TERRORISM : India's Unending War !!

TERRORISM:A GLOBAL MENACE
The sound of the guns have faded.The explosions are no more heard.But the 26/11 incident has left an imprint on the minds of the countrymen which they would never want to remember.The year 2008 has ended in a way no citizen would have ever imagined and wanted and has left the world pondering on how to deal with this global menace.
Terrorism,a result of fanaticism of a sect or community has grown to alarming levels during the past decade,destabilising the equilibrium of world politics and posing a serious threat to international peace and security.It is thus the biggest challenge the world community is facing in the new millennium.
The Oxford Dictionary defines terrorism as an act of violence and intimidation to achieve political aims.
It is thus a conflict between social groups and political forces.





CAUSES OF TERRORISM
It may be hard to find many causes of terrorism.Terrorism spreads its tentacles because of the orthodox and staunch believes of a few people or community,who,because of their strong views and rigid attitude remain secluded from the mainstream international political arena.The strong believes of the community of these people are the major hinderance in becoming a part of the present global world which is growing at an astounding pace to address and meet the challenges of the modern world viz.education,unemployment,,

environmental degredation,sanitation,poverty,labour,malnutrition to name a few.
Thus there is a conflict of ideas and interests between the members of these communities and the rest of the world and to achieve their aim they use violent methods and tactics.They aim to establish their government and rule the world by using terror tactics,killing large number of innocent people through highly sophisticated and modern weapons and techniques and also intimidating and pressurizing world community by holding people hostage to meet their demands.
Thus violent methods of genocide are used in terrorism.
These terrorist organizations have a huge a mass support base as the frustrated and deluded youth fall an easy prey to them.These youth are highly indoctrinated to support the cause of the organization or community by giving inflammatory speeches and other means and are trained to handle sophisticated weapons and deal with insurgency and guerrilla warfare operations.The financial,weapons and training support for these organizations come from smuggling,drug trafficking,loot,arson,

extortion and collecting ransom for hostages as well as from a few other organizations who support these communities in their movement against democratic governments.
History has been a witness to the fact that in case of major terror strikes across the globe,the aim apart from violence and intimidation has been to destabilise the government and the country as well as to bring about a change in the leadership by showing their strength.

TERRORISM:INDIAN PERSPECTIVE
India has been a victim of terrorism for more than three decades.The terrorist forces have been operating within the country as well as from across the border to bring about a revolutionary change and disturb the secular and democratic fabric of the country.
Terrorists in the past few decades have struck heavily on the country targeting major cities and vital and strategic buildings and installations killing a large number of innocent people.Some of them may be described as below:
1.Mumbai:The commercial capital of Mumbai has always been the soft target of terrorists.Apart from the serial blasts of March 12,1993 and the terror strikes at The Taj,Oberoi Trident and Nariman House on November 26,2008,terrorists have always struck at the very heart of this cosmopolitan city to destroy it.Some of the other major strikes of Mumbai are:The Ghatkopar bomb blasts on January 27,2003,The blasts in Mulund on July 28,2003,The two car bomb blasts at The Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar on July 11,2006 and the blasts in the local trains in July 2006.
2.New Delhi:New Delhi,the national capital,the centre and hub of all political activity has also been a major centre of terrorist strikes.Three bomb blasts rocked Delhi on October 29,2005 killing and injuring many.Another serial blast happened on September 13,2008 in which six bombs were exploded killing around 20 people and injuring more than 100.Yet another terror strike took place on September 27,2008 killing and injuring 23 people.
Besides Delhi has also been a witness to the biggest terrorist strike of the country.The attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13,2001.
The terrorists from time to time have also struck other major cities like Varanasi [March 7,2006],Hyderabad [August 25,2007],Lucknow [November 23,2007],Jaipur [May 13,2008],Bangalore [July 25,2008],Ahemadabad [July 26,2008].
The Prime Minister of India while addressing the International Conference of Jurists on Terrorism,Rule of Law and Human Rights on December 13,2008 said “The terrorists strike in India were aimed at weakning the fabric of our nationhood.By weakning the fabric of our nationhood these terrorists seek to destroy our well being and the foundation of our prosperity.Their is a method to their madness.”He also said that terrorists were posing threat to “liberal democracies” and “pursuit of secular ideals”.
Some of the major terrorists groups operating from within the country and from across the borders and posing a threat to world peace and security are:
1.Hizbul Mujahideen:Its leader Syed Salahuddin co-ordinates the activities of the organization from Pakistan.
2.Lashkar-e-Toiba:This organization has its headquarters in Murdike near Lahore.Lashkar-e-Toiba trained caders help the Hizbul Mujahideen and other pro Pakistani groups.
3.Jaish-e-Mohammad:It was founded in January 2000 under the leadership of Maulana Masood Azhar.The group is suspected behind the attack on Indian Parliament and the killing of British journalist Daniel Pearl.
4.Harkat-ul-Mujahideen:This organization has been focussing on jihad in Jammu and Kashmir.Also helped terrorists in Phillippines,Chechanaya and in the Arkan region of Myanmar.
5.Students Islamic Movement of India:It was formed in 1977 in Aligarh[U.P.].Some of its members went to Pakistan in the late 1980’s and were trained by the Jamat-e-Islami.Its activities have spread to different parts of India.Sometimes acts on its own and on other times in co-operation with Lashkar-e-Toiba.
6.Al Qaeda:It operates on Indian Territory through its Pakistani supporters namely Lashkar-e-Toiba,Harkat-ul-

