Epos converses with Dr. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra

EPOS Insights

Bangladesh is constitutionally a secular State but, since the Sixties, the secularist nature of the country has been put in danger by the strong impulses given by the extremist Islamic groups. Although the government should protect the believers of any religion and defend those who express their position against Islam, in the last years too many secularist bloggers and intellectuals that spread messages of religious openness and of gender equality have been killed. A chain of violence and terror is threatening pacific coexistence in Bangladesh and the survival of religious minorities. EPOS’ analyst Valeria Sforzini investigates and discusses the sensitive issues of the “sectarian terror” in Bangladesh in the following article

EPOS Insights

Bangladesh has a long history of fringe extremist groups. Some of those are a legacy of the war in Afghanistan, in which some Bangladeshis fought; others are byproducts of the Wahhabi influence that Bangladeshi workers in the Persian Gulf brought back when they returned home; still others are ISIS-addicted. The Islamic State is recruiting supporters among that part of the population dissatisfied with the government's handling, and perhaps the attackers in Dhaka were some of them. Whatever its exact nature, however, according to the analysts it seems that terrorism is largely the result of the government’s repression against mainstream dissent

EPOS Insights

The hopes of revival of India-Pakistan peace talks received a set back after the Pathankot incident in the first week of January 2016. The Pathankot incident belied the hopes, and in turn weakened the constituency of peace and strengthened the constituency of spoilers. Pathankot happened after one week of Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Lahore.  India has demanded that unless Pakistan takes action against the culprits of the attack, it would not engage in dialogue. Pakistan’s position has been it would take action on the basis of evidence. What will it happen? What future for India-Pakistan peace process? Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, EPOS analyst from India and expert in conflict management in South Asia, has given his answer to these and other questions

EPOS Insights

After the recent terrorist attacks occurred last Christmas, the jihadist threat in the Philippines is probably higher than ever. The Islamic State seems to expand its influence throughout the Filipino jihadist galaxy. However, it is more likely that the allegiance to the Islamic State pledged by many radical groups is technically an opportunistic path rather than an act of faith. In the following exclusive article Federico Solfrini, an MA student in Economics and Institutions in Islamic Countries at LUISS Guido Carli University, and Andrea Ursi, a researcher on jihadism and on the jihadist groups in the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia, analyse the origin, the raise and the fragmentation, the so-called feudalism, of the jihadist radicalism in the Philippines, giving EPOS' readers a deep and complete view of the issue

Epos converses with Seema Shekhawat

EPOS Insights

In 1999, former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Lahore on the invitation of Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. During the visit both the leaders signed the Lahore Declaration to promote bilateral relations. Sharif and Vajpayee shared a vision of peaceful and stable South Asia. Fifteen years later, on 26 May 2014, Sharif was invited by the newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi to attend his swearing ceremony in New Delhi. What will change in Indo-Pak relations? Will Modi and Sharif revive the spirit of Lahore?

Epos converses with Fariba Nawa