scholarly journals The Non-traditional Security Threat of COVID-19 in South Asia: An Analysis of the Indian and Chinese Leverage in Health Diplomacy

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-132
Author(s):  
Swagata Saha ◽  
Sukalpa Chakrabarti

South Asia has emerged as a major challenge in dealing with COVID-19 virus in terms of its demographics, economy, social values, political ambition and geographical location. The pandemic viewed through the prism of non-traditional security (NTS) threat presents new challenges and demands reworking of conventional governance mechanisms. India is the South Asian hegemon, and China is the single largest immediate neighbour with expansionist ambition in the region. Two most populous countries—one has been the epicentre of the virus, while the other is one of the most widely affected. Their public health and governance trajectory during the pandemic and their health diplomacy in the region have overtures for security architecture of South Asia in post-COVID-19 world. A lone statist approach and legal–institutional officialdom fail to appreciate the instrumentalities of an unconventional security threat like COVID-19. This calls for a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to deal with NTS threat, in general, and epidemiological disease, in particular. This by no means indicating a retreat of the state rather a proactive role in articulating interests of more inclusive categories and, in doing so, the state consolidates its role of governance and becomes a significant point of integration.

Author(s):  
Stéphane A. Dudoignon

Since 2002, Sunni jihadi groups have been active in Iranian Baluchistan without managing to plunge the region into chaos. This book suggests that a reason for this, besides Tehran’s military responses, has been the quality of Khomeini and Khamenei’s relationship with a network of South-Asia-educated Sunni ulama (mawlawis) originating from the Sarbaz oasis area, in the south of Baluchistan. Educated in the religiously reformist, socially conservative South Asian Deoband School, which puts the madrasa at the centre of social life, the Sarbazi ulama had taken advantage, in Iranian territory, of the eclipse of Baluch tribal might under the Pahlavi monarchy (1925-79). They emerged then as a bulwark against Soviet influence and progressive ideologies, before rallying to Khomeini in 1979. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, they have been playing the role of a rampart against Salafi propaganda and Saudi intrigues. The book shows that, through their alliance with an Iranian Kurdish-born Muslim-Brother movement and through the promotion of a distinct ‘Sunni vote’, they have since the early 2000s contributed towards – and benefitted from – the defence by the Reformist presidents Khatami (1997-2005) and Ruhani (since 2013) of local democracy and of the minorities’ rights. They endeavoured to help, at the same time, preventing the propagation of jihadism and Sunni radicalisation to Iran – at least until the ISIS/Daesh-claimed attacks of June 2017, in Tehran, shed light on the limits of the Islamic Republic’s strategy of reliance on Deobandi ulama and Muslim-Brother preachers in the country’s Sunni-peopled peripheries.


Author(s):  
S.A. Kirillina ◽  
A.L. Safronova ◽  
V.V. Orlov

Аннотация В статье изучены общие и специфические черты идейных воззрений, пропагандистской риторики и политических действий представителей халифатистского движения на Ближнем Востоке и в Южной Азии. В ретроспективном ключе прослеживается эволюция представлений о сущности и необходимости возрождения института халифата в трудах исламских идеологов, реформаторов и политиков Джамал ад-Дина ал-Афгани, Абд ар-Рахмана ал-Кавакиби, Мухаммада Рашида Риды, Абул Калама Азада. Внимание авторов сосредоточено на общественно-политических дискуссиях 2030-х годов XX столетия, а также на повестке дня халифатистских конгрессов и конференций этого периода. На них вырабатывались первые представления современников о пост-османском формате мусульманского единства и идейно-политической роли будущего халифата. Авторы демонстрируют различие между моделями реакции мусульман Ближнего Востока и Южной Азии на упразднение османского халифата республиканским руководством Турции. Установлена многоаспектная взаимосвязь между халифатистскими ценностями, проосманскими настроениями и формами самоотождествления, которые сложились в арабских и южноазиатских обществах. Отдельно намечено соотношение между подъемом халифатистских настроений и радикализацией антиколониальных действий мусульман Индостана.Abstract The article deals with analysis of common and specific features of ideas, propaganda, rhetoric and political actions taken by representatives of the movement for defense of the Caliphate in the Middle East and South Asia. The retrospection showing the transformation of conception of the Caliphate and the necessity of its revival in the works of eminent ideologists and politicians of the Muslim world Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Muhammad Rashid Rida and Abul Kalam Azad, is also given in the article. The authors also focus on the social and political discussions of the 1920s 1930s, as well as on the agenda of Caliphatist congresses and conferences of this period. They helped to elaborate the early representations of post-Ottoman pattern of the Muslim unity and the ideological and political role of the future Caliphate. The authors demonstrate the difference between the forms of reaction of Muslims in the Middle East and South Asia to the repudiation of the Caliphate by the Republican leaders of Turkey. The article establishes a multi-aspect interaction between the Caliphatist values and forms of self-identification, emerged in Arab and South Asian societies. The correlation between the rise of Caliphatist attitudes and radicalization of anti-colonial actions of South Asian Muslims is also outlined.


