Armed Militias of South Asia
Armed Militias of South Asia

Author: Christophe Jaffrelot

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780199326914

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There seems to be no end to the growing number of victims of civil war, terrorism, guerrilla warfare and military repression on the Indian subcontinent, despite the absence of interstate wars over the past ten years. These conflicts often involve armed paramilitary militias or insurgents of one sort or other, and it is their ideology, sociology and strategies that the contributors to this book investigate. Whether based on ideological motives--such as the Maoists and Naxalites in Nepal and India--or invested with a fundamentalist religious mission--the Hindu nationalist Bajrang Dal in India, the Sunni SSP in Pakistan, or Islamist militias in Bangladesh--all these movements use violence to exercise social control, challenge the authority of the state and impose their own particular worldview. Although they seek also to undermine the state, depriving it of the monopoly on legitimate violence that it supposedly holds, governments are equally adept at exploiting them to make them serve their own ends. For the authorities, these movements can be useful tools for their pursuit of both moral and social order. However delegating power to such groups for short term political gains can be an extremely risky enterprise, as demonstrated by Indira Gadhi's patronage of the Sikh militant group that later assassinated her. Armed Militas of South Asia is the first comprehensive book of its sort and will be required reading for all those interested in the politics of the subcontinent and Myanmar.

Warfare and Weaponry in South Asia, 1000-1800
Warfare and Weaponry in South Asia, 1000-1800

Author: Jos J. L. Gommans

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780195648713

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This volume brings together some of the pioneering work in military history of Southern Asia. Though non-violence was a cherished ideal, South Asian society was equally committed to the practice of war, undergoing extensive military developments in organization, tactics and technology, often in close interaction with the outside world.

Political Violence in South Asia
Political Violence in South Asia

Author: Ali Riaz

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-09-24

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 135111820X

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Political violence has remained an integral part of South Asian society for decades. The region has witnessed and continued to encounter violence for achieving political objectives from above and from below. Violence is perpetrated by the state, by non-state actors, and used by the citizens as a form of resistance. Ethnic insurgency, religion-inspired extremism, and ideology-driven hostility are examples of violent acts that have emerged as challenges to the states which have responded with violence in the form of civil war and through violations of human rights disregarding international norms. This book explores various dimensions of political violence in South Asia, namely in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Each chapter either speaks to an important aspect of the political violence or provides an overall picture of the nature and scope of political violence in the respective country. Political violence is understood in the larger sense of political, that is, above and beyond institutions, and also as an integral part of social relationships where social norms and the role of individual agency play seminal roles. The contributions in this book incorporate both institutional and non-institutional dimensions of political violence. Exploring how everyday life in South Asian states and societies is transformed by the engagement with violence through direct and indirect methods, this book adopts an interdisciplinary framework; diverse methods are employed – from ethnographic readings to more macro level analyses. The phenomenon is explored from historical, sociological, and political perspectives. This book will be useful as a supplementary text in courses on South Asian Studies in general and South Asian Politics in particular.

Pathways for Irregular Forces in Southeast Asia
Pathways for Irregular Forces in Southeast Asia

Author: Atsushi Yasutomi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-03-30

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 1000545989

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An exploration of the roles that pro- and anti-government militias, private armed groups, vigilantes, and gangs play in local communities in the new democracies of Southeast Asia. Scholars have typically characterized irregular forces as spoilers and infiltrators in post-conflict peacebuilding processes. The contributors to this book challenge this conventional understanding of irregular forces in Southeast Asia, demonstrating that they often attract solid support from civilians and can be major contributors to the building of local security — a process by which local residents, in the absence of an effective police force, develop, partner or are at least included in the management of community crimes and other violence. They analyze irregular forces’ dealings with political actors at the community level, explaining why and how forces are incorporated in and collaborate with legitimate institutions without using violence against them. Offering a new approach to dealing with irregular forces in Southeast Asia, contributors explore new theoretical frameworks that are better suited for evaluating irregular forces’ relationship to different security providers and the political environments in the region. Specifically, they examine case studies from Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, and Thailand. A valuable resource for researchers, students and practitioners in the areas of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and security governance, especially those with a focus on Southeast Asia. This book will also be of great interest to scholars of the sociology and anthropology of the region.

Ordering Violence
Ordering Violence

Author: Paul Staniland

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2021-12-15

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1501761129

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In Ordering Violence, Paul Staniland advances a broad approach to armed politics—bringing together governments, insurgents, militias, and armed political parties in a shared framework—to argue that governments' perception of the ideological threats posed by armed groups drive their responses and interactions. Staniland combines a unique new dataset of state-group armed orders in India, Pakistan, Burma/Myanmar, and Sri Lanka with detailed case studies from the region to explore when and how this model of threat perception provides insight into patterns of repression, collusion, and mutual neglect across nearly seven decades. Instead of straightforwardly responding to the material or organizational power of armed groups, Staniland finds, regimes assess how a group's politics align with their own ideological projects. Explaining, for example, why governments often use extreme repression against weak groups even while working with or tolerating more powerful armed actors, Ordering Violence provides a comprehensive overview of South Asia's complex armed politics, embedded within an analytical framework that can also speak broadly beyond the subcontinent.

India's Neighbourhood
India's Neighbourhood

Author: Vishal Chandra

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9788182747067

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Examines the role, relevance and status of armies in the dynamic socio-political milieu of the countries in India's South Asian neighbourhood. This book is part of an ongoing endeavour to further explore and understand the role of the Army in shaping the political destiny and defining the ideational evolution of states in South Asia.

South Asia Defence And Strategic Year Book - 2009
South Asia Defence And Strategic Year Book - 2009

Author: General Deepak Kapoor,

Publisher: Pentagon Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9788182743991

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The third edition of the South Asia Defence and Strategic Year Book offers an analysis of defence, economic and social issues that impact regional security in South Asia. The wide ranging perspectives give a deep insight into the factors and linkages that impact the emerging international relations of the region, with particular emphasis on India which is an economic, military and political powerhouse with an expanding footprint in the World. South Asia is a region that is rife with geopolitics. By virtue of its population and location, it is a reflection of the challenges of the interconnected, integrated and interdependent world. Its security environment is relatively unsettled and is a reason for both hope and despair. Its issues, which have international as well as regional relevance, have their own dynamics and trends that need a deeper understanding. The Year Book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the security environment in the region by focusing on an in-depth analysis of military capabilities and strategic imperatives obtaining in the region. Apart from outlining the general security environment, detailed military balance, trends in weapon systems and technology, defence industry, missile and nuclear capabilities and terrorism issues have been highlighted. Growing strategic linkages and independence of nation states make it imperative to consider the region as a whole to incorporate a holistic approach. The Year Book also contains studies on China and other Southeast Asian nations to that effect. Thus the underlying theme of this publication is to enable 'understanding through information'. While the threat of terrorism remains at the forefront of most analyses, the move towards popular and democratically elected governments in South Asia has not eclipsed the existing challenges to governance in all the countries of the region. Poverty and economic disparities, coupled with ethic and social divisions, have created political and social fault lines that have been exploited by non-state actors with their own agendas. Thus we hope to promote peace through understanding by delineating the issues of concern in the region.