Religion, Extremism and Violence in South Asia

✍ Scribed by Imran Ahmed (editor), Zahid Shahab Ahmed (editor), Howard Brasted (editor), Shahram Akbarzadeh (editor)

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 249
• Series: Politics of South Asia
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book sheds light on religiously motivated extremism and violence in South Asia, a phenomenon which ostensibly poses critical and unique challenges to the peace, security and governance not only of the region, but also of the world at large. The book is distinctive in-so-far as it reexamines conventional wisdom held about religious extremism in South Asia and departs from the literature which centres its analyses on Islamic militancy based on the questions and assumptions of the West’s ‘war on terror’. This volume also offers a comprehensive analysis of new extremist movements and how their emergence and success places existing theoretical frameworks in the study of religious extremism into question. It further examines topical issues including the study of social media and its impact on the evolution and operation of violent extremism. The book also analyses grassroots and innovative non-state initiatives aimed to counter extremist ideologies. Through case studies focusing on Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, this collection examines extremist materials, methods of political mobilisation and recruitment processes and maps the interconnected nature of sociological change with the ideological transformations of extremist movements.

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction
II
III
IV
2 Colonial Transformations, Postcolonial Afterlives: Extremism, Exclusion and Distrust in India and Pakistan
Introduction
Orientalism and the Colonisation of Indian Religions
The Coloniality of the Postcolonial
Religious Extremism in Pakistan: Exclusion, Distrust and State Power
Religious Extremism in India: History, Communalism and Violence
Conclusion
3 Religion, Extremism and Buddhist–Muslim Relations in Sri Lanka
Introduction
The Context of Collective Identity and Religious Extremism in Sri Lanka
Buddhist–Muslim Relations in Sri Lanka: The Historical Context
Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism, Religious Extremism and Anti-Muslim Movements
Political Conditions: The Religion-Political Nexus
Conservative Religious Ideology and Moral Policing of BBS
Muslims: Labelled from Social Others to Extremist Groups
Muslim Political Consciousness, Conservative Islam and the Rise of Radicalism
Muslim Political Parties and the Missed Opportunity for Religious and Cultural Reforms
Diffusion of Conservative Islam, Rise of Radicalism and Self-Alienation of the Muslim Community
Economic Roots of Religious Violence, Social Isolation and Anti-Muslim Narratives
Conclusion
4 Social Media and Hindu Extremism in India
Introduction
Part One—Hindutva in Indian Political Discourse
Hindutva’s Cultural Nationalism
Hindutva and the Modi/BJP Election Campaign
The Politics of Cow Protection
Love Jihad
Ghar Wapsi
Part Two—Social Media and Hindu Extremism
Conclusion
5 Ram Was a Prophet Too: Syncretism as a Hindu Nationalist Political Strategy
The Limits of Syncretism
Syncretism in India
Manch Syncretism
Producing Syncretism
Why Produce Syncretism?
Conclusion
6 Islamic State’s Recruitment Strategies: The Case Study of Bangladesh
Introduction
Arrival of Daesh (Islamic State) in Bangladesh
Why Has Bangladesh Become a Fertile Ground for Daesh’s Recruitment?
IS’s Six-Pronged Bangladeshi Strategy
Recruitment
Conclusion
7 Religious Extremism and Terrorist Recruitment: The Case of Al Qaeda in Bangladesh
Introduction
Arrival of Al Qaeda in Bangladesh
Radicalisation Narratives
Al Qaeda’s Propaganda Narratives for Bangladesh
Conclusion
8 Mobilising to Counter Violent Extremism in Pakistan: Innovative Undertakings of Non-state Actors
Introduction
Innovative Ways Non-state Actors Are Seeking to Counter Violent Extremism
Paigham-e-Pakistan
Hafiz Nizamani’s Resistance Poetry
Final Thoughts
9 Between God, the Nation, and the State: Paradoxes of Islamisation in Pakistan
Introduction
From Islamic Law to Islamisation
Sovereignty of God or the Sovereignty of the People?
Conclusions: Colonial Continuities and Modern Paradoxes
10 Women and Violent Extremism in Pakistan: A Critical Assessment of Policies and Actions
Introduction
Context
Women’s Radicalisation to Violent Extremism
CVE Policies and Approaches in Pakistan
The Role of Civil Society
The Government’s Role
The National Action Plan (NAP)
The National Counter Extremism Policy (NCEP)
Conclusion
Index