Issue 18 – January 2017
TOPICS: Bangladesh, Islamic Militancy, Boko Haram, Islamic State, Almajiri, Social Conflict Theory
Coordinator:
Christian Chereji and Ciprian Sandu
Content – Sommaire:
ARTICLES in Issue 18 – January 2017:
Bangladesh: The Effect of Political, Economic & Social Imparity and the Rise of Islamic Militancy
Mohammed Javed MIA
Abstract:
Bangladesh, third largest Muslim populated country in the world, recently faced a frightful and dreadful militant attack. The militant movement in the country is the deadliest but not the very first. As a liberal Muslim country in the world, the augmentation of Islamic radical movement is not desired. But the inequality and the increased racism that spreads into the veins of every part of the society are the main reason behind the movement. Political instability, economic discrimination and absence of the rule of law are key factors behind the militancy and radical movement in the country. The article will analyze the key factors behind the Islamic Militant movements in Bangladesh with social, economic, current law and order situation, political unrest along with social injustice and inequality to name just a few. The way to fight against Islamic Militancy must be by Islam, not by permuting it. The social justice and economic impartiality has to be ensured to win the war against terrorism and also political stability has to be kept for a long time.
Keywords:
Militants, Islamist, Imparity, IS, Rule of Law.
Boko Haram and the Islamic State: A Tale of Two Terrors
Osman ANTWI-BOATENG
Abstract:
This research analyzes the similarities and differences between The Islamic State (IS) and Boko Haram in order to enrich the growing debate on the threat they pose to international security. Using the relative deprivation theory, the research argues that both groups are similar in their use of radical Islamic ideology to mobilize political, economic and socially aggrieved communities towards violence via hybrid warfare against status quo forces deemed unjust. However, they differ in their strategic goal, organizational structure, membership, financing and capabilities. These differences stem from the different strategic outlook of the two groups, with Boko Haram more focused on change in Nigeria and its immediate environs while IS has an ambitious global agenda of an Islamic Caliphate. Understanding these similarities and differences are necessary to effectively combat the security threats they both pose.
Keywords:
Boko Haram, Islamic State, Terrorism, Hybrid Warfare, Relative Deprivation.
Nigeria: Living in the Shadow of Islamist Violence: Assessment of Citizens’ Response to the Boko Haram Insurgency
Simeon H.O. ALOZIEUWA & Damilola OYEDELE
Abstract:
The Jama’atul Alhul Sunnah Lidda’wati wal jihad (People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad), popularly called Boko Haram, which literally means ‘Western Education is Sin’ was established in 2002 with the objective of restoring Islamic legal system (Sharia) in Northern Nigeria. It, therefore, started as a fundamental Islamic sect intended to supplant government structures that allegedly politicised, corrupted and bastardised proper implementation of Sharia in the North. In place of those structures, it will install an Islamic theocratic regime, in which Sharia law would be applied to the fullest. The sect carried out series of attacks on government facilities, security forces and later churches. In 2009, massive clampdown on the group by federal forces led to the death of one of its founders, Mohammed Yusuf. Boko Haram regrouped under a new leader, Abubakar Shekau, in 2011 and embarked on a revenge mission for Yusuf’s murder, leading to suicide bomb attacks on police, military and civilian targets. Although the Boko Haram violence occurs mostly in the Northeastern region of Nigeria, bringing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja (the seat of the Federal Government of Nigeria) within its orbit raises the profile of the terror group. Attack on the FCT would also taunt the state over the vulnerability of the capital city as it also projects the state as incapable of fulfilling its primary responsibility of security of the lives and property of residents. The sect’s violence on the FCT and its environs thus successfully imposed a climate of fear over the city and on the residents. In order to assess how residents of the FCT and its environs responded and are responding to the Boko Haram violence, this study adopts an eclectic blend of both survey and descriptive research methodologies. The study found out that the responses of residents of FCT to Boko Haram violence is spatio-temporal relating to space (area) or time. Areas (city centre or satellite towns) where residents lived or worked played a role in contributing to feeling of vulnerability and the fear of the sect was heightened among residents after the high-profile attack of the UN House Abuja in August 2011. However, with the inauguration mid 2015 of a new government headed by a Northern Muslim, the fear of potential Boko Haram attacks in the FCT and its environs has significantly abated.
Kew words:
Boko Haram, Islamist, Violence, Suicide Bomb Attacks, Federal Capital Territory,
Residents.
Nigeria: Breeding Future Terrorists. A Study of Almajiri of Northern Nigeria and Islamist Militia
Thomas Imoudu GOMMENT & Obi Success ESOMCHI
Abstract:
Terrorism has become a catchword in humanities and social sciences and a global social problem that has led to loss of lives and property worth millions of dollars. In the past, specifically in the pre-colonial Nigeria, there was adequate provision for the welfare of the almajiri, which was later truncated by colonialism. The paper examines the relationship between almajiri and Islamist terrorist organizations which includes Maitatsine, Yandaba and Boko Haram. The paper found that the aforementioned terrorist groups use almajiri to perpetuate violence in Northern Nigeria. From this background, the designated Islamist militias have constituted themselves into a breeding ground for future terrorism. Other factors responsible for almajiri interaction with the terrorist groups include parental neglect and poverty. The paper recommended the criminalization of street-begging and parental neglect while poverty alleviation program be put in place in order to reduce juvenile delinquency in the study area.
Kew words:
Terrorist, Almajiri, Miltia, Maitatsine, Yandaba, Boko Haram.
Romania: General Considerations on the Potential Use of Social Conflict Theory in the Context of Social Changes Occurring in Traditional Rural Communities
Bianca BALEA & Adrian-Grigore POP
Abstract:
The article overviews some aspects of the social conflict as seen through the lenses of Marx and Dahrendorf classical approaches on conflict, as an attempt of understanding the social changes occurring in traditional rural communities.
Keywords:
Karl Marx, Ralf Dahrendorf, social conflict, rural communities.
