The Human Toll of the Kashmir Conflict: Tales of Grief and Courage from a South Asian Borderland

Since 1989, when the movement for Kashmiri independence took the form of an armed insurgency, it has been one of the most highly militarized regions in the world. This book is based on the idea that preserving memory is central to the struggle for justice and to someday rebuild a society shattered by two decades of armed conflict.

The Kashmir conflict is one of the longest-running and least-known in our times. Since 1989, when the movement for Kashmiri independence took the form of an armed insurgency, more than half a million Indian troops have been deployed there, making it one of the most highly militarized regions in the world. The grim record of military violence against the civilian population for over two decades is only now being documented. To the continuing chronicle of military terror, the families of the disappeared oppose a profoundly moral voice. The Human Toll of the Kashmir Conflict offers a collection of testimonies from the families of the disappeared and other victims and survivors of human rights abuses. Inspired by the families' long quest for the truth about their missing relatives, this book is based on the idea that preserving memory is central to the struggle for justice and to someday rebuild a society shattered by two decades of armed conflict.