2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-498
Author(s):  
Sravanthi Kollu

Abstract The multilingual turn in literary studies emphasizes the fairly recent emergence of a monolingual attachment to language. While this rightly calls into question the academic focus on monolingual competencies and offers a substantial area of inquiry for scholars working with the linguistically diverse regions of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, this essay posits that the persistence of multilinguality among historical actors from these regions does not merit a shift away from monolingualism in contemporary scholarship. This argument derives from the claims analyzed in this essay, made by South Asian writers in colonial India, about the singularity of one's own language (swabhasha) and the writers' anxieties to protect this language from vulgar speech (gramyam). Building on contemporary work on the vernacular, the essay seeks to draw renewed attention to the role of speech in language debates in Telugu, a language whose particularity has not become a metonym either for the nation (like Hindi) or for a pan–South Indian identity (like Tamil). In tracing the movement from vulgar speech to proper language in this archive, this essay reframes vernacularity as an ethical compulsion premised on the common.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javaid Rehman

AbstractSince 11 September 2001, international law and the community it governs are at a crossroads. While the world appears to be besieged by terrorist threats from non-state actors such as the Al-Qaeda, there is also a substantial risk of super-power unilateralism and arrogance. Amidst these crises, South-Asia occupies a sensitive and vulnerable position. The region is also beset with ethnic, religious, and domestic political conflicts which provide substantial threats to regional peace and security. Against the backdrop of the enormous complications faced by South Asia, the present article considers the role of international and regional institutions in developing forums for establishing peace and security for the region, as well greater promotion of human rights. A particular focus is upon the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which, it is contended, is an organisation capable of providing a suitable platform for peaceful dialogue within South-Asia.


1983 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.N. Mahanty

China's attitude to the Bangladesh Question has evoked a great deal of interest among China watchers. Its professed aim to end exploitation all over the world while extending assistance to West Pakistani exploiters expectedly provoked both academics and activists. Here an attempt is made to examine China's strategic thinking on a vital region, that is South Asia, and the real-politik that pushes into irrelevance the revolutionary pledges. China's failure to forestall the birth of Bangladesh forced it initially to fabricate a fake rationale and finally to reverse, through quick recognition, a hostile population into a friendly nation. History ends where politics begins; history, however, explains the present South Asian political scenario—the emerging triangle of China-Pakistan-Bangladesh, favourably disposed to the United States, while fetching sustenance from an anti-Indian prejudice.


2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
Sourav Banerjee ◽  
Ashish Kumar Singh ◽  
Sudha Reddy Puppalla

There are many factors which contribute to the development of an economy. Some of them are geographical location, availability of natural resources, and availability of skilled workforce. Economic growth and social development are also affected by the legal procedures and mechanisms through which norms are enforced and interpreted by the court system and alternative dispute resolution mechanism. This paper intends to bring into light the legal aspects of the South Asian Tigers, which have aided the development of these countries. The four countries that have been studied are Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore. The reason for choosing these countries is that they have witnessed immense development in the near past and hence make an interesting subject for study. The amount of development these countries have witnessed can be made out from their human developmental figures over the past few decades. The emphasis is placed on the industrial relations aspect and hence the labour laws of these countries have been referred to. The legal provisions relating to industrial relations from these four countries have been analyzed and commonalities, which contributed to development, have been identified.


