The dramatic rise of anti-state revolt led by the TTP in Pakistan in the late 2000s left tens of thousands dead and violently challenged the military establishment in ways unseen since the 1971 war that led to the formation of Bangladesh. Life expectancy in South Asia has risen dramatically over the past fifty years. Unlike in the other countries examined here, large-scale anti-state insurgency has not been a major feature of Bangladeshs politics in the last two decades; a 1997 peace deal with the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, a political party formed to represent the Indigenous peoples in the eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts, marked the end of a classical insurgency. endstream endobj 80 0 obj <>stream Yet, their governments seem to have not fully prioritized combating these challenges. It is home to one-quarter of the worlds population spread over just 7 percent of the worlds landmass. A map showing the number of movies released from India's states and territories, each of which has its own primary language. Non-state armed groups can bolster rather than undermine state power. ~DJ5$^iG(2A9Li!QsS}%4q)bL)|uH9oa^mMR'mrWPxxtIj%hR,KZeIv!ho;qJ`qkP2EjcS+q/&r2&1)+Eu _vw"@|-g:ne7*7 r;. South Asia is densely populated and immensely diverse. What are the main social problems in South Asia? At the same time, violence in Karachi, insurgency in Balochistan, and sectarian militia activities added further layers of violence to Pakistans political landscape. Despite having a long historical background, critics suggest that the social movements are increasingly contested with identity politics and agrarian issues. South Asians in Canada have reported some of the highest mental health issues this year. This report intends to capture the current state of play of the global water justice movement in order to strengthen struggles for public and community water systems. A 16 year old boy prepares to marry a young girl in Indore, India, on May 15, 2002, despite a government ban on under-age nuptials. Anti-India armed groups are alleged to still operate on Pakistani soil, the Afghan Taliban has consistently used sanctuary along the Afghan border, and localized armed actors have worked with the state in counterinsurgency zones. PhD Candidate - Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Windsor. Meanwhile, Bangladeshanother neighboraccommodates a population over half the size of the United States in an area the size of Iowa. Second, the increasingly volatile international politics of the region may provide new incentives for governments to support armed groups across borders, tapping into preexisting conflicts and grievances. 0000008464 00000 n WebSouth Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. Nowhere is this trend clearer than in language. The main reason is the general scarcity of two critical resources essential to the development and implementation of such policies: capital and technology. Empirical This follows growth of 7.8 percent in 2021, when most countries were rebounding from the pandemic slump. South Asia is an immensely diverse and densely populated region. It has been reported in American media that the group has certain stigmas in relation to the LGBT communities. South Asian countries have poor health care systems. Afghanistan has only 2.8 physicians per 10,000 people, Bhutan 3.8, Bangladesh 5.3, and Nepal 6.5, a 10th of the number in more advanced countries. Even India, which has one of the strongest health systems in the region, has only 7.8 physicians per 10,000 people ( Rasul, 2020 ). A set of deals with local warlords and TTP splinters created partners for the security forces; rather than monopolizing violence, the security apparatus has used other non-state armed groups as tools of power projection and local control. These changes are neither universal nor irreversible: important conflicts persist and continue to exact a severe human cost. In this context, the paper analyses the contestations of social movements in the South Asia from a view point of contentious politics in the region. Such large populations, especially when concentrated in small areas, present specific challenges: natural disasters have a potentially more devastating effect, and disease can spread quicker. In the face of these shocks, countries need to build stronger fiscal and monetary buffers, and reorient scarce resources towards strengthening resilience to protect their people.. The first is in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), where insurgency arose in the late 1980s following a rigged state assembly election and has continued ever since at varying levels of intensity. HUMo@Wq}] !@iz{@-mPH$ 0000002957 00000 n The Northeast is also the site of Indias most successful peace deals in internal conflicts. Plunged into its worst-ever economic crisis, Sri Lankas real GDP is expected to fall by 9.2 percent this year and a further 4.2 percent in 2023. With this knowledge, they can identify some of the early signs of mental health issues. (For context, Iowa has just over three million people.) Despite having a long historical background, critics suggest that the social movements are increasingly contested with identity politics and agrarian issues. 