Table Of ContentUnconventional Warfare in South Asia, 194 7 to the Present
Critical Essays on Warfare in South Asia, 1947 to the Present.
Series Editors: Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy
Titles in the Series:
Conventional Warfare in South Asia,
1947 to the Present
Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy
The N u el ear Shadow over South Asia,
1947 to the Present
Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy
Unconventional Warfare in South Asia,
1947 to the Present
Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy
Unconventional Warfare in
South Asia, 194 7 to the Present
Edited by
Scott Gates
Peace Research Institute Oslo (P RIO) and Norwegian University ofS cience
and Technology (NTNU)
and
KaushikRoy
Jadavpur University, India and Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO),
Norway
First published 2011 by Ashgate Publisbing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright© 2011 Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy. For copyright of individua1 artides please refer to the
Acknowledgements.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Unconventional warfare in South Asia, 1947 to the present.
- (Critical essays on warfare in South Asia, 1947 to the
present)
t. lnsurgency-South Asia-History-20th century.
2. lnsurgency-South Asia-History-21st century.
3. South Asia-History, Military-20th century. 4. South
Asia-History, Military -21st century.
l. Series Il. Gates, Scott. III. Roy, Kaushik, Dr.
355'.0218'0954-dc22
Library of Congress Control Nu m ber: 2011920454
ISBN 9780754629771 (hbk)
Transferred to Digital Printing in 2014
Contents
Acknow/edgements vii
Introduction ix
PART I INSURGENCIES, COUNTER-INSURGENCIES AND TERRORISM
K.P. Mi s ra (1980), 'Paramilitary Force s in lndia', Arrned Forcesand Society,
6,pp.371-88. 3
2 Rajesh Rajagapalan (2004), 'Innovations in Counterinsurgency: The Indian
Anny's Rashtriya Rifles', Contemporary South Asia, 13, pp. 25-37. 21
3 Namrata Goswami (2009), 'lndia's Counter-lnsurgency Experience: The
"Trust and Nurture" Strategy', Small Wa rs and Insurgencies, 20, pp. 66-86. 35
4 Moeed Yusef andAnit Mukherjee (2007), 'Counterinsurgency in Pakistan:
Learning from lndia', National Security Outlook, September, pp. 1-6. 57
5 Pratul Ahuja andRajat Ganguly (2007), 'The Fire With in: Naxalite lnsurgency
Violence in lndia', SmallWarsand Insurgencies, 18, pp. 249-74. 63
6 Surnit Ganguly (1996), 'Explaining the Kashmir lnsurgency: Political
Mobilization and lnstitutional Decay', International Security, 21, pp. 76-107. 89
7 Ashutosh Varshney (1991), 'lndia, Pakistan, and Kashmir: Antinornies of
Nationalism', Asian Survey, 31, pp. 997-1019. 121
8 Lawrence E. C Iine (2006), 'The lnsurgency Environment in Northeast lndia',
Small Wa rs and Insurgencies, 17, pp. 126--47. 145
9 Sanjib Baruah (2003), 'Confronting Constructionism: Ending lndia's Naga
War', Journal of Peace Research, 40, pp. 321-38. 167
l O Arijit M azurndar (2005), 'Bhutan's Military Action against Indian Insurgents',
Asian Survey, 45, pp. 566-80. 185
Il S. Mansoob Murshed and Scott Gates (2005), 'Spatiai-Horizontallnequality
and the Maoist lnsurgency in Nepal', Review of Development Economics, 9,
pp. 121-34. 201
12 Brigad ie r S.P. Sinha (2001), 'Prabhakaran as Leader of the LT TE', Journal
oftheUnitedServicelnstitutionoflndia, 131,pp.194-210. 215
13 Miranda Alison (2003), 'Cogs in the Wheel? W omen in the Liberation Tigers
ofTamil Eelam', Civil Wars, 6, pp. 37-54. 233
14 A lok Bansal (2008), 'Fa ctors Leading to lnsurgency in Baloch i stan', Small
Warsandlnsurgencies, 19,pp.182-200. 251
vi Unconventional Warfare in South A sia, 1947 to the Present
