The Meadow
Page 57
A NOTE ON SOURCES
The greatest challenge presented by this book was to write about something that could never be known. At its heart is an event that only one person survived.
We sought to fill the silence at the centre of the story by seeking out new eyewitness accounts from villagers and jihadis who came close to the hostages and their guards. We have also relied on a rich vein of material written by the hostages themselves, especially Hans Christian Ostrø, whose letters, annotations, doodles and poems evoke the atmosphere in the hostage camp. Villagers in remote areas of Kashmir, where the kidnappers stayed for several months, discovered many items – scripts, letters and appeals – written and then abandoned by the hostages, which they transcribed or committed to memory, and later shared with us.
Outside the world of the five captives, we sought out primary source material, including first-hand recollections of those directly involved in the hostage crisis, on both the police and the jihadi sides in India and Pakistan. We also made extensive use of intelligence and criminal reports, as well as transcripts of taped interviews made by the police and intelligence services in Kashmir.
The dialogue, and the quotations ascribed to individuals, have been drawn from the memories of those involved, and shown to as many parties as possible to ensure accuracy.
Some quotations ascribed to the hostages’ families have been compared to or directly extracted from interviews they gave at the time to Indian, American and British newspapers, so as to capture the authenticity of that moment – the thoughts they had back then, rather than with the benefit of hindsight.
When we have not been able to see a specific report, letter or memo mentioned in the book, but have spoken to its author – as was the case with the many papers and memos from the al Faran file – we have indicated this by using a specific form of words, so it is clear that what is being quoted is a recollection of what was written by its author, rather than being taken directly from the paper itself.
About the Authors
ADRIAN LEVY and CATHY SCOTT-CLARK are award-winning investigative journalists and film-makers who have worked as foreign correspondents, writers and producers for the Sunday Times, the Guardian and Channel 4’s Dispatches. They won the One World Media award for foreign reporting in 2005 and were selected as One World Media Journalists of the Year in 2009. They are currently working on their fifth book, about the 2008 attack on Mumbai. For more on The Meadow and the authors please see www.clarkandlevy.com
From the reviews of The Meadow:
‘A compelling account of the 1995 kidnapping of six westerners in Kashmir that may have sparked the rise of Islamic terrorists … Bravura reporting. Levy and Scott-Clark are nonpareil investigators’
Sunday Times
‘A staggeringly well-researched new book by two respected journalists’
PANKAJ MISHRA, Bloomberg
‘A superb probe … This riveting book reminds me of the best of western journalism, which in its heyday produced works of contemporary history, for it unravels every complex detail of a tragic and misunderstood story … Beautifully written’
RADHA KUMAR, Outlook
‘Compelling. The authors argue that the incident paved the way for the kind of terrorist tactics and kidnappings that have now become common from Pakistan to Afghanistan to Iraq. More controversially, their meticulous investigation concludes that Indian security forces knew where the hostages were throughout the ordeal, but declined to rescue them – and even sabotaged negotiations for their release – to prolong the adverse international publicity for Pakistan’
Washington Post
‘Levy and Scott-Clark deserve a lot of credit for recognising the kidnapping as the start of a new chapter. [They] produce some first-rate reporting on the ambiguous nature of the Indian authorities’ response … Meticulously researched’
SUZANNE GOLDENBERG, Himal Magazine
‘I haven’t read anything more terrifying than The Meadow, a narrative non-fiction book about a bunch of hapless tourists who go to Kashmir only to get kidnapped by militants – reading this will prepare you for a genuine worst-case holiday scenario’
Wall Street Journal
‘Gripping … raises many questions that need answers’
Hindustan Times
‘A terrific and scary story’
Spectator
‘Unputdownable. The authors bring us up close to the bone-chilling developments of the militancy-torn state … superb reading’
India Today
‘Heartstopping. The Meadow is clearly destined to become a landmark narrative … its publication is in itself an achievement in the exacting process of putting together the history of that tortured valley’
SANJAY KAK, The Caravan
‘The authors have exposed the glaring faultlines in the Indian state’s handling of the Kashmir issue … This fascinating book should be read by our policymakers and the lay-reader’
The Pioneer
‘Levy and Scott-Clark have pieced together a multi-stranded narrative … a meticulous, cold-case investigation based on a mountain of official paperwork, revitalised by a key layer of new testimony … a gripping and often emotional read’
Literary Review
By the same authors
Deception: Pakistan, the United States and
the Global Nuclear Weapons Conspiracy
The Amber Room: The Controversial Truth About
the Greatest Hoax of the Twentieth Century
The Stone of Heaven: The Secret History
of Imperial Green Jade
Copyright
William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
This William Collins paperback edition published 2013
First published in Great Britain by HarperPress in 2012
Copyright © Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark 2012
Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Maps © Malik Sajad, kashmirblackandwhite.com
Source ISBN: 9780007368174
Ebook Edition © August 2013 ISBN: 9780007457052
Version 2
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