Terrorism a global menace

Author: T H Chowdary
Publication: The Organiser
Date: October 14, 2001
 
The destruction of the World Trade Center in New York and one of the buildings of the Pentagon in Washington with the consequent loss of thousands of lives highlights the monstrous dimensions terrorism has grown to. This has been coming for quite sometime. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian outfits have made terrorism an instrument of political action. Hijacking of planes and passenger boats, blowing up aircraft and ships, hostage taking and killing the hostages, bombing buildings indiscriminately, gunning down school children, athletes (in the Berlin Olympics) citizens in streets and hotels have all become too commons for those who claim that they are waging a struggle for freedom', for independence and against nation's enemies'. We have been seeing continuous acts of terrorism in Palestine and in other areas of West Asia for the last 50 years. In the last 20 years, terrorism had raised its ugly head in India also. In the 1980's in the Punjab some of our Sikh citizens had been incited, financed and harbored and set on to terroristic acts in support of Khalistan, i.e., the creation of an independent sovereign Sikh state, by Pakistan. In the last 10 years the Muslim population of J&K had been incited to insurgency in the name of self-determination for the Muslims to join Pakistan. Terrorists in the Punjab took a heavy toll of civilian lives. They are now committing horrible crimes in Kashmir. The terrorists in Kashmir are not only inspired by, but also abetted and financed and replenished and provided with safe havens across the "line of control" by Pakistan. Fanatical Muslims from several parts of central and west Asia are missioned into jehad to get into Kashmir and maim and kill and blast the civilian populations. Tens of thousands of theological schools in Pakistan and on either side of the Indo-Pakistan border have been producing jehadists to be injected into Kashmir. Our neighbour Pakistan publicly proclaims that it is bound to give diplomatic, political and ideological support to the Muslims in Kashmir and calls the terrorists acts a fight for freedom. The terrorists have succeeded in driving out all the Hindus from the Kashmir valley; that is ethnic cleansing. Now they have extended their depredations to the Jammu region and even into Himachal Pradesh and elsewhere in India. Their accomplices, inspirers and financiers are also indulging in terrorism. Drug smuggling and money-laundering on a large scale finance these terrorists activities. It is also very plain that the terrorists activities cannot be sustained without the terrorist especially those injected from foreign countries being provided a shelter within the country. It is not unknown as to who are providing as a matter of principle shelter and logistics to the terrorists. India has been waging a very long drawn war against these terrorists with its hands tied very badly and its freedom of action curtailed very severely. Free, open, democratic societies suffer from various limitations in tackling the terrorists. The human rights and freedoms given to citizens and the most exacting laws to convict the guilty are exploited by the terrorists to go scot-free. Collaborationist intellectuals say that unless judicially satisfactory proof is available, no terrorist should be harmed. These human rights, civil rights and such activists are absolutely silent about the civil rights and human rights of the victims. In fact, to these intellectuals it is the victims who are responsible for driving some sections to terrorism and insurgency.

India's war against terrorist and secessionist movements in certain parts of its territory has received little attention and much less sympathy from the great powers like even the USA so far. They would advise India to have a "negotiated political' settlement. That the settlement means surrender to the demands of the terrorists is not realised by them. That is, until the USA finds that the symbols of its economic and military power are being destroyed by the terrorists in their smashing of the WTC and the Pentagon by using America as the base, American aircraft to bomb and Americans facilities to train pilots and bombers. American pride and power are humbled. Of course it is not only America that is humbled; all the civilized countries are humbled. That suicide squads can strike at any time with impunity is what is once again proved by this horrendous destruction in New York and Washington. Suicide squads have been causing havoc in Israel and India for the past few years; USA and the rest of the world were not moved till now. India being the victim of this terrorism and knowing its source and how it is being nurtured and hurled at, easily appreciates the American's resolve to strike at the roots of terrorism. This particular bombing has come from the organisation financed and led by Osama bin Laden, safely sheltered in Afghanistan. The Islamic state and government of Afghanistan has been boldly proclaiming that it is waging a jehad against infidels and that it targets the United States (for its support to India) for not agreeing to Muslim Kashmir to secede from India and Israel for itself not agreeing to be destroyed by the Palestinians. India would have loved that the USA and its allies had realised much earlier what a menace the Talibani Islamic government in Afghanistan and its patron and protectors are. Pakistan had been, of course, just like America, taking actions guided by its national interest. So should India be guided by its national interest in the global fight now sought to be led by the US against terrorism whatever label and whatever characterization is put on it.

It is however very strange that in India we have a set of people usually called the et progressive, Leftist, socialist, democratic, secular" intellectuals and parties that include the Communists and various residues of the Muslim league and some "former prime ministers" with no constituency who say that the fight against terrorism is alright but who the terrorists should be established by evidence before any action is taken against those who are called terrorists!

