Knives, honey and the mirror: Terrorism and the poverty corridor of South Asia

A knife, a dab of honey, and a mirror. Anger, healing, and reflection. These agencies are sought in response to any infliction, but neither in this sequence nor by everyone. Like a wounded body, societies respond to terrorism in different phases. First, it could be an annoyed reaction, followed by dabbing the wound, and then reflection: what happened and why. 

 

The response to the heartless killing of 26 tourists in the meadows of Pahalgam, Kashmir, involved all these elements. Knives were drawn against Pakistan, the habitualist behind such attacks. However, after addressing the anger and healing the wound, it is time for the mirror of reflection. Pahalgam is a popular tourist spot; yet, why it was not sufficiently secured should concern the district authorities, the tourism department, and all those euphoric in the complacent post-Article-370 Kashmir. The number of tourists, including foreigners, has consistently increased over several years. Instead of viewing this as a security concern, it was brushed aside as perpetual normalisation, as if terrorism had finally been buried. 

 

Separated at birth

 

Born from violence, India and Pakistan have never reconciled their differences, projecting superiority and claiming territory. They have fought wars yet avoided self-reflection. India has managed its democracy despite its religious and social complexities, whereas Pakistan, emerging to celebrate religious unity, has experienced intermittent democracy. Initially, Pakistan performed well economically; however, in the 1990s, it began to decline due to global and geopolitical factors, and more significantly because of its own choices. This decay was worsened by the wars in Afghanistan, an influx of refugees, dependence on external funding, and General Zia’s inspired Islamisation and ideological terrorism. To escape its financial fragility, “Pakistan has gone to the IMF 24 times, more than any other Asian country,” according to Al Jazeera, July 2023.  

 

India began slowly, constrained by socialist economic policies until the early 1990s, but subsequently experienced rapid growth, becoming one of the world’s top five economies by nominal GDP (IMF World Economic Outlook, 2023). Maharashtra boasts a larger economy than Pakistan and Bangladesh; recently, Tamil Nadu’s GDP has exceeded Pakistan's. The nuclear tests of May 1998, first conducted by India and then by Pakistan, provoked global sanctions on both nations; however, India, unlike Pakistan, was on a precarious growth trajectory.  India’s poverty has declined, yet Pakistan has a higher percentage of its population living in poverty. According to the World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2023), 12.9 per cent of India's population lived below the international poverty line of $2.15/day (2017 PPP) in 2021, compared to 39.4 per cent in Pakistan as of 2022.

 

Latitudinal commonalities 

 

Kashmir is a dévorante obsession for Pakistan. For India, Kashmir is an ‘integral’ part. In the UN chronicles, it is a disputed territory under observation. This obsession and integration have kept the animosity simmering and occasionally boiling over. While the autopsy of an act of terrorism like Pahalgam immediately focuses on national security and geopolitics, the real victims are the citizens. Poverty has a geography. In South Asia, a poverty belt, primarily between latitudes 23°N and 37°N, runs through Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. 

 

The belt of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, characterised by high population density and limited industrialisation, includes Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh in India, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, parts of Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan, and rural regions of Rajshahi and Khulna in Bangladesh. This latitudinal cluster presents challenges such as low per capita GDP, weak infrastructure, educational gaps, and vulnerability to climate change. With a reliance on agriculture, frequent natural disasters, and governance inefficiencies, poverty remains a primary developmental concern, affecting millions. Governments have launched various poverty alleviation programmes, but terror and conflicts serve as unwarranted roadblocks. 

 

When terrorism disrupts stability, it deters foreign investment, reduces employment opportunities, and strains trade relations. In Pakistan, frequent attacks on critical infrastructure have hindered economic growth, limiting development funding for provinces such as Balochistan and Sindh. According to the UNDP and Pakistan Planning Commission (2023), multidimensional poverty affects approximately 71 per cent of Balochistan’s population and 43 per cent in Sindh, underscoring the urgent need for targeted economic support in these regions.

 

Bangladesh’s Madaripur, Narsingdi, Kishoreganj, Netrakona, and Panchagarh already suffer from high poverty rates, with Madaripur at 54.4 per cent, further exacerbated by insurgency and political unrest. In India’s Bihar and Pakistan’s Sindh, unrest leads to abandoned farmland, inflation, and food shortages, deepening crises in regions where agriculture is vital for survival. Long-term stability and investment are crucial to reversing these trends. In such a context, a provocative remark by a former Army general of Bangladesh, stating that if India attacks Pakistan, post-Pahlgam, Bangladesh should take over the landlocked north-eastern states of India, hardly aids people experiencing poverty in India or his own country. 

 

Governments in South Asia allocate billions to military expenditures due to security threats. India has earmarked 2.3 per cent of its GDP for defence, while Pakistan has designated 2.7 per cent for the same purpose. This year, these countries will likely spend over $100 billion on military maintenance and expansion. Terrorism diverts attention from economic priorities, forcing governments to focus on surveillance, defence, and counterterrorism operations at the expense of long-term social programmes. South Asia must move beyond the wastefulness of terrorism through regional cooperation. 

 

Towards cooperation

 

Peace is not merely a security issue but a fundamental human necessity. The future of South Asia hinges on policies that uplift communities, ensure economic stability, and promote cross-border trade instead of conflict and destruction. What occurs in Kashmir does not remain there. There are viable policy options if we prioritise the mirror of genuine reflection. Carving a future through reflection is preferable to resorting to knives and dabbing honey. 

 

Subhash Misra is an international humanitarian professional and was with UNDP and UNICEF. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.

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