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Wednesday, January 24, 2007
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Rise of Extremism: The leading factors in South Asia
Sadia Nasir , Pakistan
The governments of South Asian states have not been able to provide their people with the basic, minimum human security since these states became independent. Governments and ruling classes, instead of focusing on dealing with the issues of human survival and development, embarked upon perpetuating their power and influence. Subsequently, no South Asian country has been able to free itself from discriminatory and exploitative policies, which increased insecurity and led to the rising number of communal and terrorist outfits. Despite the problems these outfits have created, no serious government efforts were made to curtail the rise in extremist trends.
In the post-independence decades no South Asian state has been able to resolve the dilemma in the relationship between religion and politics. Rather the crisis is getting severe because of the inability of states to establish stable governance, and create sustainable economic conditions, giving the extremist elements chance of taking advantage of the situation. The break up of colonial empire has also left these multi-ethnic states with the legacy unnatural boundaries resulting in intensified ethnic disturbances. This ethnic diversity that characterizes South Asian states, also at times translated into conflict as the result of manipulation by different groups for their own interest.
There exists a clear linkage between the lack of security and the phenomenon of terrorism in South Asian states. All of the regional states are facing the menace of terrorism in one or another form. The state actors in South Asia have been unable to deal with pending issues in a just, fair and professional manner, which has translated into frustration and anger among certain section of societies, leading to various acts of terrorism. In addition to these, exploitation and persecution of minorities and other weaker sections of society by the majority and the state forces for political gains, also creates conditions for growth of terrorism.
Indian social scientist, Rajni Kothari identifies three factors, which consolidated the process of tyranny in Indian state, in 1970s. These are: the equation of electoral process with democratic politics, the decline of state from an adjudicator of national interests to a criminal persona, and the perception that development is a techno-bureaucratic enterprise. Basic to all these aspects is the marked decline in the importance and authenticity of institutions. This also reflects the inability of politics to translate the diversity of interests. Although, he looks at this issue in the context of the pluralism of Indian society, it has relevance to other South Asian countries, where diversity exists in a different way. This phenomena has led to rise of communalism in India , while, its manifestation in Pakistan has been sectarian and ethnic in nature. In Sri Lanka , language as an issue has reflected into ethnic-based differences in Sinhala-Tamil confrontation beside economic inequality. Bangla nationalism has given rise to political factionalism and now the threat of religious extremism is also gaining momentum. In all these countries, these issues have created a serious situation because of rising violent movements and terrorist incidents.
The violent campaigns in the South Asian countries today, led by a variety of parties and organizations appear to enjoy ideological sanctions. This has facilitated the political parties and the ruling elite to take advantage of the situation, for their vested political interests. Along with religion, politics and ethnicity another element that has played an important role in the mix of religion and politics in South Asia is ethnicity. Although the ethnic and religious nationalist movements have been powerful throughout South Asia ’s history but the governments of these states too have failed to envisage policies to curtail the momentum of these movements.
Another dimension of the internal security problems of the regional states is that of illegal immigration, the proliferation of small arms alongside the menace of drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. Each of these issues has significant trans-national dimensions. This feature not only complicates the situation for the respective countries but also negatively affects the inter-state relations.
There are similarities in the domestic and external dimensions of terrorism, threatening the South Asian states. Internally suppression of political rights, poverty, economic backwardness, use of religion and ethnicity in politics and poor governance on the part of the state regarding the issues of human security has led to an increase in violence. The external dimension has been foreign patronage to local organizations training and supporting the terrorist groups, and also their indirect support to terrorist groups by using non-governmental groups and media. Many of the South Asian countries blame each other for supporting the terrorist groups within their territories. Unresolved domestic issues create a fertile ground for terrorism to take root, while the external interference and support has further strengthened the terrorist networks. This phenomenon is true for all the states in South Asia and is explained in details in the subsequent sections.
Three main factors can be identified as being responsible for the growth of extremism in the region. The worsening economic conditions, with a very high population, which is around 1366 million, growing at the rate of 1.7 per cent, is creating frustration and insecurity among the masses. Poor governance and foreign interference have added to the instability and insecurity of the region. This is happening through out South Asia , although the time periods, dynamics and importance of these factors may vary, but these basic factors are present in all of the countries. These aspects are discussed in details below:
Deteriorating Economic Conditions
During 1990s, South Asia has witnessed a marked rise in poverty because of deteriorating economic conditions. The region is home to the poorest with 43 per cent of the worlds’ poor surviving with less than a dollar a day and the rapid urbanization is giving an explosive dimension to the widespread poverty and human deprivation. With rapidly growing population, the governments have failed to develop the social sectors and in providing basic human security to their populations. Although the estimates of the incidence of poverty vary widely in the region, however, the basic fact remains that all the South Asian countries are deeply entrenched in increasing poverty. According to UNDP’s report for year 2000, there has been an increase in number of poor during the 1990s, with the exception of Sri Lanka .
Although there has been an overall annual average GDP growth rate of 5.7 per cent, in the region during 1990-96, but this was not very different from the one experienced during 1980-90. Except in Pakistan , where GDP growth has been lower in 1990s compared to 1980s, other South Asian countries experienced gains in their GDP growth rates during 1990s. However, the rate of GDP growth since 1997 has shown deceleration in overall growth in the region. Hence even after more then a decade not much substantial economic development took place in the region, while the economic disparity widened.
Poor economic growth in the region, led to the problems of mass unemployment, hunger and malnutrition, health problems and income inequality all of which are growing and alongside the increase in population growth. The key human development indicators show a dismal picture of the region. South Asia ’s share in world’s adult population in year 2001 was 22 per cent, while its share in world’s adult illiteracy by year 2000 was 50 per cent. The region is among the most illiterate regions with over 614 million illiterate adults, and also most malnourished with around 50 per cent of the region’s children under the age of 5 years are malnourished. During the period of 1990-2001, 32.2 per cent of the total population of the region lives under poverty line with less than $1 a day.
The multi-dimensional profile of poverty and human development index had a far-reaching impact on the society and its behaviour. South Asia has become a breeding ground of crime and violence and with increasing insecurity and vulnerability; the competing interests have pitted caste and communal groups against each other. The economic inequalities and deprivation has created frustration and insecurity among the masses, leading to an increasing criminalisation of society in which there are available targets for exploitation by the extremist elements in and outside governments.
Text courtesy: Pakistan Embassy in Nepal-ed.
