A separatist conflict has been ongoing in India-administered Kashmir since 1989. Focusing on this region, this book critiques the existing normative theories of secession, and offers a comprehensive examination of the right of sub-groups to secede. The book looks at the different accounts of the moral right to secede, and assesses both the theories themselves as well as the claims of those who want to separate Kashmir from India. Included within this analysis are the three main types of normative theory that ground the right of groups to secede in principles of national self: determination, consensual governance and rectificatory justice. Previous studies have discussed the causes behind the uprising in Kashmir against Indian authority and examined some of the legal and geo-political implications of the conflict for India and the wider region. This book provides a new way of looking at the Kashmir dispute, by asking what these theories tell us about Kashmir, and in turn what the example of Kashmir allows us to learn about these theories. It is of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Politics and International Relations.

This book is about media content analysis in the English language print media in South Asia, with reference to certain contemporary issues. It is written from the perspective of the need to analyze media discourses and the ways in which their circulation creates a ‘common sense’ view of the world. The focus is on English language papers and news magazines; additionally, some Hindi, Urdu, and Sindhi newspapers are examined. The highlight is on the ways in which English language publications contribute to and function within middle class matrices of modernity, consumption, conflict, and conservatism in India.

Contributors offer an in-depth look at the dynamics of cultural and political change in Pakistan and the Pakistani Diaspora. Moving past static viewpoints, this volume demonstrates the multidirectional nature of the flow of ideas and people that create the social landscape experienced by Pakistanis globally.

In recent years, South Asia has become a flashpoint of conflict between the nuclear powers of India and Pakistan over the interconnected problem of Kashmir and cross-border terrorism. B.M. Jain here re-evaluates India's security, strategic and nuclear policy in the new South Asia of the post 9/11 era. He also provides a reappraisal of the regional security implications of India's turbulent relationships with Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Furthermore, he examines the strategic engagement of America, Russia and China with South Asian states. This book will be invaluable for public policy-makers, researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students of South Asian studies.

The Partition of British India in 1947 set in motion events that have had far-reaching consequences in South Asia – wars, military tensions, secessionist movements and militancy/terrorism. This book looks at key events in 1947 and explores the aftermath of the Partition and its continued impact in the present-day understanding of nationhood and identity. It also examines the diverse and fractured narratives that framed popular memory and understanding of history in the region. The volume includes discussions on the manner in which regions such as the Punjab, Sindh, Kashmir, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) and North-East India were influenced. It deals with issues such as communal politics, class conflict, religion, peasant nationalism, decolonization, migration, displacement, riots, the state of refugees, women and minorities, as well as the political relationship between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Drawing on major flashpoints in contemporary South Asian history along with representations from literature, art and popular culture, this book will interest scholars of modern Indian history, Partition studies, colonial history, postcolonial studies, international relations, politics, sociology, literature and South Asian studies.

The Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits or Hindus is their migration from the Kashmir valley in Indian-administered Kashmir in the early 1990s as a result of growing insurgency violence. Eighty to ninety percent of the total population of 1.2 million to 1.4 million pandits evacuated or were forced to leave the valley; those who refused were executed. During the period of significant migration, the insurgency was led by a movement advocating for a secular and independent Kashmir, but there was also an increasing number of Islamic factions advocating for an Islamic state. Targeted assassinations of high-profile leaders created an atmosphere of dread and panic throughout the state. The migration was caused by the Indian government's absence from the state and the lack of safety assurances.

This book expands the scope of understanding of the vast, albeit uneven, experience of the 1947 Partition of India by including localities and life stories from and beyond the regions of Punjab and Bengal. Building on existing research on Partition, the chapters present and analyse the consequences of Partition displacement and the resilience of communities in different parts of the nation. Regions discussed include the Chitmahals, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Hyderabad, Andaman Islands, and Jammu and Kashmir. The contributors show that the heterogeneity of people’s experiences reside in spaces of the family, home, neighbourhoods, villages, towns and cities refugee settlements, letters, memoirs, biographies, films, fiction, oral histories, and testimonies. The book examines the Partition’s complex effects in regions, localities and contexts and its material and psychological ramifications. This book is a unique and comprehensive contribution in enabling a more complex understanding of how Partition played out and continues to do so for groups and generations across India. It will be of interest to a multidisciplinary audience, including history, literature, comparative literature, colonial and postcolonial studies, modern Asian studies, studies of South Asia, and studies of memory and trauma.