The string of terrorist attacks across Asia this year -- from Jakarta to Pathankot, India, to Dhaka -- has highlighted the growing scourge of jihad in the region. Several factors have contributed to this.
Some Muslim communities are caught in a vicious circle of exploding populations, chronic unemployment, high illiteracy and fast-spreading extremism. In Bangladesh, among other troubled states, the intersection of political instability, popular discontent, resource stress and population pressure has formed a deadly cocktail of internal disarray, fostering a pervasive jihad culture.