Author Description

Muslim minorities in China and India form only a small fraction of their respective populations. Yet as minorities tend to be grouped in troubled border states they are of key strategic importance in the context of the global war on terror. In this global context, this book compares the regions of Jammu and Kashmir in India and Xinjiang in China, examining the incidence of poverty in terms of low and unequal incomes and lack of access to education, health and other public services. The book argues that economic and social factors (poverty, unemployment, inequalities, discrimination and social alienation) are more important in explaining social discontent, unrest and violence than political and religious factors such as the suppression of religious freedom and cultural identity and the violation of basic human rights. The global war on terror has diluted the domestic drive for self-determination for minorities in both China and India; their legitimate grievances are often confused with those of Islamic militants. The failures of the Chinese and Indian governments to address these grievances in the past may well have reinforced separatist tendencies. This book calls for a strategy to combine vigorous anti-poverty programs with the prevention of extremist infiltration from abroad as the only way to peaceful development.