Kashmir is the world’s most heavily militarized region—once described as both “an earthly paradise and the nuclear powder keg of South Asia.”
Since the 1947 partition of “British” India, the independent state of Kashmir has been under constant siege, with Pakistan and India in violent dispute over its territory while riding a downward spiral of “tit for tat” militarization on their borders and in their own streets. Although millions of Kashmiri civilians—and ultimately the world at large—are caught in the crosshairs of this deadly and potentially nuclear impasse, Kashmir’s complex struggle for self-determination has been largely ignored and for far too long.
In Kashmir breaks the silence engulfing this long battle for justice, focusing on the determined resistance of Kashmiri women to this pervasive multi-state violence. Making thoughtful use of rare, candid interviews, Seema Kazi constructs global lessons from the daily experiences of women living under and resisting intensifying militarization and its terrible instruments—sexual violence, murder, family destruction, grinding poverty, and social death.
Cutting through international relations rhetoric and “common sense” notions of Western-style nation-building, Kazi boldly holds a mirror in one hand and a warning in the other.
About the Author
Award-winning author Seema Kazi is an internationally regarded expert on feminism, human rights, and violence against women around the world. She lives in New Delhi.