Kashmir by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar | Book review

Book review:

"Kashmir" is the thrilling conclusion to The Partition Trilogy that began with Lahore and continued with Hyderabad. The book skillfully highlights the striking contrast between Kashmir's renowned beauty and the harsh realities of war, violence and chaos that highlighted the war.

I was spellbound reading the prelude and was eager to explore my book. Each page gave me goosebumps with the vivid depiction of varied elements and characters. I was literally angry by the thought process of Maharaja Hari Singh who was not wishing for Independence because of his own reasons. Though the valley of Kashmir was sold to the ancestors of Hari Singh, he was depressed with the thought of losing his territory or power as the British were leaving and everything would be given to either India or Pakistan. 

Maharaja Hari Singh rules Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Princely state was expected to accede to Pakistan during the partition in 1947. On the contrary, popular leader Sheikh Abdullah rallied for freedom and the Poonchis in western Jammu revolted and sought help from Jinnah. A cruel plan is formulated and fearsome Kabailis carve a swath of savagery and destruction through the kingdom towards Srinagar.

It is intriguing to read about the rattled Maharaja when he signs the accession to India, pleading for immediate help. Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel dispatched the Indian army to defend the valley, and Akbar Khan of the Pakistan army raced to aid the Kabailis. Is it the beginning of a never-ending Indo-Pak war?

A few quotes from the book that piqued me:

💧 "A man's name is as good as his word".

💧"The essence of life is motion".

💧"A mother without a daughter is like a boat without oars."

The author has meticulously penned each detail in a vivid and evocative manner starting from the very first line. She depicts the helplessness of people or women especially those who saw their loved ones killed in front of themselves or being raped many times to soothe the anger of people affected. She depicted the rude behaviour of Kabailis or the general public who made use of women like tissue paper. 

I was overwhelmed by the characters Zooni, Mrs Mehra, Edwina and Dickie cruel conspiracy, Tiger's urge to stand and do something, and many more. I felt the memorization of Dandi March by Gandhiji, his death leaving everyone in fury. 

I appreciate the way the author depicted the delay of making decisions by political leaders of that time, the British sowing the seeds of communalism, shortage of weapons, ignorance of people towards the needs of the common public and what they want or want to accede after Independence. I was eager to finish my book and learn about the conspiracy of political leaders and why they wanted a different country. The power game was well executed at the cost of the general public.

Overall, this book is a thrilling tale of politics, rebellion, conspiracies, spies, weapons, jewels and much more. I appreciate the inclusion of anecdotes or quotes that she used to instil the urge of people in the minds of the reader. Though I didn't read the first two parts after reading this book, I am longing to read them soon. Worth reading, do grab it!

I am thankful to @blogchatter team, the publisher and the author for providing me with the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review. This review falls under the blogchatter review program.

Purchase: Kashmir