Suicide Terrorism in South Asia - Part 1 (29 August 2012)

Abstract Suicide bombing has become emblematic of a modern wave of global terrorism. South Asia is increasingly becoming one of its main sites. Between 1981 and 2011, there were 2287 suicide attacks which killed about 30,000 people in 36 countries. South Asian countries accounted for 942 or 41 per cent of all attacks making it one of two major sites of suicide bombings. If the present trends continue, South Asia will become the main site of suicide terrorism in the world in the next two years. This seminar will explore the reasons behind this trend. Using data from one the most comprehensive databases on suicide terrorism, the seminar will examine the genesis of suicide bombings and the social and political conditions contributing to the rise of this phenomenon. It will argue that the genesis of suicide terrorism is rooted in intractable asymmetrical conflicts between state and non-state actors over political entitlements, territorial occupation and dispossession. The evidence from the database largely discredits the common wisdom that the personality of the suicide bombers and their religion are the principal cause. It shows that the driving force is not religion but a cocktail of motivations including politics, humiliation, revenge, retaliation and altruism. The configurations of these motivations are related to the specific circumstance of the political conflict behind the rise of suicide attacks. The causes of suicide terrorism lie not in the individual psychopathology but in broader social conditions. Understanding and knowledge of these conditions is vital for developing appropriate public polices and responses to protect the public from this heinous form of violence. About The Speaker Professor Riaz Hassan has published two books on Muslim religiosity: Inside Muslim Minds (Melbourne University Press 2008) and, Faithlines: Muslim Conceptions of Islam and Society (Oxford University Press 2002). He has written two books on the findings of his recently completed research on suicide bombings: Life as a Weapon: The global rise of suicide bombings (Routledge 2010) and Suicide Bombings (Routledge 2011). He has also published books, papers and policy studies on population, immigration, suicide, housing and Singapore society. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and Member of the Order of Australia. Professor Hassan was educated at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Dhaka University and The Ohio State University as Fullbright Scholar from where he received his doctorate in sociology in 1968. He has taught at The Flinders University of South Australia since 1977. In 2005-2009, he was Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow. He has also held academic appointments at the National University of Singapore, Gadja Mada University, University of California Los Angeles, New York University Abu Dhabi and Yale University.