The
domestic and regional political and geopolitical
environment of South
Asia and the world as a whole has become
highly volatile. With each passing day, new problems are
constantly emanating and disturbing peace within
societies and their surrounding regions, thus going
beyond their respective boundaries and regions. These
violent and aggressive challenges are forcing
governments to reshape their policies. The reason for
this instability is terrorism, which is quite a complex
phenomenon. Now, with more terrorist activities,
conventional warfare is going out of vogue and political
violence and terrorism have instead taken its place.
This plague of terrorism has had an adverse impact on
not only domestic political and social structures in
South Asia, but also
has heavy economic costs.
In direct terms, there are
high human casualties, destruction of infrastructure,
factories and standing crops, and stoppage of economic
activities, but the indirect costs are even higher. It
also has an impact on education, and the consequent
inability to attract foreign investment, brain drain,
enhanced military expenditure, high transaction costs,
which leads to economic distortions.
The cause of
persistent existence of terrorism is all due to the
substantial difference in the living standards and the
varied cultures, ethnicity or religion. Most of the
internal security crises that plague South Asian states
have a cross-border dimension, and many are
inter-related. However, what is important is to note
that each one of them has an India-centric dimension.
The Maoist insurgency in Nepal, the persistent
ethnic problem in Sri
Lanka, the increasing
use of Bangladeshi territory by Islamist extremists, the
proliferation of small arms, and the danger of drug
trafficking, each has significant transnational
dimensions. Bhutan,
Bangladesh and
Nepal
also continue to engage with the problem of having to
deal with terrorist and extremist organizations, as well
as revolutionary elements based on their soil, which are
all operated against India. The
region, therefore, remains politically volatile. There
are ethno-religious problems in India, in particular in
Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K), Maoist insurgency in Nepal, Tamil problem in
Sri
Lanka, series of bomb attacks in
Bangladesh,
each with a set of different security implications for
the region. All these have drawn attention in recent
times. The region’s proximity to Afghanistan
is also an important factor to be considered in this
regard. Taliban and al Qaeda cadres in
Afghanistan
move across their country’s frontier at will.
Some
groups have shelters across the frontiers. Insurgents in
India’s northeast
frequently escape through porous borders into
Burma
or Bangladesh.
Sri Lankan Tamil militants cross the narrow Palk Straits
separating their island from south India in
boats, despite Indian naval patrols. In J&K, hilly
and difficult terrain has been exploited for years for
trans-border movement of terrorists and militants. The
growth of trans-border terrorism in South Asia carries an inherent
danger of extremists inflicting casualties on people of
different nationality or ethnic
identity.
Unfortunately, besides the non-state
actors, state terrorism is another form of terrorism in
South Asia. Separatist
violence in Occupied Kashmir has increased in recent
months. New Delhi
consistently blames Pakistan-based militant groups for
lethal attacks on Indian civilians, as well as on
government security forces, in both Kashmir and in major Indian
cities. India holds
Pakistan
responsible for providing material support and training
facilities to Kashmiri militants.
South Asian
countries have used military forces to deal with
terrorism. This is shown by the use of force by all
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
nations troubled with terrorism at different times.
India uses
military force to contain terrorism. It used uneven
force in terms of heavy weapons or air power to deal
with different insurgencies. Mizoram and the Chittagong
Hill Tract accord are two recent examples of it. A
number of ceasefires in India and
other SAARC countries with the militant groups took
place, but it failed to bring sustainable peace to the
region.
Norway’s mediation in the
Sri
Lanka peace process is
another example. Norway was
invited as a mediator by President Chandrika
Kumaratunga. The intervention, however, failed to
produce any tangible result. In 2001,
Norway was
re-invited as a third party mediator by Prime Minister
Ranil Wickramasinghe. The peace dialogue continues, the
strands of which have been picked up by President
Chandrika Kumaratunga under the Tsunami relief plan.
Although many rounds of peace talks have been held with
representatives both from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government; the process
has failed to produce lasting results.
Quite
dismayingly, the governments in South Asia have taken very little
initiative to combat terrorism in their respective
countries, either individually or collectively. Use of
military force alone will not be sufficient, as this
issue needs to be addressed collectively. A common
strategy is suggested as the countries of South Asia share many commonalties
with respect to history, tradition, culture, religion
and other spheres of life and they can share their
experience within the framework of SAARC. In South Asia, over the years, the
media has played a negative role in fuelling various
kinds of political violence, communalism, jingoism and
terrorism through propaganda and publicity. Identifying
the root causes of negative perceptions about various
ethnic groups and religions through creating new ideas
and avenues may help the South Asian region to make a
concerted effort to fight terrorism and religious
extremism.
Moreover, it can be stated that states in
most of the South Asian countries have failed to ensure
the basic needs of their citizenry, which has resulted
in the creation of several dissatisfied groups in their
respective societies.
Whatever the causes, the
international system has come under great stresses,
strains and uncertainties. Political violence and its
adjunct, terrorism, is a complex global phenomenon with
tangled factors at play. In the aftermath of September
11, the focus of the international community has shifted
to this region due to an increasing influence of
numerous religious extremist and terrorist activities in
the region.
The 9/11 events should not sidetrack or
detour genuine and legitimate political movements around
the world. On this pretext, Pakistan is
fully cooperating with the international community to
tackle the deadly threats of terrorism and
violence.
As a leading country in a just war against
global terrorism, Pakistan believes that larger
cooperation in security and defense with other countries
and regions, with tolerance and enlightened moderation,
with the strengthening of democracies and human rights,
with the minimization of political differences and with
the maximization of economic benefits, we can overcome
this deadly inhuman threat of terrorism and
violence.
South Asia
has failed to emerge, even after half a century of
independence, from catastrophic intra-national divisions
and conflicts. The people of South
Asia need to engage urgently in this
exercise. SAARC can play a vital role in this regard
where it can work on firm bases and by doing this the
South Asian region can make its way towards
progress.