A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370
On 5 August 2019, the Indian government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its constitutional protections, revoking Articles 370 and 35A, the clauses that had granted the region a degree of self-governance since its accession in 1947. For 1.4 crore citizens, the decision arrived in the night, while they sat confined behind barricades and coils of razor wire, with no say in what was being done to their home. The Supreme Court has yet to properly hear the petitions contesting the move. The home minister declared that not a single drop of blood had been spilt. Officials read the region's profound quiet as consent. It was, of course, anything but. That silence came wrapped in an intensified military presence, sealed roads, a suspended internet, and a near-total communications blackout. Kashmir, already among the most heavily militarised places on earth, was effectively placed under siege before dawn. Anuradha Bhasin, one of the valley's most respected journalists, has written a courageous and unsettling account of what followed. Drawing on eyewitness testimonies from a wide cross-section of people, and weaving together history, geography, and on-the-ground reportage, she pieces together the story of a place India is determined to absorb on its own terms. It's an uncomfortable book, and an important one. Anyone trying to make sense of the direction Indian democracy has taken in recent years will find it genuinely illuminating.
- Author: Anuradha Bhasin
- Publisher: HarperCollins India
- Genre: Journalism & Media Studies
- ISBN: 978-9356290501
- Pages: 565 pages