ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the value of criminological theory in understanding key crime events in a number of South Asian countries. It presents issues of crime and justice in South Asia as might do in any other region or country of the world, the processes and threats associated with terrorism and organised crime are especially prominent in this region. In Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and the disputed territories between India and Pakistan, terrorism can be viewed in a critical manner; defining acts as being ‘terrorism’ in nature is dependent upon one’s political perspective. The terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan can be attributed in most part to religious differences and a worldview borne out of it, spread by an international jihadi agenda that has manifested itself in political action and, ultimately, violence. The use of violence and instilling fear in the enemy then becomes a rational or at least strategic route towards achieving stated goals, which are often political in nature.