0000043115 00000 n Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Consequently, many young South Asians keep their relationships hidden due to internalized shame and a fear of being rejected by their families. HS1WRtqmf"g/Ugh+3T*{q`U?o>)Tn0XL&)ZOrST=_7:[rchll^b. endstream endobj 64 0 obj <> endobj 65 0 obj <> endobj 66 0 obj <>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]/ExtGState<>>> endobj 67 0 obj <> endobj 68 0 obj <> endobj 69 0 obj <> endobj 70 0 obj <> endobj 71 0 obj [/ICCBased 84 0 R] endobj 72 0 obj <> endobj 73 0 obj <>stream ~o hc}0`SctnEKjkf|;5SLg0]{7{rRr^"z1asq1vp[WDG5)2?,=Ma;M),n^\e}H V Paul Staniland is a nonresident scholar in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 0000003635 00000 n -- Volume 31, Number 1, March 2016, Editorial Board University of Windsor provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR. From 2002 to 2006, there was a ceasefire before brief, ill-fated negotiations that collapsed back into pitched warfare. Existing violence data is not adequate to make fine-grained claims: it is likely that official records undercount civilian deaths, and both media and government reports can be highly unreliable in their distinctions between civilians and militants. The TTP was badly damaged by escalating military crackdowns between 2009 and 2014, most dramatically in the 2014 Zarb-e-Azb offensive. Terrorist attacks hit Bangladesh, including assassinations and coordinated bombings linked to the Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami Bangladesh and other factions. All rights reserved. -- Volume 30, Number 3, November 2015, Editorial Board Education has a significant Surrounding the Ocean: PRC Influence in the Indian Ocean, Africa Matters to the World Banks Global Role and Heres How, How Indonesia Used Chinese Industrial Investments to Turn Nickel into the New Gold, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, not created a self-sustaining pro-state political order, enduring political power and serious limits on rights, partial democracies marked by factionalism, https://www.mha.gov.in/documents/annual-reports, https://www.mha.gov.in/division_of_mha/north-east-division, https://www.pakpips.com/publications#1512730923805-d52fde57-07fa. Immigrant Asians were slightly more likely than U.S.-born Asians to be homeowners in 2019 (60% vs. 56%). In another film, PK, an alien wanders around India confused by the countrys variousand seemingly incompatiblereligions. In the regions largest states, rather than reductions in violence opening space for revitalized democracy, there has been democratic decay or stagnation. 0000042912 00000 n The security establishment, which had a tumultuous relationship with the MQM for decades, launched a crackdown in 2013 that has badly degraded the party, opening space for electoral competitors and reducing electoral violence. In the Global South there is a huge research gap in linking the social movements and power dynamics within the societies. More recently, Nepals lawmakers elected the countrys first woman presidentand the countrys second presidentBidhya Devi Bhandari, in 2015. In 2018, there were less than 100 reported conflict-related fatalities, compared to approximately 1,100 in 2008. Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is in Kashmir where the Modi government has most dramatically shifted policy by revoking the autonomy of and bifurcating the state of Jammu and Kashmir, accompanied by a massive crackdown on movement, communication, and political activity. Check your email for details on your request. Nature-Society relations provide the foundation for social, economic, political, and environmental problems. Removing restrictions to labor mobility is vital to the regions resilience and its long-term development.. This article focuses on the core states of the Indian subcontinent. The U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 44.8 million in 2018. The poverty rate among immigrant Asian minors those under the age of 18 was slightly higher, at 16%. 0000002289 00000 n Two prominent causes of family conflict arise when South Asian adolescents and young adults wish to start dating or pursue a career that is discerned to be unacceptable by the parents. Top Left: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1960), Top Right: Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1988), Bottom Left: Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari (2016), Bottom Right: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1971), Source: (Clockwise starting from top left) Keystone/Getty Images, Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images, AFP/GettyImages, Eric Piper/Getty Images. 0000033263 00000 n SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of social and cultural issues in Southeast Asia. The decrease in violence in Kashmir since 2003 is also striking. Challenging South Asias Toxic Patriarchy Through Podcasts 167.172.145.158 -- Volume 34, Number 2, July 2019, Editorial Board 0000042665 00000 n India and the international community have put sustained pressure on Pakistan to reduce its support for militants and terrorists. -- Volume 25, Number 1, April 2010, Editorial Board With all this linguistic, ethnic, and political diversity, how has India stuck together as a single country for so long? Political violence is instead much more likely to emerge from clashes between political parties or, above all, from the state itself as the security apparatus is used to buttress Sheikh Hasinas rule. Growth in the region is dampening, says the World Bank in its twice-a-year update, underscoring the need for countries to build resilience. 