Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer

Everyone wished they had sons instead of daughters

It's a great depiction of the author's rather personal tale of his life in the militant 1990's of Kashmir. The only aspect missing is historical context and reasons behind the uprising. Why did the population rise against the Indian state by resorting to arms instead of votes is not really explained.

The common thread in the book is the plight of the middle class caught in the crossfire of the Indian Army and the Pakistani sponsored militants. The book reads like a diary of the author as he follows various stories in his journalistic day to day career. In terms of historical context there is little on offer other than what anyone can read from the WWW. The book details the massacres purported by the Indian army as well as the atrocities committed by the Pakistani trained militancy making me wonder where the loyalties of ordinary Kashmiris actually lay? Do they really want freedom from India and if so are they willing to write their history in blood? It is clear that India will not just back down considering its overwhelming stature in the world today, therefore the Kashmiris have to be prepared for a long separatist struggle to attain their independence. What that allusive independence will mean to ordinary Kashmiris is not very clear. The fact remains that Kashmir was never an independent entity, annexed by the Moghuls, Sikhs, Hindus, and Indians, thereby making independence an alien circumstance for the Kashmiri common man.  Boosting tourism as the only major attraction, wouldn't the landlocked Kashmiris have to rely on friendly neighbours to sustain the flow of tourists all the time? 

The author compares Kashmiri revolt to Prague and East Berlin but fails to point out that both revolts were against failing states and not against a economic giant like India, which boosts quite a considerable clout in the world opinion at the moment.

What is crystal clear from the book is the sad state of rule of law in India. How the Indian government was allowed to get away which such mass atrocities in Kashmir demonstrates the value of false image. Would we expect the same apathy from the world if similar crimes were committed by Pakistan for instance? I found the notion that civilians killed in collateral damage were compensated with money and job a clear case of state bribery to keep the relatives from pursuing the culprits. But like the author has valiantly pointed out, local media and the larger world media is just not interested in blaming the largest democracy in the world.   

The final chapters of the book detail horror stories by the Indian army and some by the Pakistani sponsored militants on the hapless civilian population. The stories moved me to the plight of the Kashmiri common man who clearly wants an end to this chaos. The final chapters bring this great book to an emotional crescendo, with the spotlight on the hapless common Kashmiri. 

I would highly recommend this book to all interested in conflict of Kashmir.