Terrorism in India

Recent Developments

Global Terrorism Index 2018

• The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) in collaboration with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) led by the University of Maryland has released its annual Global Terrorism Index (GTI). The report represents “a comprehensive study analysing the impact of terrorism for 163 countries and which covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population.”
• The Global Terrorism Index 2018 indicates a continuous decline in deaths from terrorism, whereby the total number of deaths decreased by 27% in 2017, with the largest falls occurring in Iraq and Syria. At the same time, the GTI also highlights the persistence of terrorism in many regions coupled with a few cases of worsening conditions. In particular, Somalia and Egypt show the largest increases in the number of deaths from terrorism in 2017, while Angola and Spain record the largest declines.
• Five countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria) recorded more than 1,000 deaths, while 19 countries recorded more than 100 deaths.
  • Somalia and Egypt recorded the largest increases in the number of deaths from terrorism in 2017 - one attack in Somalia killed 587 people and another in Egypt killed 311 people.
  • Deaths from terrorism increased by 93 per cent in Somalia from 2016 to 2017.
  • 67 countries recorded more than one death while 98 countries recorded at least one attack.
  • Angola and Spain had the largest deteriorations in score in the GTI as a result of a single attack in Angola and multiple attacks in Spain.
  • Myanmar and The Philippines recorded a record numbers of terrorism deaths in 2017 with 166 deaths and 50 deaths respectively.
  • Afghanistan recorded the highest number of terrorism deaths in 2017, replacing Iraq.
  • 10 countries most impacted by terrorism, ranked by number of deaths: s1) Afghanistan 2) Iraq 3) Nigeria 4) Somalia 5) Syria 6) Pakistan 7) Egypt 8) Congo 9) Central African Republic 10) India.

Economic Impact of Violence ‘Report’

The findings of the report prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) based on an analysis of 163 countries and territories - the economic impact of violence to the global economy was USD 14.76 trillion in 2017, in PPP terms. Violence cost the Indian economy a whopping USD 1.19 trillion (over Rs 80 lakh crore) 2017 in constant purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, which amounts to roughly USD 595.4 per person.

• Violence impacted USD 1,190.51 billion to the Indian economy in 2017, 9 per cent of the country’s grossdomestic product (GDP) or USD 595.4 (over Rs 40,000) per person.
• The economic impact of violence to the global economy was USD 14.76 trillion in 2017, in PPP terms. This is equivalent to 12.4 per cent of GDP, or USD 1,988 per person.

Prosperity Gap

• The report noted that there has been a widening prosperity gap between less and more peaceful countries. Since 1960, the most peaceful countries have, on average, seen their per capita GDP grow by an annual rate of 2.8 per cent.
• On the other hand, less peaceful countries have experienced economic stagnation. Their annual per capita GDP has, on average, grown by just 1 per cent over the last seven decades.

The Ranking

• Syria topped the list of most affected countries by economic cost of violence as a percentage of GDP at 68 per cent, followed by Afghanistan (63 per cent), Iraq (51 per cent) in the second and third position respectively.
• Others in the ten most affected countries by economiccost of violence include El Salvador, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Cyprus, Colombia, Lesotho and Somalia.
• Switzerland is the least affected country in terms of economic cost of violence, followed by Indonesia and Burkina Faso.

Report on Human Rights in Kashmir

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) Report on ‘The Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir’ attempts to project itself as an even-handed Report. The Report is mainly devoted to the situation in J&K, with a short portion looking at the situation in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), which includes Gilgit-Baltistan.
• The first ever report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Jammu and Kashmir, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, published in June 2018.

Implication of the Report

• India has said that the report violates its “sovereignty and territorial integrity” as it has used terms such as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” and “Gilgit Baltistan” to describe the part of the State under Pakistani control.
• Pakistan, on May 27, 2018, integrated Gilgit-Baltistan region into its federal structure despite strong protest from India. The OHCHR’s decision to use these terms in the report can be interpreted as a sign of recognition of these regions as being part of Pakistan.

Report Highlights

• Indian security forces used excessive force that led to unlawful killings and a very high number of injuries, and citing civil society estimates up to 145 civilians were killed by the security forces between mid-July 2016 and the end of March 2018, with up to 20 other civilians killed by armed groups in the same period.
• One of the most dangerous weapons used against protesters in 2016 – and which is still being employed by security forces – was the pellet-firing shotgun. According to official figures, 17 people were killed by shotgun pellets between July 2016 and August 2017, and 6,221 people were injured by the metal pellets between 2016 and March 2017. Civil society organizations believe that many of them have been partially or completely blinded.

