MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#49: 05 OCTOBER 2020 Insurgency in Mozambique: The Islamic State’s New Frontier Bibhu Prasad Routray Abstract A spate of attacks on villages and towns since 2017 by Islamist jihadists belonging to the al-Shabaab have killed more than 1,500 people and displaced over 300,000 in north Mozambique’s mineral gas-rich Cabo Delgado province. Violence has spiked […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#48: 24 SEPTEMBER 2020 India’s Cannabis Conundrum Sameer Parekh Abstract Sale of cannabis is increasing globally, accompanied by legalization and decriminalization processes. North America and Europe are taking the lead. Asia is slowly catching up. When consumed moderately, Cannabis, like all other drugs, is recreationally and medically beneficial. In India, where cannabis has played […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#47: 14 JULY 2020 Nagaland: Mirage of Peace Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract August 2020 will mark five years since hopes were raised by the Government of India (GoI) of a solution to the Naga insurgency. However, in spite of the periodic optimistic statements by authorities, a solution to the oldest insurgency of India […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#46: 20 JUNE 2020 ‘War’ with the Pandemic: Bangladesh Grapples with Uncertainties Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract Bangladeshi society, economy, and the health sector are being overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The ‘lockdown’ strategy that was employed for two months has been abandoned after it failed to flatten the curve. Now the government hopes […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#45: 20 MAY 2020 Afghanistan’s War on Covid-19: Politics of the Pandemic Shanthie Mariet D’Souza – Abstract Afghanistan, in the coming days, is projected to have one of the worst Covid-19 infection rates in the world. As the government attempts to deal with the pandemic with its overstretched health sector, the Taliban seem to […]
MANTRAYA SPECIAL REPORT#20: 12 MAY 2020 Islamic State’s Khorasan Province: A Melting Pot for South Asian Jihadists Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract The arrest of Aslam Farooqi, chief of the Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (IS-KP) in the first week of April and the former chief of the group, Zia-ul Haq in May 2020, by the Afghan intelligence […]
MANTRAYA POLICY BRIEF#34: 20 APRIL 2020 TRF and TMI: Lashkar-e-Toiba’s new tools in Kashmir Bibhu Prasad Routray Abstract In Kashmir, since the abrogation of Article 370, two new militant outfits have emerged to lay claim to a number of violent incidents. Both the TRF and the TMI also claim to represent the local Kashmiris. But […]
MANTRAYA POLICY BRIEF#33: 01 APRIL 2020 Islamic State in India: Wilayat-e-Hind Bibhu Prasad Routray Abstract The Islamic State and its affiliates have been expanding their activities in Africa and Afghanistan. However, similar attempts to find a foothold in India have not been successful till now. Months after Indian government’s August 2019 decision to revoke the […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#44: 17 MARCH 2020 Afghanistan’s Fragile Political Transition: The Rocky Road to Peace Shanthie Mariet D’Souza – Abstract In a dramatic turn of events following the conduct of presidential elections in September 2019 and signing of the US-Taliban peace deal on February 29, Afghanistan witnessed two presidential inauguration ceremonies on 9 March. While President […]
MANTRAYA ANALYSIS#43: 02 MARCH 2020 Military and the Monks: Future of Civil-Military Relations in Myanmar Bibhu Prasad Routray – Abstract There are widely held perceptions that the National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK) has not only failed to act against the military perpetrators of crime against the Rohingya minorities, […]