Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace

Hi everyone, it's been such a long time. I had just purchased the Kindle version of this book last night after watching a Bollywood film, 'Fanaa' (I hope it doesn't surprise anyone that I love Hindi films). The second part of the film had piqued my interest in the Kashmir conflict so much that I began doing some online research on it, and voila! I came across this book and immediately bought it on Kindle.

Before I jump into the actual review of the book, I would like to first put it on record that I did not know that the Kashmir conflict is as old as the Israel-Palestine one. The circumstances under which the two conflicts developed may be different, but they share something in common: being the oldest and as yet unsettled international agenda of the United Nations Security Council. It really stunned me, after reading this book, that this conflict is not getting similar attention in Malaysia compared to the one received by the Palestinian issue. I guess maybe the politicians do not see anything to be gained by championing peace in Kashmir. If I am right, it is a real shame, because this conflict shows just how potentially dangerous strict adherence to national ideologies can become, and in light of recent revival of nationalism in some South East Asian countries, that is something states like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia can take lessons from.

To begin with, Sumantra Bose's clear and straightforward style of writing gives a very easy-to-follow narrative history of the Kashmir conflict, a huge plus point for anyone who is not particularly well-versed in this particular topic. This is so especially since Kashmir as a geographical entity is a very complex one. Even though Bose is an academic writer, the language he employed has very minimal jargon and of course, that is never a bad thing, right? But it really read like a detached account of the history and the whole time, I cannot say I was that emotionally invested in the conflict, not as much as much as I hope to be, anyway. But, what the book lacks in personal attachment, it makes up in stylish presentation.

The book itself is divided into 5 parts, the first 4 of which deal with the history and the last part deals with Bose's proposed answer to the issues faced in trying to bring about peace. So the reader is properly introduced to the roots of the conflict in the first 2 chapters, before the author starts getting to what the book really is about; the current situation in Kashmir (chapters 3 and 4) and a possible solution to the conflict. And this 5-part presentation of the subject matter is such a nice way to go about it. When I was reading, it really did feel like an incremental momentum is physically building up.

The only thing I can say against this book, and it's a very minor thing, is that the solution offered does not seem very practical. The author started the book by acknowledging that India and Pakistan have shown little real interest to concede control of Kashmir, and this reluctance is very much due to the ideological stubbornness that is almost inherent in the conception of both states. The deep-rooted rivalry between the two has manifested itself in several outright physical confrontations since 1947. Even though there is now a large degree of participation (and it is increasing at an alarming rate) by the Kashmiris themselves, the Indian and Pakistani governments are still central to any peace efforts that wish to succeed. Until this ideological opposition between India and Pakistan is significantly removed, I do not see how Bose's proposal of a 'more subtle self-determination' can ever be realistically exercised by all the regions within Kashmir.

Having said that, it is still a very fantastic read, especially if you enjoy history as much as I do. I have ordered another book that deals with Kashmir and unfortunately the title is not available in kindle format, so it may be a few more days before it arrives. But that is how interested in this issue I am after reading Bose's book. I highly recommend it to history fans and the politically interested. Enjoy.

After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam

This review is written by a friend of the BukuProject's Nazir Harith Fadzilah*

Reading on the crackdown of the Shiite by the officials in Malaysia recently brought back the lessons I used to have in school, mainly those that taught me that Shiism is a blasphemy. Back then, it never occurred to me to question the textbook or even the Ustaz teaching the subject. All I know was, they are different from us, the Sunnis.

Most of us might just accept the facts as they were told to us (which is arguable) and never then revisit them, or to dig deeper on the how, the why, and the consequences of the split. Isn't it strange, considering the Prophet himself constantly preached of unity?

This book, written by Lesley Hazleton, brings us back to the time of tribulation, the time of difficulties, the time of fitna, the time in which the Muslim community was really tested by the Higher Power. Each character, one by one, is stripped from common misconception, either from misleading classes or through sheer lack of understanding

This is not a story that glorifies the characters, and neither is it full of flowers throughout. This is a story of mere human beings, prone to make mistakes, prone to fall to their Jahiliyah insticts, prone to have their judgment clouded by emotions.

These people were not without ideals. It would seem to us that 23 years under the guidance of the Prophet would have prepared them for the coming of this disunity in the Ummah. But we forget that this was the period which most of the characters had prayed they would never see. The period that became known as the beginning of the Sunni-Shiite split.

