India The Siege Within Challenges To Nations Unity by Mj Akbar

India: The Siege Within succeeds in explaining, as no other book has done, the resilient achievements of Indias secular democracy as well as its vulnerabilities and failures. As such, it makes essential reading for everyone wishing to understand todays India. Here M.J. Akbar, one of Indias most distinguished journalists, discusses the origins and nature of the strains on Indian unity, which have deep roots in history. Taking 1947 as his springboard, he provides a full historical, poitical and cultural survey of the main pressure points, and brings his analysis up to date to include the removal of Farooq Abdullah in Kashmir, an account of his meeting with Bhindranwale, the army operatin at the Golden Temple, the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi, and the implications of these events for the future. Rising fundamentalism, separatism, the consequences of Partition, unease in Kashmiron every side it seems that Indias democratic unity is continually at risk.