Garrisoned Minds
By Liberty Books

Women are often the worst affected by militarisation but their stories rarely get heard. Garrisoned Minds,
which brings together insights and analysis from some of the major
conflict zones of South Asia, is a welcome and valuable corrective, one
which must be read by both policy-makers and the public.'- Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of thewire.inMilitarisation
and violence as a response to conflict are now part of the global
social order. In this book, twelve journalists explore the impact of
such militarisation on the lives of women in four conflict-affected
zones of South Asia: Pakistan's frontier provinces which share a border
with Afghanistan; Nepal during and after its decade-long civil war;
Northeast India under the shadow of AFSPA; and the Kashmir valley amidst
the overwhelming presence of the Indian army.and These
essays range from evocative accounts of women's personal lives during
combat in Nepal and while travelling through the changing political
landscape of Manipur, to detailed explorations of the violent
restrictions imposed on specific communities, such as the Hazaras of
Pakistan, the dancing girls of Swat Valley, or the ostracised widows of
counter-insurgents in Kashmir. They represent the lived realities of a
diverse set of women forced to come to terms with horrific
circumstances, and determined to wage peace.