PART II UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE AND RELIGION
15 Apurba Kundu (1994), 'The Indian Arrned Forces' Sikh and Non-Sikh Officers'
Opinion of Operation Blue Star', Pacific Affairs, 67, p p. 46-69. 273
16 James L. Rowell (2006), 'Gandhi and Bin Laden: Religious Conflict at the Polar
Extremes', Journal ofCof!flict Studies, 26, pp. 35-54. 297
17 Kaushik Roy (2007), 'Just and U nj ust War in Hindu Philosophy', Journal of
Military Ethics, 6, pp. 232-45. 317
18 Michael Roberts (2005), 'Tamil Tiger "Martyrs": Regenerating Divine Potency?',
Studies in Conjlict and Terrorism, 28, pp. 493-514. 331
19 Richard Gombrich (2006), 'Is the Sri Lankan War a Buddhist Fundamentalism?',
in Mahinda Deegalle (ed.), Buddhism, Conjlict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka,
London and New York: Routledge, pp. 22-37. 353
Name Index 371
Acknowledgements
The editor and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to use copyright
material.
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research for the essay: Moeed Yusef and A nit
Mukherjee (2007), 'Counterinsurgency in Pakistan: Leaming from lndia', National Security
Outlook, September, pp. 1-6.
The Journal of Conflict studies for the essay: James L. Rowell (2006), 'Gandhi and Bin
Laden: Religious Confiict at the Polar Extremes', Journal of Confiict Studies, 26, p p. 35-54.
MIT Press for the essay: Surnit Ganguly ( 1996), 'Explaining the Kashmir lnsurgency: Political
Mobilization and lnstitutional Decay', International Security, 21, pp. 76-107. Copyright©
1996 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia for the essay: Apurba Kundu (1994), 'The
Indian Arrned Forces' Sikh and Non-Sikh Officers' Opinion of Operation Blue Star', Pacific
Affairs, 67, pp. 46-69.
Sage Publications for the essays: K.P. Misra ( 1980), 'Paramilitary Force s in lndia', Ar med
Forces and Society, 6, pp. 371-88; Sanjib Baruah (2003), 'Confronting Constructionism:
Ending lndia's Naga War', Journal of Peace Research, 40, pp. 321-38. Copyright© 2003
Journal of Peace Research.
Taylor & Francis Ltd for the essays: Rajesh Rajagopalan (2004), 'Innovations in
Counterinsurgency: The Indian Army's Rashtriya Rifies', Contemporary South As i a, 13, pp.
25-37. Copyright © 2004 Taylor & Francis; Namrata Goswami (2009), 'India's Counter
Insurgency Experience: The "Trust and Nurture" Strategy', Small War s and lnsurgencies,
20, pp. 66-86. Copyright© 2009 Taylor & Francis; Pratul Ahuja andRajat Ganguly (2007),
'The Fire Within: Naxalite Insurgency Violence in India', Small Wars and lnsurgencies, 18,
pp. 249-74. Copyright© 2007 Taylor & Francis; Lawrence E. Cline (2006), 'The Insurgency
Environment in Northeast India', SmallWarsand lnsurgencies, 17, pp. 126--47. Copyright©
2006 Taylor & Francis; MirandaAlison (2003), 'Cogs in the Wheel? Women in the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam', Civil War s, 6, pp. 37-54. Copyright© 2003 Taylor & Francis; Alo k
Bansal (2008), 'F actors Leading to Insurgency in Balochistan', SmallWarsand lnsurgencies,
19, pp. 182-200. Copyright© 2008 Taylor & Francis; Kaushik Roy (2007), 'Just and Unjust
War in Hindu Philosophy', Journal of Military Ethics, 6, pp. 232--45. Copyright © 2007
Taylor & Francis; Michael Roberts (2005), 'Tamil Tiger "Martyrs": Regenerating Divine
Potency', Studies in Confiict and Terrorism, 28, pp. 493-514; Richard Gombrich (2006),
viii Unconventional Warfare in South A sia, 1947 to the Present
'Is the Sri Lankan War a Buddhist fundamentalism?', in Mahinda Deegalle (ed.), Buddhism,
Conflict and Violence in Modem Sri Lanka, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 22-37.
