ABOUT THE BOOK:
Partition, Indo-Pak Relations and Kashmir is a book that says, the only solution to the Kashmir imbroglio can be and has to be peaceful. Looking at the issue in the context of the subcontinent's partition, it notes how Indo-Pak relations are held hostage to Kashmir and the vice-versa. The book says, in the 21st century, the process of secularisation has remained incomplete in India, Pakistan (and Bangladesh) and fundamentalism and communalism are rampant in all of these nations.
The first major war between these uncomfortable neighbours took place on the issue of Kashmir, resulting in one third of Kashmir becoming 'Azad Kashmir' in the military-mullah ruled Pakistan, with lakhs of soldiers breathing down the neck of Kashmiri civilians in democratic India. Dwelling on this unhappy situation, the book also talks of one remarkable nonagenarian communist from Kerala, BM Kutty, who has made Karachi his home for the last 70 years; how Indo-Pak cricket matches are seen more as India-Pakistan war; how legendary film star Dilip Kumar (Yusuf Khan), and the modern ones like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan are humiliated time and time just because of their religion. The book sets its readers thinking.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ram Puniyani was teaching in IIT Mumbai till 2004 and now works for the preservation of democratic-secular values. He is associated with initiatives like the Center for study of Society and Secularism, All India Secular Forum and has been part of various rights investigations and people's tribunals which investigated the violation of rights of minorities. He is also the recipient of the Indira Gandhi National Integration Award 2006, the National Communal Harmony Award 2007 and the Mukundad C Menon Human Rights Award 2015. |
