Terrorism in South Asia; Challenges for the West
Junaid Qureshi
European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS)
From the expansion of various terrorist organizations and their worldwide recruitment policies, it has become evident that the threat of terrorism is not restricted to its region of origin anymore.
Covering an area of almost two million square miles and home to over a quarter of the world’s population, current regional and global developments between the West and South Asia necessitate greater security cooperation to address global security challenges. Religious radicalization has its growing influence in South Asia; Majority of the Muslim youth in the Kashmir Valley is increasingly inclining towards extremist ideas repudiating and challenging the status quo. The education system has been destabilized, with the mushrooming growth of Madrassas outpacing the modern institutions of education.
Some extremists in Europe have shown to derive inspiration from successes of other extremists elsewhere, such as from the Indian Subcontinent, and as such establish ‘sleeper cells’ which threaten the basic fundaments of democracy in Europe, posing serious security challenges. These ‘sleeper cells’ are known to have enjoyed psychological and military training in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The spread of extremist forces should compel the nations in South Asia to overcome mistrust and stop using overt and covert policies which subdivide terrorists into ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Using terrorism with debatable aims of advancing strategic interests, will eventually backlash as we are currently seeing in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Covering an area of almost two million square miles and home to over a quarter of the world’s population, current regional and global developments between the West and South Asia necessitate greater security cooperation to address global security challenges. Religious radicalization has its growing influence in South Asia; Majority of the Muslim youth in the Kashmir Valley is increasingly inclining towards extremist ideas repudiating and challenging the status quo. The education system has been destabilized, with the mushrooming growth of Madrassas outpacing the modern institutions of education.
Some extremists in Europe have shown to derive inspiration from successes of other extremists elsewhere, such as from the Indian Subcontinent, and as such establish ‘sleeper cells’ which threaten the basic fundaments of democracy in Europe, posing serious security challenges. These ‘sleeper cells’ are known to have enjoyed psychological and military training in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The spread of extremist forces should compel the nations in South Asia to overcome mistrust and stop using overt and covert policies which subdivide terrorists into ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Using terrorism with debatable aims of advancing strategic interests, will eventually backlash as we are currently seeing in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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