United Service Institution ofindia for the essay: Brigadier S.P. Sinha (200 l), 'Prabhakaran as
Leader of the LTTE', Journal of the United Service Institution oflndia, 131, pp. 194-210.
University of California Press for the essays: Ashutosh Varshney (1991 ), 'In dia, Pakistan, and
Kashmir: Antinornies of Nationalism', Asian Survey, 31, pp. 997-1019. Copyright© 1991
by the Regents of the University of California; Arijit Mazumdar (2005), 'Bhutan's Military
Action against Indian Insurgents', Asian Survey, 45, pp. 566-80. Copyright© 2005 by the
Regents of the University of California.
Wiley and Sons forthe essay: S. Mansoob Murshed and Scott Gates (2005), 'Spatial-Horizontal
Inequality and the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal', Review of Development Economics, 9, pp.
121-34. Copyright© 2005 United Nations University. Published by Blackwell Publishing.
Ev ery effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders, but if an y have been inadvertently
overJooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first
opportun ity.
Introduction
Unconventional war is an umbrella term which includes all sorts of conflicts other than
conventional warfare. Unconventional war is a better term than asymmetric war because an
asymmetric war can sometimes be an interstate war. For instance, the two wars between the
USA and Saddam's lraq, though an interstate war, could be termed as asymmetric war due to
the huge technical gap that existed in the weapon systems deployed by the USA and lraq. The
term 'low-intensity conflict' is amisnomer because, in terms of number of troops deployed
and the region over which unconventional war is fought, the conflict is at times as great as
that of an interstate war. Furthermore, for the sol di er in the firing Iine, who risks his Ii mbs and
Iife in maintaining 'law and order', the experience ofconflict is no way one oflow intensity.
Unconventional wars are intrastate wars with transnationall inkages and include insurgencies,
counter-insurgencies (COINs), terrorism and religious conflicts. Insurgents conduct both
terrorist attacks and guerrilla warfare. We favour Azeem lbrahim's conceptualization of
guerrilla warfare:
It isthus generally employed: by small bands ofirregulars fightinga superior invading army or to weaken
the latter's hold over conquered territory by a weaker side .... Gu errilla strategy is determined by the
re bels' weakness in relation to the superior military forces that they confront (Ibrahim, 2004, p. 112)
For the Correlates of War (COW) Project:
Civil war is defined as an interna! war in which (a) military action was involved (b) the national
government at the time was actively involved (c) etfective resistance (as measured bytheratio of
fatalities of the weaker to the stronger forces) occurred on both sides, and (d) at !east l ,000 battle
deaths resulted. (Sarkees, n.d.)
The COW data have been widely employed in the statistical analysis of civil war. Two of
the three most cited articles on civil war (Hegre, Ellingsen, Gate s and Gleditsch, 200 l; and
Collier and Hoeffler, 2003) use these data.
In recent years the Uppsala-PRIO arrned conflict data have become the standard dataset
for quantitative analysis of civil war. These data are more comprehensive and include low
intensity arrned conflicts as weil as extremely deadly wars.
Arrned confiict is defined by the Uppsala Conflict Data Project as a contested incompatibility that
concerns government or territory or both where the use of arrned force between two parties results
in at !east 25 battle-related deaths. Of these two parties, at !east one is the government of a state.
(Gleditsch et al., 2002, p.618-19)
As for distinguishing a war from arrned conflict, the UppsalaArrned Conflict Data Programme
applies the COW Project's 1,000 battle death threshold.
From an Asian perspective, the l ,000 battle death threshold seems Eurocentric. A thousand
battle deaths in a particular conflict would raise a hue and cry in the West, but it might not in
