Book Review: Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris Written by Christopher Snedden

Abstract

Kashmir studies have been the subject of debate for researchers and authors across the globe. The researchers and authors wrote about the significance and historical background of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Christopher Snedden is one of those authors who wrote about different aspects of Jammu and Kashmir. He is an Australian academician /researcher who made a reasonable contribution on the issue of state of Jammu and Kashmir through his writings. This book is based on the different resources of knowledge including empirical studies and historical writings by researchers and historians the world over. The first-hand narratives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have also been taken to make it engage the readers. It has been thus argued that the Kashmir dispute was initiated by the people of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir before the ill-famed tribal invasion. Similarly, there are different historical and academic writings where the issue is presented as an untold story with the research-based evidence and the opinion of the people of Kashmir is less likely narrated. The book titled, The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir narrates that the struggle for the liberation of Kashmir from Dogra rule was initiated from the Poonch uprising and some notable people played a role against the unrest created by the Maharaja Government. In this regard, some background studies of historical writings have been the building blocks to the writing of Christopher’s book. The title of the book was criticized and modified by the Indians when it published there.