Across the Line of Control: Inside Pakistan-Administered Kashmir (Columbia/Hurst)

Since the partition of the Asian subcontinent in 1947, conflict has raged in Kashmir, and the clash between India and Pakistan over this coveted territory has led to the emergence of Indian-administered and Pakistan-administered areas. While the social and political conditions in the former have been widely discussed, even experts lack critical knowledge of Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir (PAJK), particularly its political, cultural, and social realities.

Luv Puri provides sorely-needed analysis of the crucial pre-independence social and political processes that polarized the state as well as the violence that devastated the region during partition. He then follows the effect of these events on Pakistan's Punjab province and the ensuing impact on Pakistan's position toward the Jammu and Kashmir issue. The relationship between Pakistan and PAJK is a significant aspect of Puri's research. He traces the history of migration from Mirpur to Britain and the Mirpuri diaspora's significant support of early militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989. Based in PAJK, this insurgency promised to free Kashmir from both Indian and Pakistani forces. Puri also discusses the pro-independence struggle's many transformations, from its inception to the present day. An original and revealing volume, Across the Line of Control majorly contributes to literature on the region and the role of PAJK in larger Jammu and Kashmir tensions.

Luv Puri is a Fulbright scholar at New York University and won a European Commission Award for Human Rights and Democracy in 2006. He has been a correspondent with the Hindu and has contributed to various media publications and academic journals. His research interests concern the situation of South Asian Muslims, the conflict in Kashmir, and Pakistan.