Islamic Landscape: South and South East Asia

By Animesh Roul

My paper titled "South Asia: Hotbed of Islamic Terrorism", published in the latest issue of the NBR Analysis (The National Bureau of Asian Research, Vol. 19 (4), August 2008, explores the rising menace of Islamic extremism in South Asia while discussing key terrorist groups, networks, and emerging terrorism trends throughout the region.

South Asia has been confronting the challenge of Islamic extremism for many years. At least four South Asian countries—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and, most recently, the Maldives (each with large Muslim populations)—are considered hotbeds of Islamic terrorism. In both Pakistan and Bangladesh, radical Islamic forces aim to establish Islamic states based on Islamic laws. This region has the highest concentration of Islamic jihadist groups in the world: a rough estimate is that nearly one hundred Islamic extremist groups and jihadi organizations with cross-border linkages are operating with impunity throughout South Asia. India tops the list with more than 50 active or dormant terrorist tanzeems (organizations). Several anti-India and anti-Hindu Islamic groups fighting in Kashmir are based in Pakistan or Bangladesh. Many of these groups have ties with international jihadi organizations based in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan, including al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

This essay explores how South Asian countries, in particular India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, are grappling with Islamic extremism, especially since the catastrophic events of September 11. This essay identifies major terrorist groups and discusses intricate terror networks, their operational developments, and emerging terrorist trends in three country-specific sections. Despite concerted efforts by government forces, including the U.S.-led campaign in South Asia, Islamic terrorism is on the rise, with a new generation of terrorist leaders taking the reins of jihad in their hands throughout the region. The essay also finds that South Asian terrorist groups increasingly prefer to work collectively, even when there is little ideological convergence among their objectives.

The issue titled Aspects of Islamism in South and Southeast Asia has three papers:

Introduction: Islamism and U.S. Policy in South and Southeast Asia by Robert W. Hefner
South Asia: Hotbed of Islamic Terrorism by Animesh Roul
The Fluid Terrain of Islamism in Southeast Asia by Joseph Chinyong Liow

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