Pak on FATF Grey List

• Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), on June 27, 2018 grey-listed Pakistan for its failure to act against terrorism, including financing. Pakistan avoided the far graver ‘black list’ by agreeing to comply with a 26-point action plan formulated by the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of the Asia Pacific Group of the FATF.
• The process began in February 2018 when FATF approved the nomination of Pakistan for monitoring under its International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) commonly known as grey list.
• 26-Point Action Plan: Pakistan has committed to a 26-point action plan, which would be implemented over the next 15 months. The plan includes completely blocking the finances of terror groups like Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Falah-i-Insaniat, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, among others. Failing to do so would lead Pakistan to be put on the ‘black list’, which would have a serious impact on its trade and economy.

Indo-China Security Cooperation Agreement

India and China on October 22, 2018 signed a first-ever agreement on security cooperation which will strengthen and consolidate assistance in counter-terrorism, organised crimes, drug control, human trafficking and exchange of information, marking a new beginning between the two countries.

• This will be the first such agreement between the authorities of India and China which look after internal security of the respective countries.
• The proposed pact is expected to cover areas of intelligence sharing, exchange programme, sharing of best practices, co-operation in disaster mitigation besides others.
• The signing of an internal security agreement by India and China recently is an indicator of the special nature of their relationship. This features competition, conflict and cooperation.

Recent Terrorist Activities in India

Date

Incident and Descriptions

Place

23 January 2015

Ara Civil Court bombing

Bihar

20 March 2015

2015 Jammu attack

Jammu and Kashmir

4-9 June 2015

2015 Manipur ambush

Manipur

27 July 2015

2015 Gurdaspur attack in Dina Nagar, Gurdaspur district

Punjab

2 January 2016

2016 Pathankot attack in Pathankot Air Force Station, Pathankot

Punjab

25 June 2016

2016 Pampore attack

Pampore

5 August 2016

2016 Kokrajhar Attack

Kokrajhar, Assam

18 September 2016

2016 Uri attack

Uri, J&K

3 October 2016

2016 Baramulla attack

Baramulla, J&K

6 October 2016

2016 Handwara attack at Rashtriya Riffles camp

Handwara, J&K

29 November 2016

2016 Nagrota attack

Nagrota, J&K

24 April 2017

2017 Sukma attack

Sukma district, Chhattisgarh

March 7, 2017

2017 Bhopal–Ujjain Passenger train bombing

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

July 11, 2017

2017 AmarnathYatra attack

Anantnag, Jammu & Kashmir

March 13, 2018

2018 Sukma attack

Sukma district, Chhattisgarh

Effect of Terrorism

Political Effects of Terrorism

• India is a successful democratic state, the Indian state recognises the space for accommodating the diversity in terms of the social background, primordial ties, and on multitude of identities, which is the key to Indian democracy.
• Failure of politics has resulted in existence of prolonged violence in terrorist and insurgent affected areas. It also affected governance in India, thereby reducing the function of the Indian state in those areas.
• Feeling of insecurity has impacted other aspects of state such as economic development and other development activities of the state such as education and infrastructure.

Diplomatic Effects of Terrorism

• The normal agenda of diplomatic dialogues on countering terrorism includes exchanges of perceptions on terrorist activities and implementing the outcome of dialogues over these issues at the international fora and institutions.
• India’s northern, eastern, and southern sectors is overshadowed by the challenge faced by the Indian diplomacy from the western sector.
• To overcome the diplomatic challenges due to terrorism, India has to engage at the political and operational levels with its counterparts through institutional linkages.

Social and Cultural Effects of Terrorism

• Terrorism in India challenges its diverse social and cultural harmony. Terrorism has created distrust among communities resulting in fissures in social cohesion and disturbing harmonious way of life.
• Such distrust has resulted in communal riots which has upset and destabilized cultural stability.
• Terrorists target specific groups of society to generate backlash or create isolation, where at times they succeed.

Economic Effects of Terrorism

• Terrorism has resulted in forcible and voluntary displacement, changes in occupation, and increased government expenditure on displaced persons.
• Terrorism in India has also resulted in loss of business, tourism and manufacturing activity, and investment into new industries and isolation of the affected areas.
• Terrorism has impacted the quality delivery, sustainability of development activities, and systematic erosion of the credibility of the systems of delivery and governance.