Kashmir Has Been A Land Of Saints, Savants And Sages-Some Belonged To The Buddhist Faith-Some Advocated Shaiva Philosophy, Some Were Sufis And Some Were Saint-Poets. The Volumes Gives A Glimpse Of This Tradition Through An Account Of It Selected Sages From Kashmir And Lead Us To Divinity.

Traces The Journey Of The Land And People From Ancient To The Modern Day. Captures The Factors For The Decline Of Kashmiri Civilization From Glory To The Present State Of Murder And Repire. The Author Hopes The Worst Is Over And The Old Practices Of Kashmiriyat Will Return.

Being born and brought up in Kashmir, paradise on earth, nestled in the highest and most glorious mountain range on earth, the Himalayas is indeed a reward of destiny. The landlocked valley of Kashmir has a unique history of art, culture, spirituality, food, and lifestyle, which the author weaves masterfully into a rich tapestry with his life experiences. An account of his recent visit to Kashmir in July 2016, which he calls a sentimental journey- a pilgrimage to the homeland, is captivating. It engages the reader with an intensely human journey of the life of the author in Kashmir and beyond from 1930's to the present.

The Book Arises Out Of A Seminar Held In 2001. Papers Collected In The Volume Cover A Wide Range Of Social, Cultural Scholastic And Artistic Aspirations Of Kasmiri Pandits - And The Topics Of Interest To Them. Quite A Few Relate To Kashmiri Pandits In Delhi. (8 Chapters - Figures.)

Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir in 1989 was their seventh such exodus since the arrival of Islam in Kashmir in the fourteenth century. This was precipitated by the outbreak of Pakistan-sponsored insurgency across Kashmir Valley in 1989. The radical Islamists targeted Pandits - a minuscule community in Muslim dominated society creating enormous fear, panic and grave sense of insecurity. In the face of ruthless atrocities inflicted on them, the Pandits’ sole concern was ensuring their own physical safety and their resolve not to convert to Islam. Over 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee en masse leaving their home and hearth. This was the single largest forced displacement of people of a particular ethnicity after partition of India. Pandits’ travails did not end with the exodus. The obstructive and intimidating attitude of the State administration towards the Pandit refugees made their post-exodus existence even more miserable. The Government at the Centre too remained indifferent to their plight. This book traces the Pandits’ economic and political marginalization in the State over the past six decades and covers in detail the events that led to their eventual exodus. In the light of ethnic cleansing of Pandits from the Valley, the book also examines some critical issues so crucial to India’s survival as a multi-cultural, liberal and secular democracy.

This book is an in-depth account of people’s cultural and religious life in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It brings out the significance of Sufi and deity shrines as alternative places of worship that give meaning and purpose to people’s lives. It includes sites and practices commonly associated with Islam/Sufism and Hinduism as spaces of shared culture. Most of the existing literature of Jammu and Kashmir is on Kashmir focusing mostly on topics such as politics, state, identity, conflict or violence. This book proposes to go beyond these works by delimiting the focus and area of the study to culture, society and religion. It explores the sites of religious pluralism and tolerance in the violence-ridden territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The chapters are mainly based on ethnographic data collected through qualitative methods like observation – participant and non-participant, case studies, in-depth interviews and oral history. The book is of interest to researchers, both faculty and graduate students, in the areas of sociology of religion, social anthropology, religious studies, cultural studies, Sufism, shrines and deity worship in South Asia.

Nyla Ali Khan, the granddaughter of the first Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, gives an insider's analysis on the political and social turmoil that has eroded the ethos and fabric of Kasmiri culture. She monitors the effects of nationalist, militant, and religious discourses and praxes on a gender-based hierarchy.