Terrorism in India: Decades of Risk & Political Intimidation - Research Paper

Introduction

For several decades now, India has been experiencing different forms of terrorism. For instance, there has been ethno-nationalist, religious, narco, and left-wing terrorist forms, which have posed several risks to the citizens as well as to the country's economy (Abdullah & Muhammad, 2019). During the various terrorist attacks in the country, the perpetrators use violence to intimidate the citizens or the government into achieving their political or ideological goals and objectives. The regions in India which have been experiencing terrorism the most are Kashmir and Jammu. In 2008, it was reported that there were about 800 terrorist groups in India that were actively participating in violence for various reasons (Abdullah & Muhammad, 2019). Reports in 2013 showed that over 205 districts in India experience terrorist attacks, and many people were left dead and many others injured (Khan & Estrada, 2016). Reports by the state indicate that most of the terrorist groups are funded and sponsored by Pakistan, although the former always denied the allegations pointed towards it (Scanlon, 2019). According to the South Asia terrorism portal, there are over 180 terrorist groups across India that have been in operation for more than twenty years (Cinar, 2017). Other groups operate from neighboring countries like Bangladesh, although India and other states like the U.S. and the European Union have managed to ban most of these terrorist groups. Due to the popular culture of various violence groups in India, the vice has been depicted in many prominent films like Amar Neerad's Anwar and Sikandar, among others. The many instances of terrorism in the country have left a toll on the economy in various ways, especially due to the disruption of various activities either ran by the government or private entities (Abdullah & Muhammad, 2019). The research question for the proposal is, how does terrorism affect the Indian economy? An outline will be developed to describe how the plan will be laid out to answer the research question.

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This report seeks to investigate the societal issue of terrorism and the impact it has on one of the world's greatest economies, India.

Significance

The rationale for conducting this research is to describe how various acts of terrorism affect the economy of a country. However, the research will narrow down to investigate how the economy of India has been affected by terrorism over the past decades. The gap that the research project sees to fill is to engage policy-makers and insist on the need to curb terrorism in their countries in the effort to protect their economies from being sabotaged.

According to Abadie and Gardeazabal (2008), one of the most significant ways in which an economy is affected by terrorism is through destruction. Cinar (2017) explains that the physical destruction of assets is one of the significant outcomes that are experienced after a terrorist activity or attack. Khan and Estrada (2016) explain that these malicious gangs destroy machines, infrastructure, transport and communication systems, plants, and harming employees and other economic resources. According to Bandyopadhyay, Sandler, and Younas (2015), small scale businesses and entities are also destroyed during terrorist attacks where businesses like cafes, industrial centers, and churches.

In their article, Drakos and Kallandranis (2015) cite the World Trade Center bombings that occurred in 2001 that left property worth billions destroyed and thousands of workers dead. Pratiwi, Abdullah, Abdullah and Muhammad (2019) explain that the destruction of physical entities is a significant blow to the economy of any country since the facilities produce large amounts of goods and generate huge revenues as well as pay taxes to their mother countries. Ironically, more funds are used to fund the military to fight the militia groups (Cetin, Keser, & Ay, 2019). When the economy is adversely affected, the cost and standards of living for the citizens rise.

Scanlon (2019) explains that tourism is one of the significant sectors that is affected by terrorism in India. India is a significant tourist destination that attracts many people around the world, but security and safety are major concerns. Tourism is a major revenue generator in India, and when the number of tourists decreases due to crime, the economy is also adversely affected. According to Gaibulloev, Oyun, and Younas (2019), crime and tourist arrival in India are inversely proportional. Kumar, Kanujiya, and Kumar (2019) explain that for maximum revenue to be generated from tourism activities in India, crime rates must drastically drop or be reduced by the government. According to Chakraborty (2019), tourism plays a significant role in the economy of a country since it facilitates the development and running of hotels, catering companies, airlines, and other essential sectors.

Due to issues of terrorism in the past few years, the number of tourists who fly to India annually has drastically reduced, leading to the loss of jobs for millions of workers, and others are in the risk of been demoted in the future too (Gautam & Jain, 2019). Das (2019) explains that terrorism also increases India's expenditure since the military is deployed to man the country, and the tuff rule is also applied at the borders. Das (2019) explains that terrorism may damage a tourist destination's reputation for its comfort and attractiveness, and as a result, the country may incur huge loses and fail to generate the desired amount of revenue annually.

