I am forever indebted to Almighty God for granting me the ability and endurance to complete this book.
This work is based on my PhD thesis and I owe my sincere gratitude to my parents and sisters for their emotional support during my studies. I am deeply indebted to my husband, who has supported me during the writing of this book, particularly as I was writing throughout my pregnancy. Without his help it would have been an arduous task. My research colleagues and friends from my PhD programme also offered great moral support, and I especially wish to thank Yona Marinova, Patricia Gail Saluja, Jernej Letnar Černič, Jiong He and Sarah Pedersen. I also owe a big thank you to my friends Shafat Basu and Mr Sharma’s family. Special thanks go to Mrs Fiona Benzie who has been my great support and guide.
I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to my PhD supervisors Professor Anthony Carty and Dr. Robert Dunbar for their constant guidance, encouragement and much needed support. I am also extremely grateful to Ms Aude Fiorini (University of Dundee) and Ms Carole Lyons (Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen) for their continued advice and support. I must acknowledge the invaluable suggestions and comments provided by Dr. Steven Wheatley (Lancaster University), Professor Javaid Rehman (Brunel University) and Professor Lauri Mälksoo (University of Tartu, Estonia), as they helped to clarify various aspects of my research.
I am thankful to all the organisations, government institutions and people who have contributed to make my studies richer in meaning and content. I would like to give a special mention of the staff of Taylor Library, Queen Mother Library, and Special Libraries and Archives (University of Aberdeen); the National Archives (Kew); British Library (London); Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (London); School of Oriental and African Studies (London); the Parliamentary Archives, House of Lords Record Office (London); the Hartley Library, University of Southampton; Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Research Analysts (London); International Policy Officer, the Labour Party (London); Counsellor Political Department, German Embassy (London); the EC External Relations Directorate-General, Desk Officer India (Brussels); US Department of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (Washington, DC); Run Run Shaw Library (City University of Hong Kong); Mentorn TV (London); the Jammu and Kashmir Directorate of Archives, Archaeology and Museums (Kashmir); the Jammu and Kashmir High Court; the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission; the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture
My special thanks also go to Professor Gudmundur Alfredsson (Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund University, Sweden), Dr. Patrick Hoeing (Visiting Professor, Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi), Mr. Murtaza Shibli (Editor, Kashmir Affairs, London) and Mr. Sanjay Kak (Film Maker, India) for sending me important reading material related to my research in the form of articles, books and documentaries. Many thanks are also due to the excellent research assistance of Jessica Fernando during the preparation of this book. I would also like to thank Dr Sze Lok Leung and Junko Asano for proofreading this work.
The funding support for this PhD research was provided by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, the CB Davison Scholarship Committee and the Small Grant Fund Committee. This support is gratefully acknowledged. I am also grateful to the editors at Brill, Anna Schmitt Nagelbach, Marjolein Schaake Nozomi Goto, Geli Mademli and Thalien Colenbrander, who have supported this project.