‘Gilded Cage’ by Sandeep Bamzai is published by Khurshid Drabu and Gen. Hasnain.
Sandeep Bamzai, author and editor-in-chief of IANS, released a book on the turbulent political history of Jammu and Kashmir from 1931 to 1953 on Thursday in the presence of Salman Khurshid, a prominent member of the Congress, Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain (eetd), IIC Director K.N. Shrivastava, and Haseeb Drabu, a former finance minister of J&K.
Any researcher or journalist attempting to make sense of what is taking place in Kashmir at the moment will find the brief but incisive book “Gilded Cage: Years That Made and Unmade Kashmir” to be of great value. It provides a compelling narrative of what happened in the Valley between the latter years of the British Raj and the occasions leading up to the dismissal and imprisonment of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on August 8, 1953, building on hitherto unaccessible private files.
The book, which is the third installment of the author’s Kashmir Trilogy, is humorously written and jam-packed with new information. It provides details of: how Sheikh Abdullah abandoned Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s plan to seize Kashmir for Pakistan, a plan that Maharaja Hari Singh’s Prime Minister, Ram Chandra Kak, would have happily fulfilled; how the Kashmiri nationalist leader persuaded Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to begin military action against the Pakistani tribal raiders infiltrating the Valley in an effort to annex it; and finally, how the Sheikh boxed himself into his exclusiveist vision of an independent Kashmir without Jammu, completely at odds with Nehru’s expansive Idea of India, causing Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the Sheikh’s deputy and Nehru’s eyes and ears in Kashmir, to unseat him as leader of the National Conference.
Bamzai has delved deeply into the previously unpublished papers of his grandfather, K.N. Bamzai, the Delhi bureau chief of “The Blitz,” who later served as Sheikh Abdullah’s private secretary and OSD to Nehru. From a privileged position, K.N. Bamzai saw the estrangement of the two political allies as “one of the most unfortunate happenings in the years that followed Independence.”
More Stories
The 13th Khushwant Singh Litfest will take place in Kasauli on October 18.
Between October 18 and October 20, Kasauli will host the 13th Khushwant Singh Literary Festival. "Resilience and Renewal" is the...
Amazon.in and NCERT collaborate to develop a new, unique store for K–12 books that will be accessible throughout India.
To ensure that students have access to authentic learning materials and resources, Amazon India today announced its partnership with the...
Han Kang’s profound work earns her the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature.
At the age of 53, famous South Korean writer Han Kang received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. Han, whose...
Following a five-year break, the Crossword Book Award is back.
After a five-year hiatus, the Crossword Book Award, one of India's oldest literary accolades, is back this year. This prize...
Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy’s Memoir to Be Released: Mother Mary Comes To Me
Reportedly, award-winning author Arundhati Roy will publish a book titled "Mother Mary Comes to Me," which will provide readers with...
The Book Fair at Suchna Kendra, Udaipur, Is Exciting!
Discover the National Book Trust's Udaipur Book Fair 2024 at Suchna Kendra, which runs till September 26 and features over...