Kashmir: a simmering, sometimes brutal small war

[davidbfpo]

A long BBC News report from Kashmir, which is full of gems on a conflict de-escalating, due to state and non-state action or attitudes:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19168219

These displaced Kashmiris - who number more than 36,000 in all, according to officials in Pakistani-administered Kashmir - find themselves increasingly alienated as Pakistan mends fences with India, and the insurgency winds down to a mere shadow of what it once was....

On the Pakistani side, communities along the LoC who had virtually lived in bunkers for 16 years rose up in protest against any hint of militant activity that might endanger the ceasefire. These protests forced local authorities to relocate militants to areas away from the border region.

These [Pakistani] groups cannot keep the insurgency going, because they cannot operate without local support..

[davidbfpo]

A book review on a country that rarely gets much attention today, the book being 'The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir' by Christopher Snedden. Only Pakistan recognises Azad Kashmir is an independent country IIRC.

Link:http://tahirabbas101.wordpress.com/2...-azad-kashmir/

The book is likely to be a tremendous value to historians of the region as well as sociologists and political scientists exploring the important developments in Azad Kashmir from the time of partition to the present.