The Human Toll of the Kashmir Conflict ─ Grief and Courage in a South Asian Borderland

This book is a collection of testimonies from the families of the disappeared in the Kashmir conflict, 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. Inspired by these 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. To this continuing chronicle of military terror, the families of the disappeared propose a profoundly moral voice. The author argues that only on the basis of justice can a lasting peace be built in Kashmir and in South Asia.

Shubh Mathur is an anthropologist whose interests include South Asia, human rights, memory and justice, minorities and environmental ethics. She works closely with the victims and survivors of human rights abuses in Kashmir and is deeply committed to their quest for justice. She is the author of The Everyday Life of Hindu Nationalism.