Book on Kashmir insurgency released

A book authored by Col Yoginder Kandhari (retd) on the basis of first-hand experiences during counter-insurgency operations, ‘Kashmir Insurgency: Deconstructing the State Response – Revisiting 1989–90’, was released here today by Gen VP Malik, former Chief of the Army Staff.

The author provides a sobering critique of the state’s paralysis, institutional failures, intelligence lapses and the moral vacuum that accompanied the mass displacement of the Kashmiri Pandit community — what he calls one of the most successful campaigns of ethnic cleansing in modern history.

While raising issues of deterioration of law and order and security situation in the state, General Malik said that the book explored all that and more through the eyes of witnesses, interviews of the then policy makers and a plethora of research material.

The author was born in Srinagar and served during peak insurgency periods in Assam, Punjab and Kashmir, where he led many challenging operations against insurgents.