Ethnic Conflict in South Asia

THE whole of South Asia which includes Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan is presently faced with acute ethnic conflict. The Tamil problem in Sri Lanka, Hindu-Muslim and Hindu-Sikh problem apart from other ethnic problems in India, the Chakma problem in Bangladesh and the Pathan Muhajir riots in Karachi, Pakistan, have repeatedly attracted world attention. In the modern era of rapid communications and uneven development, no country can escape the fate of being a multi-ethnic, multi-religious or multi-lingual society. In such a situation, tle forces of development and change generate pressures leading to ethnic conflict. The intensity of these pressures is a function of the degree of in-equitous distribution of the fruits of development.