According to Parida, Bhardwaj, and Chowdhury (2015), the various incidences of terrorism in India have led to interference with international trade. Lutz and Lutz (2017) explain that trade routes and distribution systems are compromised by insecurity in the country. Insecurity also causes foreign direct investment to be unstable, especially since India is an already developed country. Gautam and Jain (2019) cite that the 9/11 terrorist attacks caused a loss of over $100 billion and had an indirect effect on stock market volatility and other factors too.

Chaudhry, Roubaud, Akhter, and Shahbaz (2018) explain that when terrorist attacks happen, the government and its citizens are more likely to surrender their political and economic freedoms for security reasons. According to Ranga and Pradhan (2014), the Indian government is often reactive when insecurity incidences occur in the state. During such times, taxes go up, and there is higher inflation than in normal times (Cheetham, 2011). When terrorist attacks happen, the Indian government often implements price controls, and most of the country's industries are nationalized. According to Bandyopadhyay and Younas (2014), terrorist attacks have been affecting the Indian financial markets in significant ways. There is uncertainty in the markets, which is not a good thing in economics since even those who live far from where the terrorist attacks happen. In many instances, financial markets close, and some do not recover. Therefore, some parts of India are considered to be unsafe for settling or establishing businesses (Shabbir, 2018). International investments are also affected since many business people do not risk to build their entities in insecure regions.

Research Outline

The research design in this project will contain three primary sections, data collection, measurement, and analysis. The research will be carried out in India to investigate how terrorism has impacted on the country's economy for the past decades. Quantitative data collection methods will be used to make it easier to sort data and illustrate it in the form of charts and graphs.

Interviews

The interviewees will be carefully selected through probability sampling to ensure than anyone listed has an equal chance of been involved. The standardized, open-ended interview will be used where similar questions will be asked to all the participants. In this case, the respondents will be free to answer the questions as they please and in their own terms. For instance, a worker in the tourism department will give different opinions and perspectives as those of an economist in a different department. Therefore, "no," or "yes" answers will not be required of any participant. The interviews will be faster and will be easily analyzed and compared using the standardized interview format. At the end of the session, the different answers from the interviewees will be assessed to come up with a conclusive argument.

Three types of interviews will be conducted. First, online video calls will be considered for those interviewees who will not be available physically. Some of the platforms that will be used are skype and other video interviews through the internet. Face-to-face interviews will also be conducted where participants will be required to physically avail themselves where they will be asked the structured questions and answer while being recorded. Therefore, data will be collected directly from the participants. The advantage of a face-to-face interview is that quality data will be collected, and the interviewer will have the opportunity to ask detailed questions, which will give conclusive data (Quinlan, Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2019). Apart from information conveyed verbally, non-verbal cues will also be observed through observation. During the interviews, computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) will be applied to capture data and directly upload it into the database. The use of CAPI will be convenient since the entire process will be paperless and easy to retrieve when needed.

The first plan is to use interviews to conduct the research. The interview questions will be derived considering the current state of the economy in India and the terrorist attacks that have occurred in the last two decades. The wording will be open-ended so that the interviews are not forced to answer questions in a specific manner. Instead, they will have the opportunity to choose their own terms while answering the questions. Secondly, the questions will be neutral and not have phrases that might influence the answers. The questions will be structured according to their level of severity. The questions that will need concrete answers, and evidence will come first. Before conducting the interviews, it will be crucial to learn about Indian culture to avoid being insensitive during the session. The "why" questions will be carefully selected so that the respondents do not feel defensive in any manner.

Regarding the preparation of the interview, several factors will be considered to create a good environment for the participants. The first step will be choosing a setting with minimal or no distraction. For instance, it should be a place with no noises or irritating lighting to ensure that the interviewees are comfortable. Since some of the interviewees will have busy schedules, it could also be convenient to conduct the exercise in the comfort of their offices or homes. Once the interviewees are settles, they will be guided through the purpose of the exercise and why the answers are important for the research. For example, it ill be vital to get information and government statistics regarding the decline of tourism activities in India after the various terrorist attacks in that country.

The interviewees will be assured of confidentiality if they wish to be anonymous. There will be an explanation regarding ho will access their answers and comments. Any information given by the interviewees will not be used without their permission and consent. The format of the interview will also be explained to the participants systematically. It will be essential to explain to them the type of interview being conducted and why it is necessary. In t...