Terrorism is one of the major problems which have severely crippled human society. It’s alarmingly dangerous & widespread that it cut across sect, regio-economic divisions and become order of day in some parts of world. It feeds on fear, political frustration and unjustified fanaticism and don’t hesitate to encourage violence on its very supporters. They tries every possible guerrilla warfare techniques ranging from abduction, bombing, hijack to occasional direct confrontation. Their only motive to compel government for negotiations beyond reasons. It continues to thrive on with ineffectiveness of authorities and creates mistrust among masses. World had lost millions of lives during course of time.
Terrorism, it’s not just a decade or a century old. Its history dates back to 1st century when Jewish zealots have to fight Romans, strong Shia sect of Muslims massacred innocents who denied their practices. We also know very well that our ancient golden era also witnessed raiding, massacres as a consequence of several lootings, a section of Hindu thugees killing innocents and animals as a part of rituals. Lately or so, since century long, lousy political motives primarily induced terrorism in world. Unlike India and very few nations, most of the third world relied on violent means to get independence. The Irish republic army planted a bomb in a mall killing Lord Mountbatten and narrowly missed assignation of then British PM Margaret thatcher. LTTE’s in early 90’s in India assassinated Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi. In 60-70’s, the leftist group bombed several places across Europe, assassinating several key imminent personalities. This barbarian acts has very little to serve to their military strategy but it creates fear insecurity among masses and proves that even an overwhelmingly powerful government can be shaken.
In India, terrorist activities began to surface in the north- eastern corridor in the late 60’s – early 70’s in Assam. There were tension between illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who were that time accumulated a significant majority in that region. The student union started agitation initially with Dharma, Satyagraha but soon it turned violent during election time. The govt only then neend se uth gaya & they arrived at a treaty to let those live in India who came before 1971 and the rest has to face expulsion. The situation doesn’t seem to be boiled down there. This illegal immigration didn’t stopped and now they are much more rehearsed with the constitution and political ways & the output is quite visible of what happened in protests in Mumbai.
Assam faced another problem of Bodos and ULFA. Govt. learned from the past and had had given Bodos special administration autonomy. But things didn’t stop over there and ULFA had to be curbed through harsh military action. But those were the days of 70’s and electronic media and twitter was yet to be innovated. So most of these events were unheard of and neglected.
India first got to hear about terrorism when Bhindrawale and his followers ferociously propagated the idea of Sikh’s being isolated owing to their minority and social differences. They went on to support demands of a separate nation and occupied golden temple in Amritsar in 1984. There were advanced arms in the hands of militants hiding in holy shrine & planning for an uprising. The army was forced to attack golden temple which resulted in killings of hundreds of innocent people and millions got hurt sentimentally because during course of action, part of Akal Takht and holy shrine was also damaged. Later it led to assignation of Indira Gandhi and Punjab CM then Beant singh. Recently, Gen. Brar, who led the operation, was also attacked in London.
Soon after that insurgency started incubating sponsored by some radical groups and neighbouring countries, forcing Kashmiri Pandits out of their homes. They killed lot many innocent and imminent people, likes of Gulshan Kumar. To sum up, they made the heaven be fortified permanently. In the meantime, their activities extended to rest of India. We still remember the attack on Ayodhya temple just after Babri Masjid demolition. Even the city widely known for its peace and integrity, Varanasi also suffered two bombing, in 2006 &’10, not to mention stampede after that. To append to that one, there was an attack on Indian Parliament in 2001. We still can’t forget the series blast of 93 and the rioting during that time. They soon recognized the importance of rich western and southern corridor and their activities largely focused on economic capital & crowded areas, which includes numerous bombings in trains and buses with vehement one like 26/11.
How to end war on terror?
By counterattacking, killing the last terrorist exists. Beheading 10’s in exchange for 1. Certainly not. We might tempted to agree and do exactly what American did after 9/11. but it ultimately serves very little at the end. In fact, it will set up a never ending cycle of retribution that eventually cost innocent lives on both sides. There’s even large probability that these terrorist turn the tide in their favour as they did in the Palestine conflict.
The best way to end this is lies in attacking on root of evil. By instilling trust on authorities governed. By giving affected vulnerable people equal opportunities. Making sure that we have unbiased policing and other surveillance authorities which identifies criminals by their deed and not by the region, religion they belong to. Military authorities should keep a check on actions of their officers and soldiers and by strongly acting against those who failed to behold the standard code of engagement. Judiciary can assure people that no guilty soul left punished & would be treated equally even if he’s a film star. Policy makers, instead of panicking and making underdog statements, make sure to amend harsher laws & to ensure its working. And not but the list, we all. We must inform to nearby police station if found some extremists are on verge of bring about vile intentions. After all, it’s our someone who’s going to suffer and it’s only we who can stop it. That’s what our democracy taught us.
Shivam
Crave Your way 