0000001688 00000 n There have been sustained and credible allegations of human rights violations by Indian security forces and various insurgent groups, major disruptions to civilian life, and mainstream political systems in these areas requiring heavy force deployments to be sustainable. You are leaving the website for the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy and entering a website for another of Carnegie's global centers. WebMost Indians do not identify as South Asian, raising concerns for the viability of it as a classification. Governments have established greater control of previously contested territories, deployed new technologies of surveillance, and, in some cases, fused party rule with state coercive power. The figures show that in J&K and the Northeast, the late 1990s and early 2000s saw intense conflict. Nevertheless, a large security presence has been established in Tamil areas, justified by the specter of resurgent revolt, and state forces have not been held accountable for past human rights abuses. South Asia 0000033513 00000 n University of Windsor provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA. startxref Breakdown or factionalization within the regime could trigger intense instability. Pew Research Center The people of lower social standing suffer great job insecurity, experience gender inequality, and generally struggle against class discrimination. In a number of cases, a self-sustaining, pro-state political order remains distant, and the security apparatus is instead needed to deter or contain resistance. 0000004679 00000 n Deaths from Diarrheal Diseases. -- Volume 32, Number 3, November 2017, Editorial Board New forms of state and non-state coercion have become more politically prominent, especially localized mob and vigilante violence, which are often linked to, rather than aimed at, the state and ruling parties. The same is true of the internal security buildup, both in terms of funding and MHA force sizes, as well as the policies toward both the Northeast and Naxalite-influenced areas. These gender inequalities continue into adulthood. While the Pakistani military is currently riding high politically, its track record over time has included miscalculation and counterproductive policies (for instance, repressing unarmed political movements while tolerating Islamist armed groups that later grew out of control). Kazakhstan's new Latin-based alphabet was disseminated in a newspaper in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on October 27, 2017. Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan have three of the worlds four largest Muslim populations. South Asia is one of the poorest regions in the world: about one-third of the worlds poor live in this region with about 70 per cent living in rural areas and primarily South Asias migrant workers, many of whom are employed in the informal sector, were disproportionately affected when restrictions to movement were imposed during COVID-19. And Nepal has reduced its maternal mortality by more than 70 percent since 1990 through government and donor-supported investments in education, free child-delivery services, and improvements to road infrastructure, which allow mothers to more easily reach health clinics in the mountains and hills. Following seven decades of Soviet rule, these newly independent countries are reasserting their distinct national identities through events such as the World Nomad Games, where traditional sports like horseback archery, golden eagle hunting, and high-speed yurt-building are on full display. One way to do this is to ask mental health experts to host community workshops specifically for South Asian communities. South Asian Americans Empirical and theoretical research articles are published with a view to promoting and disseminating scholarship in and on the region. Second, interstate politics are shifting in South Asia, opening the possibility of new dynamics of cross-border spillover, proxy warfare, and state sponsorship of armed groups. -- Volume 37, Number 2, July 2022, Editorial Board State of Social Movements in South Asia: Critical But how long does this pride last? Happily, however, the Sino-Indian relations are on an MHA expenditures rose an average of 15 percent annually from 20112012 to 20202021, with expenditures for police specifically rising 12 percent annually on average. Beset with Sri Lankas economic crisis, Pakistans catastrophic floods, a global slowdown, and impacts of the war in Ukraine, South Asia faces an unprecedented combination of shocks on top of the lingering scars of the COVID-19 pandemic. In functional terms, India could be compared to the European Union. Social movements in southern Asia have been shaped by the social relations dominated by the elites of the south Asian societies who share some common features in terms of culture and ideology. While it has not disappeared and still has the potential for a major resurgence, there has been a dramatic fall from its high point of influence. -- Volume 27, Number 1, April 2012, Editorial Board Some may still follow through with their desires in secrecy, but live in a constant fear of being found out. WebThe problems of the South Asian region are different from those in the developed world. The countries of South Asia are incredibly diverse, so there are no simple takeaways from these trends. The three main river systems in South Asia are the Indus, the Ganges (or Ganga), and the Brahmaputra. (Clockwise starting from top left) Keystone/Getty Images, Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images, AFP/GettyImages, Eric Piper/Getty Images, How the World Works and Sometimes Doesnt, Return to In Sri Lanka, the period of victory over the LTTE and its aftermath saw autocratization under the rule of the Rajapaksa family, a trend that changed when a new government came to power in 2015. In the Northeast, the 1990s saw a resurgence of violence by Naga insurgent factions in Nagaland and neighboring states, the expansion of multiple insurgencies in the state of Assam, and ongoing or new violence in the states of Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura. This is another reason for mental health challenges like depression and anxiety, especially in women who may feel like they are putting the familys honour at risk by dating. This conflict, which experienced a resurgence in 2005, has not gone away and continues to be politically important. Sources: World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook and staff calculations. 