Jammu and Kashmir


Book Description

This study is primarily meant for readers outside India, and that explains the lengthy background which it provides. Although literature on the issue is growing daily, each work is written from a certain angle, and that is quite understandable. Every mind has a particular drawing bias; the information supplied is therefore necessarily coloured by tpe views a writer holds. There are to the author's mind two ways of approaching a subject: One would attempt to fit the facts into the value system of the writer, the other would try to draw values from the mass of materials under study. In either case there is no escaping the subjective evaluation of the narrator; and the present writer does not claim any immunity from the process. Kashmir's present history has two aspects. One of them is international, and here the ups and downs in the fortunes of the two States are to be seen against the complexity of power relations in the multinational world body. The other is the internal dynamics, which have their own compelling logic. An attempt has been made in this study to correlate the two into some sort of unity, but it is not for the writer to evaluate its success.




Kashmir


Book Description

"Kashmir has always been in the midst of geopolitical hullabaloo due to its pending UN Resolution and now the demand of 'Azadi' (Freedom) which became more pronounced after the inception of insurgency in the State in 1987-88. If we look into the issue, in reality, it is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, if the legality reason is applied then there is no doubt that India's stance is most legitimate. The people of Kashmir have invited the 'Jihad' into Indian Kashmir Region and declared 'Azadi' as a war of freedom through the Pakistan sponsored militancy and radicalisation of the society on communal lines by the militant organisations and separatists. In the present environment, the stakeholders are at a tangent and it is mainly because the main stakeholder, the people of Kashmir are uncertain and confused, the total population is not part of the 'Azadi' (freedom) thus there is vagueness and the vision of 'Azadi' (freedom) is very blurred. The other stakeholders are either taking advantage of the people's sentiments or going by their own agenda of self-interest or lack the will to take initiatives to resolve the Kashmir issue which meets their personal ends. In this book, the chapters are based on the stakeholders and their participation in the Kashmir embroil. The basic contents are based on the issues that have made Kashmir an affair of continued existence by various stakeholders, the creation of an environment of stalemate and prevailing status quo without any changes, none of the stakeholders are ready to budge or lose their turf. Written in a simple and lucid manner, the narratives made interesting with historical facts, quotations and factual as prevailing in Kashmir."




Routledge Handbook of Critical Kashmir Studies


Book Description

The Routledge Handbook of Critical Kashmir Studies presents emerging critical knowledge frameworks and perspectives that foreground situated histories and resistance practices to challenge colonial and postcolonial forms of governance and state building. It politicizes discourses of nationalism, patriotism, democracy, and liberalism, and it questions how these dominant globalist imaginaries and discourses serve institutionalized power, create hegemony, and normalize domination. In doing so, the handbook situates Critical Kashmir Studies scholarship within global scholarly conversations on nationalism, sovereignty, indigenous movements, human rights, and international law. The handbook is organized into the following five parts: Territories, Homelands, Borders Militarism, Humanism, Occupation Memories, Futures, Imaginations Religion, History, Politics Armed Conflict, Global War, Transnational Solidarities A comprehensive reference work documenting and consolidating the growing Critical Kashmir Studies scholarship, this handbook will be of interest to scholars of anthropology, political science, cultural studies, legal and sociolegal studies, sociology, history, critical Indigenous studies, settler colonial studies, and feminist studies.




Religion and Politics in Jammu and Kashmir


Book Description

This book examines the shifting, non-linear relationship between religion, nationalism and politics in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. In the wake of the revocation of Article 370, the state’s plural and relatively harmonious society has come under multiple strains, with religion often informing day-to-day politics. The chapters in this volume: Trace the formation of the political entity of Jammu and Kashmir and the seemingly secular politics of its three regions Discuss the rise of militancy and resistance movements in the Kashmir Valley Highlight the intersection between everyday life, nationalism and resistance through a study of the literary traditions of Kashmir, contemporary resistance photography and everyday communalism located in the changing food practices of Hindu and Muslim communities Religion and Politics in Jammu and Kashmir will be an indispensable read for students and researchers of religion and politics, democratization and democracy, secularism, sociology, cultural studies and South Asian studies.




The Tribal Culture of India


Book Description




Buddhists


Book Description

Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism through the Livesof Practitioners provides a series of case studies ofAsian and modern Western Buddhists, spanning history, gender, andclass, whose lives are representative of the ways in whichBuddhists throughout time have embodied the tradition. Portrays the foundational principles of Buddhist belief throughthe lives of believers, illustrating how the religion is put intopractice in everyday life Takes as its foundation the inherent diversity within Buddhistsociety, rather than focusing on the spiritual and philosophicalelite within Buddhism Reveals how individuals have negotiated the choices, tensions,and rewards of living in a Buddhist society Features carefully chosen case studies which cover a range ofAsian and modern Western Buddhists Explores a broad range of possible Buddhist orientations incontemporary and historical contexts




Art and Architecture in Ladakh


Book Description

Art and Architecture in Ladakh shows how the region’s cultural development has been influenced by its location across the great communications routes linking India with Tibet and Central Asia. Edited by Erberto Lo Bue and John Bray, the collection contains 17 research papers by experienced international art historians and architectural conservationists, as well as emerging scholars from Ladakh itself. Their topics range widely over time, from prehistoric rock art to mediaeval Buddhist stupas and wall paintings, as well as early modern castle architecture, the inter-regional trade in silk brocades, and the challenges of 21st century conservation. Taken together, these studies complement each other to provide a detailed view of Ladakh’s varied cultural inheritance in the light of the latest research. Contributors include: Monisha Ahmed, Marjo Alafouzo, André Alexander, Chiara Bellini, Kristin Blancke, John Bray, Laurianne Bruneau, Andreas Catanese, Philip Denwood, Quentin Devers, Phuntsog Dorjay, Hubert Feiglstorfer, John Harrison, Neil and Kath Howard, Gerald Kozicz, Erberto Lo Bue, Filippo Lunardo, Kacho Mumtaz Ali Khan, Heinrich Poell, Tashi Ldawa Thsangspa and Martin Vernier.




Ancient Futures


Book Description

A moving portrait of tradition and change in Ladakh, or "Little Tibet," Ancient Futures is also a scathing critique of the global economy and a rallying call for economic localization. When Helena Norberg-Hodge first visited Ladakh in 1975, she found a pristine environment, a self-reliant economy and a people who exhibited a remarkable joie de vivre. But then came a tidal wave of economic growth and development. Over the last four decades, this remote Himalayan land has been transformed by outside markets and Western notions of "progress." As a direct result, a whole range of problems--from polluted air and water to unemployment, religious conflict, eating disorders and youth suicide--have appeared for the first time. Yet this is far from a story of despair. Social and environmental breakdown, Norberg-Hodge argues, are neither inevitable nor evolutionary, but the products of political and economic decisions--and those decisions can be changed. In a new Preface, she presents a kaleidoscope of projects around the world that are pointing the way for both human and ecological well-being. These initiatives are the manifestation of a rapidly growing localization movement, which works to rebuild place-based cultures--strengthening community and our connection with nature. Ancient Futures challenges us to redefine what a healthy economy means, and to find ways to carry centuries-old wisdom into our future. The book and a related film by the same title have, between them, been translated into more than 40 languages.