1989 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-349
Author(s):  
Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo

The volume under review is essentially a collection of papers presentedat a two-day workshop on the changing division of labor in South Asia heldat the University of Wisconsin in 1984 at which the two major themes werethe emerging role of women; and the “increasingly violent role of religion.”IThe latter theme became the subject of this book.Concerning this subject, the editor, Dr. Bjorkman, writes:“If, then, you have been perplexed about the chronic religiousviolence in contemporary South Asian states, you need search nofurther for relief. The following chapters examine, explore, andexplain aspects of religious fundamentalism, self-righteousrevivalists, and murderous mayhem among the four major faithsof South Asia."Then, evincing his concern for the human situation in the area, and hisown obviously painful experiences there, Dr. Bjorkman continues:“. . . one may justifiably conclude that a no-win situationcharacterizes the South Asian mosaic. Contemporary reality isdepressing, if not gruesome; the daily documentation of death anddestruction, cruelty and carnage, is sufficient evidence thereof?Candidly assessing the objective of his work, Dr. Bjorkman states:“The aim of this book is to uncover some of the socio-politicaltruths disguised by the frequent invocation of “fundamentalist” and“revivalist” claims in contemporary South Asian religions.”And in order to prepare the reader for what lies ahead, the learned editoradds:“One can come away from this volume wringing one’s hands indespair at the utter hopelessness of human foibles. Or one cancatch glimpses of truth and possible points of leverage by whichthe certain slide into anarchy might be arrested and even reversed.Sigmund Freud once wrote: ‘The truths contained in religious doctrinesare after all so distorted and systematically disguised thatthe mass of mankind cannot recognize them as truth (Freud1928 :78) .“Thus, before moving on to even the editor’s introductory chapter, theinterested reader, in the sense of his or her faith or allegiance to one or theother of the four major religions of South Asia, will begin to feel queasyat the prospect of what lies ahead. Many such, I suspect, will put the volumedown and start wringing their own hands at the utter hopelessness of humanfoibles in the guise of Western academic treatments of Eastern affairs of thespirit. But no, gentle reader, dismay not; the volume is not your averagewitch hunt. On the contrary, as food for thought it is immediately engaging,and as an opportunity for self-exam ...


sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-166
Author(s):  
Mr. Saqib Ullah Khan ◽  
Ms. Sabira Iqbal ◽  
Mr. Atta Ullah Jan

Regionalism is a process of regional cooperation amongst the countries sharing a common border, common values, homogeneity of culture, and common vested interests. While the western world adopted this paradigm early after World War II in the form of the EU, South Asian Region is still deprived of such models. The establishment of SAARC in 1985 by the efforts of the late Bangladeshi President Zia-ur-Rahman although raised certain hopes of regional connectivity in South Asia still the fate of this region lingers in the sky. While using secondary sources of data collection, this paper tries to attempt the underlying challenges and the palpable prospects responsible for the better integration of this region. It further analyses the failed regional cooperation and the role of India under the assumption of the Neo-Realist Paradigm of Kenneth Waltz that emerged in late 1970.


Author(s):  
Arindam Laha

Good governance could play a catalytic role in creating an enabling working environment where the dream of sustainable human development can be fulfilled, whereas poor governance could erode individual capabilities to meet even the basic needs of sustenance for vulnerable sections of the population. Under this backdrop, this study attempts to explore empirically the association between the governance and human development in the context of South Asian countries. Broadly, a converging trend of both the indices of governance and human development across South Asian countries is noticeable with the passage of time. Moreover, substantial empirical evidences suggest that the state of governance and that of level of human development are positively correlated in the sense that countries having a better functioning of governance system are also the countries with relatively high levels of human development.


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