Confronted with a rising tide of violence in wide areas across the country, there is much talk today of the need for development, political and land reforms, and the social emancipation of long-neglected populations in areas of persistent or escalating conflict. Development, we are repeatedly told, is the only solution to the menace of widening insurgencies and terrorist movements; unless we address the 'root causes' of poverty, backwardness and deprivation in these areas, the extremist forces will only go from strength to strength.