3 Review(s)

‘It is hardly surprising that prejudice towards Pakistan cuts across ideological lines, and the discourse of peace that different political formations espouse is also uniform’ Indo-Pak relations are characterized by a maze of feelings, thoughts and suspicions that have been used to justify chronic distrust and war by successive generations on both sides of the border. The author of the critically acclaimed Prejudice and Pride explores the foundations of the conflict between India and Pakistan, and examines the prospects of peace in South Asia with a refreshing new perspective. Old platitudes are scrutinized with an uncompromising eye and the complex layers of hostility, prejudice, fear and the reluctance to reconcile are looked at afresh. Krishna Kumar touches upon a range of contexts, such as the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the role of the media in shaping the path to peace, and the violence in Kashmir. The reader is invited to contemplate important questions: Why was the Father of our Nation killed? Why has no textbook of Indian history ever bothered to deal with that question? How do the legacies of Gandhi and Jinnah affect us to this day? This is an introspective and thought-provoking book from which emerges a persuasive argument for peace, while the rhetoric of a romantic past is rejected. It will doubtless offer new ways of looking at this historic conflict to anyone who seeks a deeper, more constructive understanding of it.