Recent blast at the German Bakery in Pune has brought terrorism again on centre stage. After the blast, security agencies and media went on conventional lines drawing their judgments swiftly. Unfortunately the so-called “war on terror” is being fought by the government without any political will and plan. Moreover, no true analysis of the circumstances that breed terrorism has ever been made. Such deliberate lack of understanding has resulted in weakening our fight against terrorism.
Our intellectuals are divided on ideological lines of Left or Right and in an immature way they confront terrorism on those lines without pondering over the consequences. It is high time that we take terrorism seriously and analyse it by rising above party or ideological barriers.
Terrorism is not a new phenomenon. It is as old as the concept of empires. The oldest known organisation that may be called terrorist was the zealots of Judea who carried out assassination of Roman occupation forces. From the days of Roman Empire to the 17th century, terrorism was used as a means of settling feud. Contemporary terrorism began in 1968 when PFLP hijacked EIAI airlines en route from Tel Aviv to Rome. No doubt most shocking act of terrorism was Sept 11, 2001 attack on World Trade Centre. India too witnessed some of the major terrorist attacks like Parliament attack and Mumbai bomb blast.
It is very interesting to note that even though terrorism has become a global phenomenon in one or the other form but it has no internationally recognised definition.
A study of Jeffrey Records (1 December, 2003, P.6) for the US Army quoted a source (Schmid and Jangman, 1988) that counted 109 definitions of terrorism. Record says, “Terrorism expert Walter Laqueur also has counted over 100 definitions” and concludes that the “only general characteristic agreed upon is that terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence”. But there are certain other areas where violence was used like demolition of Babri Mosque (1992), Genocide of Muslims in Gujarat (2002) and Shiv Sena threat to North Indians but we shy away by categorising them as terrorism.
Further, Angus Martin in a “Paper” to Australian Parliament (December 12, 2002) notes that, “The international community has never succeeded in developing an acceptable comprehensive definition of terrorism”. So when we have no authentic definition of terrorism, how the problem itself will be understood or the laws may be enacted?
As a citizen of civilized and peace-loving nation, we have responsibilities to evolve an effective counter strategy against all shades of terrorism. We must advance a non-negotiable message that terrorism is intolerable and terrorists will not be allowed an excuse or any type of grievances. Terrorism affects all of us, so we all should be involved in countering it. In this process, civil society and religious leaders should stand up to confront terrorism.
A large number of terrorist groups, say social analysts, have flourished due to local or regional grievances or aspirations. An important element which is often overlooked in war against terrorism is that it flourished in socio-political set-up in which human rights are frequently violated. Experience indicates that disproportionate use of force and arbitrary suppression by the governments enlarge support base of terrorists in masses. State terrorism should also be confronted by all those people who believe in democracy and civilized society. By condoning state terrorism, we are losing moral rights to oppose individual terrorism.
It has become a regular feature to condone some terrorist attacks and overreact against others. That is making the situation complicated. Investigating agencies have also developed a tendency to have pre-conceived notions. We are increasingly overlooking the fact that Saffron brigade was involved in bomb blasts in Nanded and Kanpur. Of late evidences are pouring out indicating hands of Hindutva terrorists in the attack on Mosques at Hyderabad, Ajmer, Jama Masjid Delhi and Malegaon. It is no secret now that bomb attacks in Thane, Vashi and Panvel were engineered by Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Jana Jagriti Samiti. Latest reports in media are saying that Hindutva terrorists may be involved in the recent Pune blast as well. Hence, bomb blast or terrorism is not monopoly of any religious community. There should be political will to deal with terrorism with an iron hand in a non-selective manner.
Unfortunately our governments are habitual to overlook certain signals. Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray called for raising suicide squads. He wrote, “The only way Islamic terror can be tackled was by unleashing Hindu terror. It is time to set up Hindu suicide squads to ensure safety of the Hindu society.” (D. Mitra, “Shiv Sena’s Thackeray urges Hindus to form Suicide Squads to tackle Islamic fundamentalism”, International Business Times, October 6, 2008). Extensive debate and research is needed on the paramilitary culture of Hindutva organisations because this culture is developing the psyche for violence and is threatening the security of the nation.
When India became free, we gave ourselves a Constitution which ensured dignity of the individual and unity of the nation. We proclaimed ourselves civilized. The least that a Constitutionally governed and civilized nation owes to the people is to ensure that all Indians become equal – legally, socially and economically. There should be no different yardsticks in dealing with terrorism. If even now our ruling elite failed to locate breeding centre of terrorism, then we are risking our socio-politico structure to collapse. We must re-define terrorism and catch those who are pursuing terrorist acts in the name of nationalism and religion.
[The writer is Aligarh-based freelance socio-political commentator]