ABOUT THE BOOK
In a knowledge driven world,
ignorance is no bliss. Blatantly put, ignorance of facts is a curse that
Nations and its people will pay for heavily in terms of security, strategy and
overall handling of situations. India has faced many existential crises’ over
the years due to lack of comprehensive information or misinformation, the most
glaring being the Jammu & Kashmir issue. The common man is oblivious to a
lot of critical information about Jammu & Kashmir including a region as
strategic as Gilgit – Baltistan being a part of Jammu & Kashmir. This book
is an attempt to lift the veil of ignorance about that region and make it a
part of the national strategic dialogue.
Gilgit – Baltistan and its Saga of Unending Human Rights Violation
enlightens the readers about this geo-strategically and resource rich area that
legally and constitutionally belongs to India but is under Pakistani
occupation. It gives some interesting and hitherto unknown facts about the
history, culture and polity of the region, which will engross a layman and a
scholar alike. Above all, it gives a detailed picture of the contemporary situation
of this region, mired in gross human rights violation. Armed with this vital
information, it will be easier to combat vested interests and inimical forces
that are hell bent on usurping this strategically important region. Knowledge
is power, they say. Lets us be knowledgeable about Gilgit-Baltistan.
ABOUT Author
Alok Bansal is Director of India Foundation, New Delhi and the
Secretary General of Asian Eurasian Human Rights Forum (AEHRF), an organisation,
which has been accorded ECOSOC status by UNESCO. He is also the founder
Executive Director of South Asian Institute for Strategic Affairs (SAISA) and
an Adjunct Professor of Strategy and International Relations at New Delhi
Institute of Management (NDIM) and facilitator of India Policy Group (IPG) on
Afghanistan for Tract II Dialogues by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. He has been a
Visiting Professor at the Pakistan Studies Programme of Maulana Mohammed Ali
Jauhar Academy of International Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia. He has been
the Executive Director of the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) and has worked
with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), and Centre for Land
Warfare Studies (CLAWS).
He has authored a book titled
Balochistan in Turmoil: Pakistan at Cross Roads and has co-edited three books
titled South Asian Security: 21st Century Discourses, Pakistan
Occupied Kashmir: The Untold Story and Sri Lanka: Search for Peace.