The Challenge in Kashmir: Democracy, Self-Determination and a Just Peace

by Sumantra Bose

The nineties have witnessed a dramatic escalation of the conflict in Kashmir, which has become the site of a triangular contest for hegemony between India, Pakistan, and popular movements for self-determination. Based on extensive fieldwork and interviews with a wide range of those involved, this provocative and tightly argued book goes beyond the reports and posturing that informs much of the contemporary literature on this troubled region.

The Challenge in Kashmir examines how an open and unconditional dialogue between the three contending protagonists in the framework of the right for self-determination can pave the way for a just and lasting peace in Kashmir. Featuring an analysis that is refreshingly free of the nationalist rhetoric of both India and Pakistan, this engaging book moves away from the views of established politicians and generals and instead focuses on discussions with ordinary citizens, grass-roots activists, and insurgents.

The result is a highly readable and original contribution to the policy-relevant studies of the ongoing conflict in Kashmir. Exploring one of the most intractable and complex problems in contemporary South Asian politics, The Challenge in Kashmir will appeal to scholars, students, policymakers, and politicians interested in Indian and comparative politics, democratic theory, social and popular movements, conflict resolution and peace studies, and South Asian studies.

Genres: India

210 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1196

About the author

Sumantra Bose is an Indian politician scientist and professor of international and comparative politics at the London School of Economics. He specialises in the study of ethnic and national conflicts and their management, with a particular focus on the Indian subcontinent and the former Yugoslavia.