TY - BOOK ID - 116816526 TI - Reclaiming the past? : The search for political and cultural unity in contemporary Jammu and Kashmir PY - 1995 SN - 0952548607 9780952548607 PB - London Portland Books DB - UniCat KW - 15.75 history of Asia. KW - Borders. KW - Conflicts. KW - Culture conflict KW - Culture conflict. KW - Culture. KW - Cultuurconflicten. KW - Grensconflicten. KW - India. KW - Jammu and Kashmir State. KW - Pakistan. KW - Political history. KW - Religion. KW - India UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:116816526 AB - "The land of Jammu and Kashmir, renowned for its natural beauty, is a riddle: an "ancient" state with a modern divided history; a Muslim majority area rich in Hindu values and Sufic and Buddhist Tantricism; a community made up of quite different cultural, religious and ethnic identities. It is also a political riddle, denoting a territorial entity whose peoples variously wish to be part of India, or join Pakistan, or form an independent state." "Since the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, the territory has been the focus of conflict between India and Pakistan. Since 1989, it has witnessed an extraordinary degree of political and social violence, which has highlighted it in the awareness of the international community." "This book is about the people who have suffered from the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir for nearly half a century. It describes their historical and cultural background and examines the events that have led to their present plight. It seeks to perceive the "Kashmir problem" from their varied, and sometimes contradictory, positions and to relate these perceptions to regional and global politics." "Vernon Hewitt's wide knowledge of South Asia its history and its modern social and political evolution - is enriched in this book by his observations made during an extensive field trip to Jammu and Kashmir in 1994. To read it is to understand what constitutes the "Kashmir problem" how it has left thirteen million people bereft of hope; and why it is so intractable."--Jacket. ER -