Speaking Peace: Women's Voices from Kashmir

by Urvashi Butalia (Editor)

This book reflects the range of women's experiences in the Kashmir conflict, which, for some years, has been a key issue on the Indian political map. It draws on important questions such how has the conflict affected women and how have they learned to live with continuing violence? What strategies have they used to cope, to find a space, or to share or express what they are going through? The contributions in this book explore these issues through interviews with Kashmiri women, personal and reflective writings, and extracts from various reports and books. Together they draw attention to a vital aspect of the conflict that has been all but forgotten.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, India

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2002

About the author

Urvashi Butalia is an Indian feminist and historian. She is the Director and Co-founder of Kali for Women, India's first feminist publishing house.
Butalia was born in Ambala India in 1952. She earned a B.A. in literature from Miranda House, Delhi University in 1971, a Masters in literature from Delhi University in 1973, and a Masters in South Asian Studies from the University of London in 1977.
She worked as an editor for Zed Publishing and later went on to set up her own publishing house. Her writing has appeared in several newspapers including The Guardian, The Statesman, The Times of India and several magazines including Outlook, the New Internationalist and India Today. Butalia is a consultant for Oxfam India and she holds the position of Reader at the College of Vocational Studies at the University of Delhi.

Recently, she was also conferred a Padmashree by for her contribution to the nation.
Urvashi Butalia started Zubaan, a renowned publishing house in 2003. Zubaan is an imprint of Kali for Women.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urvashi_...

Reviews

[Hafsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read this book for quite some time, as it deals with an issue that is very near and dear to my heart. The books is a series of essays written by women in Kashmir or interviews with women in Kashmir.

The story of war has always been told from a male's perspective and oftentimes we do not hear of the impact that the war has on women and children. The book started off with an account of a woman who was forced out of her home during partition--it was really interesting to read about her view of what occurred and juxtaposing that with what I've been brought up with/ told to believe.

Nonetheless, I think it is a fairly accurate representation of the "voices" of women--something that I was skeptical of when I saw that the author was a writer from India.

[Sabra]

I didn't even know such books like this existed?! MUST read before the end of this summer!

[Somjyoti]

A good book to understand the dynamics of Gender within the context of armed struggle in Kashmir.

[Surbhi]

Good analysis. Especially from the point of view of the Kashmiris. Thought-provoking.