To be honest, I was nervous about reading this book since every line was new and unfamiliar to me, quite unlike everything I have been taught. Frightened as I was, I did not stop halfway. The author writes with such wit but is never didactic. Since she fills the lines with questions that insist the reader to dig deeper, dig deeper a reader should.

I love the way the book is being presented but I must warn the reader to read with caution and to try to cross-check with much more authentic history books. To call it a major work of Islamic history is short sighted but nevertheless the book shows another side of looking on the history of the Muslim Ummah.

*Nazir is a third year engineering student at the RMIT, Australia. He co-founded the ASAM, a community for artistic souls that sometimes features articles from the BukuProject. "While others enjoy being under the spotlight", Nazir prefers "a candle to light up [his] life". Nazir now resides in Melbourne.

SNOW by Orhan Pamuk

I don’t normally write book reviews - I merely shove the books I like to people; forcing them to read em too. So here goes a first. A very short first.

I suppose I should state the bias before I press further - I personally like the writing and the story very much. Especially the snow bit. It’s the first Pamuk I tried (though I have had 2 of his others for ages collecting dust) and the style is nice. The book is, as usual, a translation from his Turkish one. And it’s part of the Revolutionary Series.

The background is Kars: a small town where gossips spread fast in coffee-shops and the entertainment is soap dramas and touring troupes. A Turkey downsized to a town - with clashes between the Islamists, the secularist, military and confusing others.

The protagonist is Ka: a poet who came posing as a journalist to investigate the town’s two issues - the murder of the mayor and the suicides. He’s believable as a person, I suppose that is why I increasingly like him as the story evolves. And why he at times reminds me of a friend. Or maybe I like him because he’s a poet - though the poems are never revealed in the story itself.

Ka went for interview rounds, fell in love with the friend from his past, wrote poems after a long drought of them, got involved with the messy political clashes, found friends and lost them, found love and risked losing it - with the background of a staged coup.

The thing that baffles me still when I close the last page is how Ka came at first posing as a journalist and as the story develops he was simply a poet - I don’t see the point of it. It is as if the journalist bit is a hasty addition to start the book. Maybe I missed the point.

It’s a historical fiction thus it does what fictions do, especially in terms of the characters portrayed, but it is a nice introduction to the undercurrent conflicts in a fresh post-Ottoman Turkey.

Read it for Pamuk’s writing. And the soothing description of the falling snow. It might surprisingly make you long for winter.

This review is written by Alia Salleh, another of the Friends of the Buku Project. She is now a third year engineering student at the University of Warwick and enjoys baking, and snapping pictures.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Malcolm X, who changed his name to Malik el-Shabbaz toward the end of his brief life, needs no introduction. Being first a crook, and then a radical black supremacist, and then an orthodox Sunni Muslim, and then a martyr, is quite overwhelming for just one person. Prior to reading this book, I knew very little about what Malcolm X stood for. The little that I did know, no doubt was due to his exceptional oratory skills that combine fiery speeches with very finely detailed and cohesive points.

The book starts out with a narration of what life was like for a black family in the first half of the 20th century. Malcolm Little (Little was his original surname before he decided to drop it) was not your average black boy. He had red hair and his complexion was fairer than usual. His grandmother had been raped by a white man, which made Malcolm's mother half white. Later in his life, after he joined the movement called "Nation of Islam", he would be sorely embarrassed by this 'fairer' complexion, but when he was a child he was a little proud that he was whiter than everyone else in the family. Malcolm said it revealed the general mentality of that age when being fairer meant you're better. (I can't help but to observe that this mentality has survived until today).

Life was tough for the Little family. After his father was killed by a group of white men for preaching 'rebellious things' to the blacks, the Little children learned to live like people of the streets, cheating their way to food, playing truant, and even compete among each other to geth their mother's attention. Being a middle child who was not particularly the darling of his parents, Malcolm soon learned that it is only by crying out loud that he could get what he wanted. This was one of the things that he carried all his life. To get something done for you, you gotta be loud enough.

