The 2018 Middle East Studies Forum at Deakin University Biannual Conference, Trump and the Middle East, held 29-31 October 2018 at Deakin University’s Burwood Campus in Melbourne, features a number of panels on varieties of religious and violent extremism and hate speech across South Asia.
Please see the attached conference flyer or go to http://www.mesf.org.au/conference-announcement/ for full details about the conference venue, registration procedures and program.
Panels proposed for Days 2 and 3 of the MESF conference on religious and violent extremism in South Asia include:
Day 2, 30 October (1500-1700): South Asia Stream Panel--ONE
Chair: Prof Howard Brasted, University of New England
● Howard Brasted: University of New England, Introduction to the South Asia Stream
● Samina Yasmin: University of Western Australia, Comparing Narratives of Jamaatud Dawah
● Shafi Mostafa: University of New England, Bangladesh: A Fertile Ground for Daesh’s Recruitment
● Felix Pal: ANU, Syncretic Extremism: Muslims reinterpreting Islam in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
● Saira Bano Orakzai: Harvard University, Violent Religious Extremism in Pakistan: The Role of Silsila’s, Traditional bent, and Golden Chain
Day 3, 31 October (1315-1445): South Asia Stream Panel--TWO
Chair: Dr Zahid Ahmed, Deakin University
● Stuti Bhatnagar: University of Adelaide, Social Media and Hindu Extremism in India
● Rebecca Devitt: Monash University, Buddhist Extremism, Social Media and Hate Speech in Sri Lanka
● Imran Ahmed: University of New England, Religion, Extremism and the State in Pakistan: Colonial Continuities and Modern Paradoxes
Day 3, 31 October (1515-1645): South Asia Stream Panel--THREE
Chair: TBA
● Arshi Saleem Hashmi: National Defence University Pakistan, Changing Dynamics of Religious Extremism: Rise of Religiously Motivated Urban Violence in India and Pakistan
● Anita M Weiss: University of Oregon, The Potential of Non-State Actors to Counter Violent Extremism in Pakistan: Innovative Efforts to promote Interfaith Harmony and Understanding
● DB Subedi: University of the South Pacific, Religious extremism and neo‐nationalism in Sri Lanka: Perspectives on Buddhist-Muslim relations and co-existence
● Zahid Ahmed: Deakin University, Countering violent extremism in South Asia: a critical analysis of policies and actions
Please check the MESF website, http://www.mesf.org.au/conference-announcement/ for confirmation of papers and panels as the conference date draws near.