The terrorists in India are not only in Kashmir, but they are in Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Machilipatnam, Meerut, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and everywhere. Thousands of ISI agents are directing and financing the terrorists. They are not living in thin air or on the road-side but they are sheltered in homes and oven in places of worship. Their movement and the distribution of RDX, weapons and arms are all facilitated by collaborators. Their organisations in India have been now and then proclaiming that their terrorist actions are in support of fight for justice and self-determination; fight against oppression. Some have claimed that the bombings are their work. All these are exploiting the freedoms and legal systems and the civil and human rights that a civilised nation like India gives, to destroy this very country. This is the- problem in tackling the terrorists. In India, terrorists and their supporting organisations are freely maiming and killing and blasting anybody and anything but the government and its organs are required to establish according to due processes of law, evidence of their guilt, say the "Left, democratic, secular, progressive" intellectuals. In other words, the terrorists and their supporters and the human and civil rights people associated with terrorists are saying: "Terrorism is bad. The terrorists must of course be put down, but you must find out and establish with evidence who is a terrorist and what is the crime that he has committed. Only then, he should be awarded the punishments that law permits." When challenged that why don't you help the State and its organs to identify the terrorists, they say it is not their duty. They also say that terrorism cannot be tackled by use of force and military; it must be tackled politically. They say that we must study the reasons that produced terrorism. According to them, the reasons are social injustice, deprivation, economic exploitation and non-development and joblessness and therefore alienation of the people. "As long as these evils exist, terrorism is bound to be there. So first tackle the social problems of unemployment, non-development, poverty, social injustice, deprivation, hopelessness, discrimination and atrocities against the poor; only then terrorism will disappear". Is 'it ever possible to solve these problems to the satisfaction of this school of 'Left, democratic, progressive, secular socialist, intellectuals?'

In fact, in a discussion arranged by the most popular Telugu TV channel one of these 'Left, democratic, socialist, secularist, intellectual" who was a participant said that terrorism cannot be put down even by military actions but only by political resolution. When asked whether the 70-year-long socialist state could solve these problems, there was no answer but a repeated insistence that military actions would not solve terrorism. When asked further whether the 70-year-long, socialist, secular, state had eliminated poverty, inequality or corruption there were diversionary formulations. To the suggestion that the totalitarian, remorseless and ruthless elimination of millions of "enemies of the people", that suppression of every type of dissent that hid the ills in that state and in the socialist paradise led to the collapse of such a regime that is revealing the poverty, the deprivation, exploitation and the consequent dissatisfaction etc., the socialist intellectual resorted to repetition of the populist sloganeering like American imperialism, communal fascism of the majority, etc. When it was pointed out that terrorism as a weapon was a weapon prescribed and practised by fundamentalist, exclusivist, political ideologies and religious faiths, the Left intellectual simply denied this.

History clearly teaches us that terrorism as an instrument to achieve political and religious objectives was preached and practised by the prophets of fundamentalists and exclusivist, religious faiths and political ideologies. Civilized states and societies must recall and recognise the acceptance that was accorded to terrorism by on faiths and ideologies. Wars am declared by states against other states and they am governed by some rules like civilians should not be bombed, prisoners of war should be treated humanely, poison gas should nor be used and so on. But a terrorist has no rules. He can practise it against anybody- children, women, old people-in offices, hotels, shops, aircraft. That is why terrorism is barbarism. Since terrorists do not respect any rules and regulations, they should be eliminated ruthlessly. It cannot be that their actions need not be according to law but that they should be dealt within accordance with law. President Bush has vowed that it is not only the terrorists that would be eliminated but who harbor them and those who assist them would also be 'eliminated. This is indeed reassuring, for we in India know that some of our residents do shelter, host and assist the terrorists, native as well as foreign. India like the USA must destroy the shelters and hosts of terrorists. American resolve may at long last arouse India into resolute actions against the most barbaric specter of terrorism that has been taking a heavy toll of limb, life and property in India. How the US tackles terrorism that hurts it maybe a matter for it and. its allies. But India must become resolute, and ruthless to tackle the terrorists, their hosts and helpers, their financiers and their apologists. We must all wish success to American efforts and international cooperation which has been long over-due, should now be forthcoming to tackle this menace and monster of terrorism whatever its labels are. The task to identify those who inspire, train, and launch the terrorists by ideology and purpose is not very difficult. All of them should be watched carefully. In times of war, it is prudence to deal with the accomplices and abettors also in a manner that will disable them at least for the duration of the war against terrorism. There should be no room for sentimentality, for those breeding, promoting and hurling terrorists especially when they themselves arc loudly revealing themselves and their purposes.
 

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