Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan, and the Unending War By Victoria Schofield 

The conflict over the possession of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir has been the primal cause of contention between India and Pakistan since their inception. Even after passing more than seven decades, this dispute is still alive and posing a serious threat to the regional as well as the global peace and security. To understand the origin and nature of this conflict, a lot of effort has been done by numerous authors and historians. Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War by renowned British historian Victoria Schofield is a significant addition in this regard. It is a cautious documentation of the accounts of the origin, development and consequences of this contentious dispute. At the time Schofield started to work on this topic, the stature of this regional dispute in South Asia had raised up as a global issue. The insurgency in Kashmir gave birth to militancy and proliferation of illegal weapons. In addition, the nuclear arm race between India and Pakistan made Kashmir a flashpoint of another ‘great war’. The author developed her interest in this topic due to the implications of Kashmir dispute on the global peace. Instead of relying only on the documentary accounts and evidences, she conducted a number of interviews during the compilation of this work. Another aspect that makes this book unique in its genre is that besides diagnosing the problem, the author proposed several possible solutions to end this prolonged issue.

Schofield begins the book by tracing down the origin of the conflict, which is deeply rooted in commencement of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1846. After signing the notorious Treaty of Amritsar, the British sold the predominantly Muslim-populated valley of Kashmir to a Hindu ruler. After passing a hundred years, the British decided to depart from the sub-continent in August 1947. In the result, two new dominions of India and Pakistan were decided to establish on communal basis. The princely states in British India were given the option to join either of the dominion. Unlike the other princely states, Jammu & Kashmir faced a completely different situation. The ruler of the state was a Hindu while the majority of its population was Muslim. The maharaja of Kashmir was reluctant to join either of the state and wanted to keep the autonomy of his state. But the infiltration of tribesmen from NWFP into the state forced him to change his decision. To protect his staggering realm Maharaja signed an instrument of accession with India. In the result, the Indian troops entered into the state. The newly born states of India and Pakistan had fought the first war after their independence over the possession of Kashmir state. The issue was then taken into the United Nations Security Council for arbitration. A commission of UNSC on India and Pakistan recommended that the fate of the princely state should be decided according to the will of people, by holding a plebiscite. Since then, the Kashmir dispute has become a multi-party conflict in which the United Nations, the people of Kashmir, India and Pakistan are the stakeholders of this dispute. According to Karan Singh, the son of last ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, “the only rational solution in 1947 would have been to initiate a peaceful partition of the state between India and Pakistan. But that would have needed clear political vision and careful planning over many years.”

The author believes that the beginning of insurgency in late 1980’s was a turning in Kashmir dispute. For the first time, the Kashmiris raised arms against the oppressive forces to liberate their homeland. To understand the viewpoint of the locals who participated in this struggle, the author conducted interviews of several active and former leadership of militants. This attempt made her work more reliable and genuine to comprehend the events actually took place. The inclusion of local perspective, is the exclusivity of this book. As the most works previously done on Kashmir conflict are mostly done with the standpoint of Indian or Pakistani perspectives.

There book is comprised of nine chapters, dealing the different phases and aspects of the conflict in Kashmir. The author followed a simple but comprehensive approach to compile this book. As the political aspirations of Indians and Pakistanis are strongly attached to this conflict, so it is always a trial of great patience and temperament while writing something about Kashmir. Schofield tries her best to give a balanced and objective opinion by discussing different perspective of a single matter. But still at some points, her opinions seems more inclined to the official narrative of Pakistani government. For instance, she discusses in detail about the human rights violation of Kashmiri Muslims by the Indian Security Forces, but she completely ignores the aspect of Pakistan’s involvement in providing training and weapons to the Kashmiri militants during insurgency. The influx of Jihadis or Islamic militancy compelled a huge number of Kashmiri Pandits to leave their native homeland. But the author gives a little importance to the abuse of Hindus by militants in Kashmir.

In the end, Schofield gives five possible scenarios to deal with this protracted issue. She assumes that the dispute in Kashmir is mere a territorial issue between two states which seems ostensible. Otherwise, if the sincere approaches she propagates are followed than a long-term peace could be attained in the region. She gives an outstanding overview and context of the continuing violence extended over the period of time. Its implications and solutions are also the unique feature of her book.