Mujahideen,Harkat-ul-jihadi islami and Jaish-e-Mohammad.Also committed to disturb international peace by its terrorist’s activities all over the world.

COUNTERING TERRORISM
The threat of terrorism which has grown to dangerous levels in the recent times has been the most daunting task for India as well as the International community.It is an act against humanity which has no place in a civilized society.This problem has been the major hinderance in the progress and development of the modern world.Some of the methods that may be adopted to tackle terrorism may be stated as follows:
1.Strengthening Intelligence Network:The intelligence network needs to be strengthened.Further better co-ordination should be established between the intelligence and the law enforcement agencies.
2.Mordenising Forces:The police and other security forces should be given proper training for dealing with terrorist activities and provided with modern weapons and sophisticated equipmints like GPS and Navigation systems to deal with such activities effectively.Further,more security personnel may be recruited and a special force may be formed for dealing with terrorism.
3.Strict Vigil along borders: Security along the porous borders of the country may be tighetened and strict vigil may be maintained to prevent any act of infiltration.
4.Severest punishment for the perpetrators and the abettors of the crime:The punishment should be imposed not only on the perpetrators of such acts but also on the abettors of such heinous crime.In the recent years this fact has come to light that some of the terrorists strikes happened because the terrorists managed to sneak into the country by bribing the persons manning our borders by money obtained through hawala channels.Thus severest punishment like death penalty may be imposed on such persons who are equally guilty of abetting terrorism and have the audacity of comprising with the security of the country.
5.Enacting anti terror laws:Anti terror laws should be enacted and implememted with sincerity and right earnest and should not be used as a mere ploy to fulfil vested interests and gain political advantage.
6.Rising above partisan politics:For dealing with terrorism the country should stand united as a whole and the political parties should stand above party lines and ideologies .In the recent past some of the political parties have been symphatising with the families of those involved in the terrotists attacks on some of the Indian cities for their votebank politics.The vested interests and votebank politics should be avoided at all costs to deal effectively with this global threat.

CONCLUSION
Terrorism has always posed a serious threat to world peace and security.This brutal act against mankind should be condemned in the severest words and the International community should stand united as a whole to deal with this global crime and also to fulfill the objectives of the United Nations of maintaining international peace and security.

Saurabh Sinha
(KANPUR)
[saurabh_sinha3@rediffmail.com]

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