India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad - The Covert War in Kashmir, 1947-2004 (2006) [ASIAN SECURITY STUDIES]

India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad explores the history of jihadist violence in Kashmir, and argues that the violent conflict which exploded after 1990 was not a historical discontinuity, but, rather, an escalation of what was by then a five-decade old secret war. Praveen Swami addresses three key issues: the history of jihadist violence in Jammu and Kashmir, which is examined as it evolved from 1947-48 onwards the impact of the secret jihad on Indian policy-making on Jammu and Kashmir, and its influence on political life within the state why the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir acquired such intensity in 1990. This new work will be of much interest to students of the India-Pakistan conflict, South Asian politics and security studies in general.

This book explores the history of jihadist groups in Jammu and Kashmir, documenting the course of their activities and their changing character from 1947 to 2004. Drawing on new material, including classified Indian intelligence dossiers and records, Praveen Swami shows that jihadist violence was not, as is widely assumed, a phenomenon that manifested itself in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir only after 1988. Rather, a welter of jihadist groups waged a sustained campaign against Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir from the outset, after the Partition of India.
This volume first analyses the ideology and practice of Islamist terrorism as it changed and evolved from 1947-1948 onwards. It subsequently discusses the impact of the secret jihad on Indian policy-making on Jammu and Kashmir, as well as its influence on political life within the state. Finally, looking at some of the reasons why the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir acquired such intensity in 1990, the author suggests that the answers lie in the transfiguration of the strategic environment in South Asia by the nuclear weapons programs of India and Pakistan.
As such, the book argues, the violent conflict which exploded in these two regions after 1990 was not a historical discontinuity: it was, instead, an escalated form of what was by then a five-decade old secret war.

This new work will be of much interest to students of the India-Pakistan conflict, South Asian politics and security studies in general.

"This book explores the history of jihadist groups in Jammu and Kashmir, documenting the course of their activities and their changing character from 1947 to 2004. Drawing on new material, including classified Indian intelligence dossiers and records, Praveen Swami shows that jihadist violence was not, as is widely assumed, a phenomenon that manifested itself in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir only after 1988. Rather, a welter of jihadist groups waged a sustained campaign against Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir from the outset, after the Partition of India." "This new work will be of much interest to students of the India-Pakistan conflict, South Asian politics and security studies in general."--Jacket BOOK COVER......Page 1 HALF-TITLE......Page 2 SERIES-TITLE......Page 3 TITLE......Page 4 COPYRIGHT......Page 5 DEDICATION......Page 6 CONTENTS......Page 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 9 1. A HOUSE ON A HILL......Page 12 2. THE INFORMAL WAR......Page 28 3. THE MASTER CELL......Page 60 4. AL-FATAH......Page 87 5. YEARS OF RETREAT AND REVIVAL......Page 115 6. THE WAR OF MANY FRONTS......Page 148 7. THE NUCLEAR JIHAD......Page 183 8. TOWARDS PEACE?......Page 217 NOTES......Page 230 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 252 INDEX......Page 258 Introduction : a house on the hill The informal war The master cell Al-Fatah Years of retreat and revival The war of many fronts The nuclear jihad Towards peace?