0000006899 00000 n Rapid urbanization has also led to high levels of air pollutionthe region is home to eighteen of the worlds twenty most polluted cities. 0000003220 00000 n In nutshell, although having a century long background of various social movements, South Asia is undergoing a burgeoning phase of social movements transformation, which is outcome of the various factors including reluctantly changing state structure vis--vis social development, rights regime, marginalization, and conflict resolutions. But since the Soviet Unions collapse in 1991, Russian language instruction in schools has substantially decreased, Russian media is now hard to come by, and many of Central Asias younger generations are instead opting today to pursue the languages of rising powers like China. -- Volume 33, Number 1, March 2018, Editorial Board Across all South Asian countries, patriarchal values and social norms tend to privilege men and boys access to opportunities and control over resources. These inequalities are manifested across the life cycle from conception, to birth, to childhood, adolescence through to adult life. The return of tourism is helping to drive growth in Maldives, and to a lesser extent in Nepalboth of which have dynamic services sectors. Previously, when all five Central Asian countriesKazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistanbelonged to the former Soviet Union, Moscow ensured that Russian language and literature were taught in schools and that Russian dominated all forms of media, despite these former Soviet republics each having their own native language. Rather, it is exposing in a single word the reason why overcoming systemic violence based on gender is so difficult. Six Pressing Issues in Asia and How We're - The Asia Foundation The last two decades have seen both a dramatic decrease in insurgency-related violence and a noticeable growth in state coercive power. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. And in Nepal, a Maoist insurgency fought its way into a stalemate with Nepals security forces by 2005. Pakistans counterinsurgency successes have been accompanied by the militarys enduring political power and serious limits on rights. The World Banks development updates for Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were also released today. As in the mountainous peripheries where the state waged counterinsurgency against the TTP, due process and rule of law have been troubled in the Karachi operations. 0000002827 00000 n MHA data can also be found in its annual reports (https://www.mha.gov.in/documents/annual-reports) and, for the Northeast, on the North East Divisions website (https://www.mha.gov.in/division_of_mha/north-east-division). However, in South Asian families individuals can also feel pressure to sacrifice their personal desires for the expectations of their family. This is not a simple story of state capacity, however: coercive power has been deployed in selective ways, including cases in which a state ignores or cooperates with non-state armed groups, from militias to vigilantes. Unlike in the Northeast, there has been an uptick in conflict-related fatalities in the second half of the decade rather than a continued decrease. This means that many western-trained therapists may find it difficult to comprehend the deeply ingrained cultural nuances of South Asian communities. ISSUES IN SOUTH ASIA - JSTOR Indias coercive apparatus, meanwhile, is vast and growing, but ideological hubris and political exclusion risk backlash. This leads to heightened levels of psychological stress and interference with the identity formation process, especially when a person feels a stronger connection to the dominant western culture. Indias government battled ongoing insurgencies in Kashmir, the Naxalite belt in interior India, and the Northeast. India has also improved cooperation with the military in Myanmar, aiming to limit cross-border movements. The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 created an economic crisis for Central Asias newly independent countries. Religion in South Asia: Diverse But Source of Tension. Figure 1 below shows fatality data from the nongovernmental South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), and Figure 2 shows official Indian government data from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).2. Donate to the Transnational Institute and The fact that much of the Islamist militancy Pakistan has faced in recent years in part arose from the security establishments own past policies has not reduced the militarys heralding of its successes against the TTP. -- Volume 34, Number 1, March 2019, Editorial Board A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda. Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka became the worlds first female prime minister in 1960; her daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga, also became both prime minister and president. -- Volume 28, Number 3, November 2013, Editorial Board -- Volume 23, Number 1, April 2008, Editorial Board 0000011157 00000 n Poverty rates among U.S.-born and foreign-born Asians were 9% and 11%, respectively, that year. None of this implies that the military has monopolized violence. <<74F53B64ECF66F4D8721F1E5DB6020AC>]>> India, once the exceptional case of liberal democracy in the region, has seen its rating drop in recent years, echoing a decrease in Freedom Houses assessment. It is also important that South Asian youth and families have discussions about their mental health struggles and learn ways to improve them. WebContemporary South Asia (1992), 1(1), 143-146 Commentary Challenges and opportunities for South Asia M. B. NAQVI The destruction of both communism and the Soviet state in what was the USSR has profoundly changed the geopolitical environment of South Asia.