Islamism and Intelligence in South Asia

There is no denying the fact that terrorism is the most frightening challenge facing humanity in the present times. The advanced and sophisticated means of communication and technology developed in the modern world paved the way for globalisation of almost all things and terrorism is no exception. Given the value of human life along with the vitality of peace and security to an ever-progressing human society, no reasonable human being can afford to justify terrorism in any measure or through any logic. However, a disgusting aspect of the analysis of terrorism as well as the practical measures taken to contain, eliminate or simply deal with it is the “colonisation of epistemology” and the “monopolisation of policy-making” by the dominant stake-holders in the power-sharing structure. To elaborate, a same act may be classified as “terrorism” if it is perpetrated by “them” and as “patriotism” when the participants belong to “us”. Likewise, it is a truism now that “academic” works written by “sponsored intellectuals” with a colonised mind-set are only meant to shape a discourse which serves the interests of their masters. In the present review, the book under discussion, Islamism and Intelligence in South Asia: Militancy, Politics and Security by Prem Mahadevan will be assessed in the light of the above premises. Before presenting some critical comments on the book, it makes sense to give an overview of its contents.