HT Picks; New Reads

The scandal that shook Pakistani society
On an October morning in 1970, phones began ringing all over Karachi. The charismatic young poet and former civil servant Mustafa Zaidi had been found dead in his bedroom. He wasn’t alone: Shahnaz Gul, a stunningly beautiful, married socialite, with whom Zaidi had been having an affair, was lying unconscious in the next room, seemingly drugged. The ensuing scandal would shake Pakistani society, becoming a fixture on the front pages of newspapers even as the country went from one cataclysmic event to another. It grew to include obsession, revenge porn, the involvement of influential politicians and businessmen, and even a smuggling ring. But two autopsies, several investigations, and one trial later – no one was able to answer what exactly happened in that bedroom, and how Mustafa Zaidi ended up dead. Over 50 years later, authors Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood-Khan attempt to answer this question in Society Girl. Their retelling of, and years-long investigation into this story of twisted motives and murderous intentions, of it-girls and playboys, of class and culture, and a press out for blood and salaciousness, led to a far more complex tale than anyone could have possibly imagined.*
The rich tapestry of Indian languages
India’s spectacular linguistic diversity is one of its most defining characteristics as a civilization. The complex trajectory of our languages is intertwined with the evolution of the Indian identity, imagination, and intellectual history. Our languages are a repository of human ideas and experiences across millennia and remain at the core of intense deliberations on what constitutes the ‘idea of India’. Yet to map their evolution is a monumental endeavour— the number of languages to have existed and the ones that continue to be in use are far too many to determine a particular point of origin or reconstruct the story in its entirety.
In this path-breaking book, celebrated academic and intellectual GN Devy lays bare the mysteries and intricacies of India’s linguistic past, present, and future. The evolution of language is set against the larger historical canvas of human progress, and gives due weight to the influences of migration, agriculture, newer patterns of settlement, formation of religious sects, cultural resistance, and centuries of British colonialization on the shaping of our linguistic heritage. The book also engages with language, identity, and political consciousness, and underscores the significance of collective responsibility in preserving endangered languages of indigenous and marginalized communities. The author studies memory and oral practices as tools of linguistic creativity and as essential components of Indian knowledge and learning systems that have been overshadowed by the written word. And importantly, the book addresses the battle between technological advancement and dialogue and diversity and explores pathways to prevent the loss of both unclassified dialects and minor languages as well as the literary and philosophical traditions of major ones.
Timely and profound, India: A Linguistic Civilization is an ambitious study that celebrates the rich tapestry of Indian languages — a fitting rejoinder to majoritarian ideologies that threaten our vibrant multiculturalism.*
A terrorist organisation’s origins and networks
Jaish-e-Muhammad, the Pakistan-supported South Asian terrorist group mainly active in India-Administered Kashmir, can be held single-handedly responsible for bringing India and Pakistan, two nuclear adversaries, to the verge of a full-fledged war twice. First, in 2001 when JeM attacked the Indian Parliament, and then in February 2019, after the Pulwama attack. This book examines JeM’s origins, ideology, organizational structure, financing, operational strategies and tactics, radicalization methods, fidayeen attacks and intelligence networks.
JeM has pan-India ambitions and has strong ties with transnational terrorist groups such as the Al Qaeda, the IS-KP (Islamic State of Khorasan Province), the Taliban and the TTP (Tahreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan), which makes it a potential security threat for Western countries as well.
This book is the first detailed and comprehensive study of JeM. Its rigorous field research includes extensive interviews with veteran intelligence and security professionals who have dealt with JeM since its inception, including two former chiefs of R&AW who were closely involved in diffusing the IC-814 plane hijacking and hostage crisis, which led to the release of Masood Azhar, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen terrorist, who founded JeM, allegedly with the help of Pakistan and Al Qaeda. It delves into intelligence dossiers, charge sheets of case, and confidential intelligence reports on JeM.
With the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan and JeM’s operational capabilities enhanced, this book is critical reading for a detailed understanding of the past, present and likely future of JeM.*
*All copy from book flap.