , the neglected truth readers were deprived off.
The book clearly tries to legitimately and factually challenge Nehruvian paradigm which has so far dominated the public.

A “Must Read” Rating to the book by Kapil Naik

Disclaimer : Writer of this review does not support and encourage piracy and copyright violation.

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