Over the winter of 2019 in India, 519 riots took place causing mass casualties and deaths. This in part was a reaction to the introduction of the Citizenship Amendments Act (CAA), government legislation that enabled non-Muslim immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to become Indian citizens. The exclusion of Muslims was seen by many as a fundamental challenge to principles of secularism enshrined in the Indian Constitution, resulting in violent altercations between protestors, the police and Hindu nationalists. Yet, this was not the only cause. Far removed from CAA agitations, political violence in a variety of forms was waged across India and their neighbouring countries.

To understand the roots of political violence across India, Pakistan and Bangledesh, we speak to Dr Adnan Naseemullah, Reader in International Politics in the Department of War Studies. Discussing his new book, ‘Patchwork States: The Historical Roots of Subnational Conflict and Competition in South Asia’, he argues that the enduring differences in state capacity and state-society relations, built during the colonial period, continue to shape patterns of political violence across the Indian subcontinent.

In bridging the gap between the past and present, he asks us to think critically about the legacy of colonial rule and the state in modern-day conflicts, while keeping in mind that history is not determinative.