Dr Syed Farooq Hasnat Multiethnic societies with weak socio-economic structures tend to generate tensions, at times leading to serious crisis. Such calamities are further aggravated if a society lacks political maturity, and is not designed to solve grievances and demands of ethnic entities. Since most of South Asia falls into this category, historically there have been considerable ethnic upheavals in the shape of insurgencies or internal wars in the area. Pakistan, on its part faced a number of insurgent movements, and one during 1970-1971 was unmanaged to an extent that it led to secession of its eastern wing. The high intensity Balochistan insurgency of 1970s and a low level insurgency that started from 2004 have their primary base in the perceptions that the federal government is not fulfilling its obligations and that constitutional and administrative wrong are being committed against the Baloch population. It was alleged in the 1970s that the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto wanted to acquire more powers on behalf of the central government and was unwilling to tolerate a dissent within the federal system. The current unease in the province has a variety of reasons but is primarily focused on the demands for equitable distribution of resources and more provincial autonomy. However, in the FATA tribal areas, along with Malakand Division, the insurgency has acquired exclusive features. There, an ethnic group has not taken up arms for the rights of its community or area but for imposing its dogmatic religious views on the country, and even beyond. This has provided a new meaning to the theoretical concept of insurgency, with few comparables. Along with 25 insurgency movements in India, two are more prominent - one in Kashmir and the other by the Sikhs in East Punjab. The Kashmir insurgency, which has its roots in the unfinished agenda of the partition, accelerated in 1988 into a bloody conflict and in two decades 100,000 Kashmiris lost their lives. The Sikh uprising of 1980s was due to their resentments against the Hindu majority, for at least two reasons - one that the Hindu majority was not responsive to Sikh identity and demands and second their sacred Golden Temple at Amritsar was stormed in 1984. In subsequent events Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, followed by communal riots in which three thousand Sikhs lost their lives. The Sikh insurgency presents a variant pattern where a flourishing community gets agitated to an extent of taking up arms. Normally, underprivileged and impoverished communities take such drastic actions. Both these insurgencies challenged the writ of the state and threatened India's security. The Sikh insurgency ultimately fizzled out but Kashmir uprising, in spite of a complex mix of fluctuating predicament, continues. Sri Lanka along with Kashmir faced the bloodiest of all insurgencies in South Asian modern history. The Tamil, who are 12 percent of the total population, with British colonial rulers' support became more skilled and were placed at important positions. This unwarranted British patronage created jealousy and anguish amongst the Sinhalese majority, thus laying a foundation for tensions between the two ethnic groups. By 1970s, Tamil ethnic minority under Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began to demand an independent state, consisting of northern and eastern part of the island. This demand was sternly contested by the government. The Tamil speaking 8 percent Muslim minority also opposed the secessionist move and for that were frequently penalised by the LTTE. As Tamils originated from the Indian State of Tamil Nadu, they were able to establish a support base in India, which tacitly supported their insurgency. By early 1986, on the pattern of the militant-controlled Swat and Buner, the LTTE took control of Jaffna Peninsula, administrating the city of Jaffna, thus challenging the writ of the state. By the end of 1980s India sent a peace force of 60,000, but it could not maintain its neutrality and were soon discredited by the Sinhalese majority, forcing them to withdraw. The Tamil insurgents share lots of commonalities with the Pakistani insurgents in the Frontier province. Both have no clue about the conciliation part of the insurgency; they are dogmatists in their approach with a prime purpose to destroy and be destroyed in the process. Both have resorted to sabotage, assassinations, killing of the innocent civilians in urban centres and above all have a similar approach regarding merciless suicide bombings. The Baloch insurgents differ from the two given examples, as they are confined to their respective areas with limited armed activity and suicide bombing is unknown to them, till now. This can be attributed to a certain type of landscape and smaller population size. Secondly, the Baloch tribes are more fragmented, with various shades of opinion. Another South Asian nation, Nepal also had its share of bloody insurgency, starting in 1996. The Maoists in Nepal had a distinctive agenda as there was no ethnicity issue involved nor did they claim for a separate homeland. In fact, the Maoist demanded end of feudalism, rewriting of Nepal's constitution, and abolition of monarchy. Secondly, the Maoists were confined to rural areas, building their support amongst the peasants and did not pose any threat to the state. Thirdly, they differed in their tactics from the Pakistani and Sri Lankan insurgents, as they were open to negotiations, which were held with government representatives in July 2001. Ultimately, the Maoists took part in April 2008 elections, emerging as the largest party in the Parliament. As a first step the new government abolished the 240-year old monarchy, meeting the main demand of the insurgents turned democratic government. Unlike the Sri Lankan case, there was no military victory in Nepal; rather a peaceful transformation ended the insurgency. Bangladesh also had minor tensions with its minority ethnic Chakma tribe. This Chittagong Hill Tract tribe showed its resentment when some of its land was taken by immigrating ethnic Bengalese. Although there was armed resistance by the Chakmas under the banner of Shanti Bahini, but it cannot be labelled as insurgency, as the conflict was curtailed and was for a short span of time. A peace treaty was signed in 1997 between the Bangladesh government and the Chakmas. A sober attitude of the successive Bangladeshi governments helped to reduce tensions in the north of the country. Like the Maoists of Nepal, the Chakma tribe did not pose a security threat to the State. The above observation of various insurgencies points to the fact that each society has its own peculiar setting and reasons for internal violence. The tactics and agendas vary from each other but at the same time there were some features which are alike. In sum, the insurgency prone South Asian region will continue to face armed upheavals unless the states are able to find fair answers and construct equitable institutions and accommodate their ethnic minorities in the mainstream of its socio-economic and political set-ups. The writer is a scholar at the Middle East Institute, Washington DC