The Politics of Extremism in South Asia

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Acknowledgements......Page 11
Re-examining extremism......Page 15
An alternative explanation......Page 16
Gaps in alternative explanations......Page 18
Filling the gaps: external–internal encounters and mediating identities......Page 21
The state and geopolitical identities......Page 24
Relevance of other external explanations......Page 27
Constructing the argument......Page 28
Some terminology......Page 29
Defining terrorism......Page 30
Contextualizing terrorism and America\'s role......Page 32
Outline of the chapters......Page 34
Limitations......Page 35
From margin to epicenter: Locations and dislocations......Page 36
Errors of conflation......Page 37
South Asia\'s distinctiveness......Page 38
The accommodative historical impulses......Page 39
Contact and co-existence at the official level......Page 41
Competing impulses......Page 43
Tolerance and co-worship at the popular level......Page 45
Sufism in Kashmir......Page 48
Antecedents of exclusive identities......Page 51
Institutionalizing differences......Page 52
Unstable secularism in South Asia......Page 54
Competing historical tendencies......Page 55
Political secularism......Page 57
State construction and identity conflict......Page 59
The legacy of Abdul Gaffar Khan......Page 60
The Nehruvian vision......Page 61
Extremist challenges to secular traditions......Page 63
Conclusion......Page 65
3 Afghanistan\'s changing fortunes......Page 67
Attempts to explain extremism......Page 68
The religious explanation......Page 69
The evolution of the Afghan state......Page 71
Political secularism......Page 72
The rise of Islamism......Page 73
Challenges to secularism......Page 74
A spectrum of nationalisms......Page 76
The \"mujahideen\" today......Page 77
The Pakistani agenda......Page 78
The Saudi agenda......Page 79
Consolidation of Islamist groups in Pakistan......Page 81
Internal fragmentation......Page 82
The rise of the Taliban......Page 83
The new terrorism......Page 84
The impact of the US military campaign......Page 85
The balance between extremists and moderates......Page 87
Recasting the Afghan identity......Page 88
History repeating......Page 90
Undercutting extremism......Page 91
Attempts to reshape regional geopolitics......Page 92
Regional bridge building and diversification......Page 94
Conclusion......Page 95
4 Pakistan at the crossroads......Page 98
The religious factor......Page 99
Other factors......Page 101
Political secularism and its decline......Page 102
The political evolution of the JI and the JUI......Page 103
The JI-JUI divide......Page 105
Beyond the political arena to violent extremism......Page 108
Constraints on the mainstream political parties......Page 111
The military and religious parties......Page 113
The state and geopolitical identities......Page 114
Legitimizing identities......Page 115
Holding the center......Page 117
Impact of regional and extra-regional geopolitics......Page 118
Dealing with extremists: the military\'s competing pulls......Page 121
MMA and the war on terrorism......Page 123
Conclusion......Page 125
5 Conflict and contradiction in Kashmir......Page 128
Attempts to explain extremism......Page 129
The religious explanation......Page 131
Kashmiriyat and Secular Traditions......Page 132
Symbolism of the Congress-National Conference Alliance......Page 135
Challenges to Nehru\'s secular model......Page 137
Political fragmentation in Kashmir and shifting identities......Page 138
External intrusions......Page 140
India\'s worldview......Page 141
Kashmir and the Indo-Pakistan geopolitical identity struggle......Page 143
Indian dilemmas......Page 144
India\'s flexible discourse......Page 145
Pakistan\'s predicament......Page 146
Pakistan\'s proxy war......Page 148
Dialogue with New Delhi......Page 149
Interference from Pakistan......Page 152
The promise of democratic secularism......Page 153
Pakistan\'s persisting policy......Page 156
Conclusion......Page 157
6 Sri Lanka\'s violent spiral......Page 159
The ethno-religious factor......Page 160
Political access and elite manipulation......Page 163
Relative deprivation and state repression......Page 164
Adding geopolitics to the equation......Page 165
Waxing and waning of secularism......Page 167
State sponsorship of communal policies......Page 169
Unholy alliances......Page 170
Fracturing and consolidation of Tamil politics......Page 172
The hardening of Tamil identity and formation of militant groups......Page 173
Ethnic affiliation and strategic purposes......Page 175
Sri Lankan insecurity complex......Page 176
India\'s strategic dilemma......Page 178
Balancing versus bandwagoning by Sri Lanka......Page 179
Prelude to intervention......Page 181
The Indian intervention......Page 183
Hardline versus moderate outcomes......Page 184
The IPKF episode and breakdown of relations with the LTTE......Page 185
The negotiation path......Page 186
The role of spoilers......Page 188
Conclusion......Page 189
7 Bangladesh: divided politics and geopolitics......Page 191
Common bonds and fragmented identity......Page 192
Moderating tendencies......Page 194
Civil society groups......Page 196
Polarizing tendencies and the role of the state......Page 197
Education sector......Page 198
Deepening Islamicization......Page 199
External environment and geopolitical identity......Page 200
Bangladesh\'s uncertain geopolitical identity......Page 201
Rise and Fall of India\'s Political Windfall......Page 203
Decline of political secularism......Page 204
India\'s geopolitical identity and spillovers in the northeast......Page 206
Assam and Indo-Bangladesh relations......Page 207
Extremism and cross-border issues......Page 210
Changing discourse?......Page 212
The rise of militant Islamist groups......Page 213
Effects of the BNP-Awami League competition......Page 217
The pull of post 9/11 geopolitics......Page 219
Conclusion......Page 221
Internal-external links......Page 223
Evidence from the region......Page 224
Indian exceptionalism......Page 227
Looking ahead......Page 229
Bibliography......Page 233
Index......Page 245