'Beautiful. Chak masterfully interrogates the flashpoints that make the Kashmir crisis one of the most politically sensitive issues in modern world history' Khaled A. Beydoun, Law Professor and author of American Islamophobia
The territory of Jammu and Kashmir is one of the most politically contested and heavily militarized spaces on the planet. It has long been presented as an 'internal dispute', mainly by India, in attempts to sustain power through settler colonialism. In this context, Kashmiri voices are rarely heard.
In Nuclear Flashpoint, Farhan Chak reveals how the history, culture, and the will of the people of Kashmir has been deliberately obscured to suit ideological agendas. He explores six unique time frames in Kashmiri historyfrom ancient Kashmir, through the British Raj, to the present day.
Asking 'who is a Kashmiri?', Chak shines a light on the long cycle of revolt that continues in resistance movements today, and asks us to reconsider Kashmir's ongoing quest for independence.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Who Are the Kashmiris? Resisting Post-Colonial Identity Theft and False Narratives
3. The Long Life Cycle of Resistance
4. Jammu Genocide
5. The Myth of Partition
6. India, Islamophobia, and the Hindutva Playbook
7. The 'Final Solution': Abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A
8. Nuclear Flashpoint: Sino-Indian Rivalry and Kashmir
9. Conclusion
Notes
Index
About the Author :
Dr. Farhan M. Chak is the Secretary-General of Kashmir Civitas, an international civil society NGO committed to ending the military occupation of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and author of Islam and Pakistan's Political Culture.
Review :
'Repeated clashes between India, Pakistan and China over Kashmir threaten to erupt into a nuclear conflict that might kill as many as 120 million in India and Pakistan, and perhaps several 1000 million worldwide. These disputes need to be resolved, which requires understanding their origins, the people of Kashmir and their struggles, and recent changes in the region. Nuclear Flashpoint provides essential insight into these issues for all who are concerned.'
'An urgent and trenchant examination of Kashmir. Beautifully meshing history with modern political analysis, Chak masterfully interrogates ... the intersecting flashpoints that make the Kashmir crisis one of the most politically sensitive issues in modern world history. Beyond intellectual examination, Chak injects first-hand insights as a scholar, advocate and ancestral Kashmiri to offer a richness that few other books provide - bringing intimacy and empathy to words that spring colorfully from the pages.'
'Institutionalized systemic racial persecution ... against the people of Kashmir has pushed the world to the edge of nuclear conflict. Torture, unlawful killings and the denial of basic human rights and freedoms are well-documented by Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and others. Dr. Chak's skillful analysis explains just how this unresolved crisis threatens global peace.'
