Curfewed Night (paperback)

Curfewed Night is a narration by a Kashmiri who grew up in the valley and saw it transform into a hotspot for violent activities. Basharat Peer had left India only return to his memories. His visit leads to a new discovery directing the reader to a world less discovered.

The Author Basharat Peer narrates the story of the valley and says it was in peace in the 1980s but the peace was marred by people who refused to associate themselves with India. The beautiful green valley of Kashmir which was once any romantic's paradise, transforms into a high security spot with gun totting Indian soldiers protecting the nation from the enemies. The fine line of demarcation between the terror unleashed by militants and the country's defense forces eventually fade and there is unbiased devastation.

This is book has real life stories of a young man's initiation into a Pakistani training camp and a mother who just watches her son as he is forced to hold an exploding bomb. Several politicians living in refurbished torture chambers and former militants dreaming of discotheques have been very well depicted in the book that you would coherently visualize the scenes in your mind's eye. Tranquil villages are unreasonably rigged with landmines and the once revered temples transformed into army bunker. Kashmir is renowned for the 'Sufi' shrines, which as the writer discovers were destroyed in bomb blasts.

Basharat Peer concludes his story with a wave of his hand at the visiting POK Kashmiris who crossed the LoC in 2005 when the bus service to Muzzafarabad and Srinagar started after half a century. This denotes an underlying hope that peace may prevail in the beautiful Jannat of India - Kashmir.

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