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Book Review: Where Borders Bleed

“ Where Borders Bleed” is a rare book about the tortured history of Pakistan and India. As a diplomat specialist on Pakistan and as a novelist, Ambassador Rajiv Dogra offers a unique perspective.

“Where Borders Bleed” asks questions. What was the need for Partition and why did violence take place on a scale that it did? Did partition resolve the issue that led to it?

The history thereafter overlaps and merges; one event into another, one antagonism into the next. From Kashmir war of 1947-48 to Indus waters, from 1965 war to Bangladesh liberation, from evil genius of Zulfiqar Bhutto to
nuclear quest of Pakistan, from Kargil to terror, from US-UK machinations to Chinese role — all these figure significantly.

It also punctures many myths of the conventional Indo-Pak narrative. Nehru, Lord Mountbatten, Jinnah, Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto, Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh are all viewed from a new and critical perspective.

Rajiv Dogra’s tenure as India’s last Consul General in Karachi, access to unique archival material and his interaction over the years with leaders and personalities on both sides give it a privileged and unique view. And there are some particularly interesting vignettes about the leaders.

“Where Borders Bleed” speculates too; notably, what if the two countries were to reunite and merge, much like the East and West Germany. As the largest nation in the world India, rather than China, would have shaped the geo-political scenario. Would terror have affected the world in the way it has if India and Pakistan were a single entity? Would 9/11 and 26/11 have happened?

“Where Borders Bleed” is an unusual non-fiction written with the easy flow of fiction. With its authoritative
blend of anecdotes, history and objective analysis “Where Borders Bleed” is a spectacular New Year offering from Rupa.

© India Strategic

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