The autobiography is full of anecdotes like that, of the lessons he learned from a life experience. As a reader, I was mesmerized by how well he utilised the things he learned as a crook during the time when he was already a preacher for the Nation of Islam. Speaking of that, Now there is a fascinating chapter of his life! I got to know how he became an ardent follower of Elijah Muhammad, the founder of the cult, and how his loyalty would finally lead to his own demise within the organization. It was quite hard for me to fathom how an intelligent man like him could fall prey to a movement whose basic principle revolves around the fact that the white man is the devil, but I did not go through years of discrimination as Malcolm most certainly did. And to be able to dive into his mind as he did everything under the sun that a radical does is truly an experience I'll not soon forget.

It was around the time he spent in the Nation of Islam that he became to get international recognition. Along with moderates fighting for the same cause, like Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X was starting to be synonymous to the fight to make the plight of the blacks a human right issue rather than a civil right issue. For those of you who cannot tell the difference, when something is a human rights issue, the UN can rightfully intervene. A civil rights issue can only remain within the domestic realms, therefore, the UN cannot justify any interference on its part. Malcolm travelled all over the world to reveal what it is actually like to be a black American in those days. It soon became apparent that his charisma alone was pushing his cause a step closer to success. The only problem is, there was so much disunity among the blacks that even Malcolm X, with all his intelligence and sage, could not find an effective solution to bring all the dfferent groups of black men together.

Malcolm X with his children and Muhammad Ali

As a Sunni Muslim, I have to admit that this book is particularly appealing to me because Malcolm X, toward the end of his life, became Malik El-Shabbaz. I cannot escape intellectual bias so from the start, I was looking forward to the chapter depicting the process of his conversion to orthodox Islam. His trip to Mecca was related in such a moving way that I felt I'd known Malcolm all my life. There was something he said that made me ponder about my responsibility in this world. The only reason people could have joined a cult like the Nation of Islam was that the true Muslims did not do anything to inform the Americans what Islam really is. In a way he had a point. There was not so much Islamic literature available to the masses at the time, and there was certainly no Wikipedia. Even today, most people are still quite ignorant toward Islam not because they have no access to Islamic literature, but the closest public relations tool that Islam has , the Muslims, is not doing a good job at selling it.

Of course, any book that can make the reader surprised because it was already the end, is a book worth reading. And this one definitely is one of those books. A person of Malcolm's charisma is hard to come by, and you see often in history that such people are done for by the very people they had wanted to save. This is a life that serve to teach us all the value of humanity.

I can't think of a better autobiography so far. 8.5 stars out of 10 =)

Review: ANIMAL FARM and LORD OF THE FLIES

My friend from KYUEM, Meor Muslih who is now studying medicine in Prague has written two very interesting reviews on two very interesting books. The first one is Animal Farm by George Orwell. This novel was recommended by our Sociology teacher a couple of years back, amidst our lessons on Marxism/Socialism. The second book is Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. Now, this is the book that I've always wanted to read but never got around to doing it. I guess that will change in the near future, thanks to Meor. So, get clicking on the link below if you find any of these two books as interesting as I did =)

Meor Muslih's reviews

I need recommendation and i need it fast!

Due to the heavy loads and luggage, I can only bring back these books to USM

1) Dilema Melayu- Tun Dr Mahathir (read the English version, feel like reading the Malay version)

2) Saya Pun Melayu- Zaid Ibrahim

3)Brida- Paulo Coelho

4) Persuasion- Jane Austen (Guilty pleasure? Sorta)

5) Life is An Open Secret- Zabrina Abu Bakar- half way to go.. enlightening. Will post up my review, insyaAllah.

6) A Son Of the Circus- John Irving (Still in consideration)

..and a few to be decided because yes, I need to bring text books some more (prioritize please!). But no worries I can still come back home once every two weeks :)
And John Grisham readers, I need some recomendation please. So far i think I've read 3,4 of John Grisham, pity me. One of them is The Testament which I most remembered. Its remarkable surprises towards the end turned me on.

But most importantly, my most important list right now is of course (ahem,) my text books since it is my first year majoring. Can't wait!

One of my dear friend asked about Faizal Tehrani books, to be honest I always am interested to read his books after all these while of silently becoming his blog and short stories reader. I went to some major book stores, sadly his books are no to avail. Hmm, more reason to open up your own bookstores? But i still havent viewed the new bookstore in Penang, so I hope I can find one.

That's it, my holiday wraps up. But that doesnt mean that this is the end of it.. Will be more reviews to come! :)