Home » Entertainment  » Book Reviews »  Outsider Perspectives Another book on Kashmir by an old Indian hand. Bad enough having two Vikram Chandras writing accounts on Kashmir without tacking on a third to add to the deluge.

'Faultline Kashmir' by Christopher Thomas Brunel:

Christopher Thomas Brunel, foreign correspondent for 'The Times of London' who spent nearly a decade based in India, has come out with a well-researched book on Kashmir. There are no heroes in this book, only villains and victims. Thomas claims that Pakistan has 'hijacked the people's rebellion' in the name of jihad. The Indian Government too comes in for a fair share of criticism. As Thomas asserts, "Neither can claim to occupy any moral or political high ground". He further posits that, "It is a conflict of losers and no winners" in which the ordinary Kashmiri is the unwilling pawn, a victim in big power games.

Thomas traces the historical genesis of the Kashmir problem. Interestingly, his revisionist on Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of Kashmir, is deeply sympathetic. In contrast, the 'Lion of Kashmir' Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah is reviled for having unashamedly arrogated to himself dictatorial powers.

Thomas also takes the reader into contemporary Kashmir. The complex strands that make up the Kashmir problem- refugee camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), houseboat owners on the famous Dal Lake, military service on the inhospitable Siachen glacier, Hindu Pandits fleeing Jammu- are all compellingly woven together.

This is an excellent book by an outsider looking in. What emerges finally is Thomas' empathy for the plight of the Kashmiris- the unwilling and unwitting victims of larger political intrigues.

Unfortunately, 'Faultline Kashmir' ends rather abruptly, almost as if the last chapter was hastily added on as an afterthought.

Rating: It is an outsider's perspective on one of the most volatile, conflict spots in Asia. Seen through Thomas' eyes, it becomes a commentary on the tragic fate of the people in Kashmir.

Faultline Kashmir by Christopher Thomas Brunel. Price Rs. 395