Political Violence in South and Southeast Asia
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The Univer- sity operates through a worldwide network of research and training centres and programmes, and its planning and coordinating centre in Tokyo. Political violence in South and Southeast Asia Political violence in South and Southeast Asia: Critical perspectives Edited by Itty Abraham, Edward Newman and Meredith L. Weiss © United Nations University, 2010 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not neces- sarily reflect the views of the United Nations University. United Nations University Press United Nations University, 53-70, Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan Tel: +81-3-5467-1212 Fax: +81-3-3406-7345 E-mail: [email protected] general enquiries: [email protected] http://www.unu.edu United Nations University Office at the United Nations, New York 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-2062, New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: +1-212-963-6387 Fax: +1-212-371-9454 E-mail: [email protected] United Nations University Press is the publishing division of the United Nations University. Cover design by Andrew Corbett Printed in Singapore ISBN 978-92-808-1190-2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Political violence in South and Southeast Asia : critical perspectives / edited by Itty Abraham, Edward Newman, and Meredith L. Weiss. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-9280811902 (pbk.) 1. Political violence––South Asia. 2. Political violence––Southeast Asia. 3. South Asia––Social conditions. 4. South Asia––Politics and government. 5. Southeast Asia––Social conditions. 6. Southeast Asia––Politics and government––1945– I. Abraham, Itty, 1960– II. Newman, Edward, 1970– III. Weiss, Meredith L. (Meredith Leigh), 1972– HN670.3.Z9V568 2010 303.60954––dc22 2010015811 Contents Contributors . vii Acknowledgements . ix Abbreviations . x 1 Introduction – The politics of violence: Modalities, frames and functions . 1 Meredith L. Weiss, Edward Newman and Itty Abraham 2 Comparative assassinations: The changing moral economy of political killing in South Asia . 27 Sankaran Krishna 3 Forms of collective and state violence in South Asia . 47 Paul R. Brass 4 Mass violence in Southeast Asia . 69 Geoffrey Robinson 5 On the borderlines: Politics, religion and violence in Bangladesh . 91 Naureen Chowdhury Fink vi CONTENTS 6 External influences on political violence in Southeast Asia . 112 Natasha Hamilton-Hart 7 Recruitment and attack in Southeast Asian collective violence 141 Vince Boudreau 8 Subversion, secession and the state in South Asia: Varieties of violence . 168 Varun Sahni and Shamuel Tharu Index . 205 Contributors Itty Abraham is an associate professor Political Science, University of and director of the South Asia Hawaii at Manoa. Institute, University of Texas at Austin, USA. Edward Newman is a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Vincent Boudreau is an associate Science and International Studies, professor and chair of political University of Birmingham, UK. science, City College of New York. Geoffrey Robinson is professor and Paul R. Brass is professor (emeritus) vice-chair of graduate affairs in the of political science and international Department of History at UCLA, studies at the University of USA. Washington, Seattle, USA. Varun Sahni is vice-chancellor of the University of Jammu, Jammu and Naureen Chowdhury Fink is a Kashmir, India. programme officer in the International Peace Institute, New Shamuel Tharu is visiting professor, York. Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Natasha Hamilton-Hart is an associate Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. professor in the Southeast Asian Studies Programme, National Meredith L. Weiss is an assistant University of Singapore. professor in the Department of Political Science, University at Sankaran Krishna is chairman and Albany, State University of New associate professor, Department of York. vii Acknowledgements This volume presents the results of a research project organized and funded jointly by the International Peace Institute and the University Nations University. The editors would like to express their thanks to these organizations for their support. ix Abbreviations AFP Armed Forces of the Philippines AHAB Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh AIADMK All-India Anna DMK AL Awami League (Bangladesh) ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BJP Bharatiya Janata Party BNP Bangladesh Nationalist Party BRN Barisan Revolusi Nasional – National Revolutionary Force (Thai- land) CBI Central Bureau of Intelligence (India) CHT Chittagong Hill Tracts CIA Central Intelligence Agency (USA) COIN counterinsurgency CPK Communist Party of Kampuchea CPM Communist Party of Malaya CPP Communist Party of the Philippines DMK Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (India) FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation (USA) GAM Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Indonesia) GNLF Gorkha National Liberation Front (India) HuJI Harkatul Jihad Al Islami ICG International Crisis Group ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDP internally displaced person IPKF Indian Peace Keeping Force IRS institutionalized riot system x Abbreviations xi ISI Inter Services Intelligence (Pakistan) ISRD institutionalized system of riot documentation JI Jamaat-e-Islami JMB Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh JMJB Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh JVP Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (Sri Lanka) LeT Lashkar-e-Toiba LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam MAR Minorities at Risk project MILF Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Philippines) MNF Mizo National Front (India) MNLF Moro National Liberation Front (Philippines) MUI Majelis Ulama Indonesia – Indonesian Islamic Authority NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO non-governmental organization NNC Naga National Council (India) NPA New People’s Army (Philippines) NTUF(R) Nepal Trade Union Federation (Revolutionary) OPM Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Indonesia) PKI Indonesian Communist Party PULO Pattani United Liberation Organization (Thailand) RAB rapid action battalion RAW Research and Analysis Wing (India) RNA Royal Nepalese Army RPG rocket-propelled grenade SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SIT special investigative team TNV Tripura National Volunteers (India) UNP United National Party (Sri Lanka) URPC United Revolutionary People’s Council (Nepal) WTM World Tamil Movement 1 1 Introduction – The politics of violence: Modalities, frames and functions Meredith L. Weiss, Edward Newman and Itty Abraham In these days when terrorists, insurgents and militants have replaced free- dom fighters, jacqueries and anarchists among the first order of public en- emies, when wars on all kinds of terror have become ubiquitous elements of everyday political life, it is worth taking a step back to consider and evaluate the nature, roots, meanings and consequences of political vio- lence. As the chapters that follow show, we do not seek in this volume to “explain” political violence, but to understand it better: when, where and why it is found, and the interaction between violent and non-violent pol- itics. A consciously interdisciplinary framework enables this wide-ranging sweep, even if empirically our coverage cannot possibly be fully compre- hensive. Understanding or evaluating political violence requires diverse methods and lenses, from close ethnographic readings to more macro- level historical and social scientific analyses. A deep debate among an- thropologists, political scientists and historians has been fundamental to this project: over the course of two workshops and many discussions, dif- ferent approaches have informed our reading of the nature, practice and victims of violence, the role of “scientific” approaches to understanding conflict and the institutional and cultural legacy of past experience of pol- itical violence. Most importantly, we analyse state and non-state actors together, and include external and subnational actors within the same frame. Political violence is hardly a new phenomenon, however novel the pub- lic and media attention to certain of its forms makes it appear. Nor has it ever been one-sided or singular in scope: political violence has multiple Political violence in South and Southeast Asia: Critical perspectives, Abraham, Newman and Weiss (eds), United Nations University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-92-808-1190-2 2 Meredith L. Weiss, Edward Newman and Itty Abraham forms, perpetrators, victims and purposes. It transpires alongside and in- terlaces with non-violent politics and multiple struggles for peace and justice; it is habitually a part of modern political life but never the whole story. The category of political violence, as understood in this volume, in- cludes state and non-state behaviours;