The Crisis in Kashmir: Portents of War, Hopes of Peace (Woodrow Wilson Center Press)

The problems involving Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir are complex and over time have become more and more volatile. To understand the history of this area and why it poses such a threat is not easy for someone who has only recently decided to learn more than what is provided on television or in the newspaper. Sumit Ganguly's book presents a thorough history. I have searched several sources both online and in other books and haven't found anything elsewhere that is not in this book. Ganguly offers more than one solution to the problem but it seems that no one is really interested in listening right now.

Easily the most detailed and well organized treatise on this unfortunate conflict. While on one hand it establishes the nefarious designs of the Pakistani establishment, it also exposes Indoor Gandhi's chicanery in subverting the will of the Kashmir electorate via crass political subterfuge (e.g. transfer of Governorship to her puppet, a certain Jagmohan Malhotra). One of Dr. Ganguly's proposals, granting autonomy, is a dangerous one; this could lead to similar demands from the other disturbed states. It is critical that we listen carefully to the demands of the disenfranchised and work to mitigate decades worth of pain. The 1965 conflict deserves a more thorough coverage though.