ABSTRACT
Terrorism seems to be quite commonplace in the present time and especially following the 9/11 tragedy. South Asia is comprised of eight countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It is, by any account, far from a simple region. The region is characterized by a variety of religions, ethnicities, languages, customs, histories, cultures, and a vast range of other elements characteristic of diversity. In the Sri Lankan context, tensions between the Sinhalese and Tamils saw decades of discontent with the rise of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for an independent Tamil homeland. Various levels of terrorism on the part of both the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan state ensued, victimizing and displacing especially the civilian Tamil population. Pakistan also finds itself in a quagmire by insurgent and terrorist activities that appear to undermine development in the country on many levels.
