Terrorism

Terrorism Terrorism is the gravest challenge faced by the world today. It has threatened the peace, security and even the very existence of nations and states of the contemporary world. Countries round the globe consider themselves to be in state of war against this enemy terrorism. The current waive of terrorism is a result of complex issues which have been mismanaged over time. Unresolved international disputes, economic and political exploitation, misadventures of the so-called super powers, extremism, absence of tolerance and understanding can be regarded as mainly responsible for the spread of terrorism. Owing to its devastating and far-reaching implications, urgent and formidable actions are needed to counteract it effectively. As terrorism is a global issue, so global solutions are needed. Global balance of power needs to be equated. Equitable resolution of international disputes, focusing on social issues, promoting tolerance and understanding, and above all, taking the responsibility and demonstrating commitment to tackle this issue can prove helpful. In the following pages, an attempt has been made to probe and understand terrorism, examine the current scenario and historical tends of terrorism, evaluate different perspectives on terrorism, throw light on factors responsible for it and its implications and suggest ways how to deal with it. Terrorism is a vague term. Its vagueness explains its complicated nature. To put it simply, the word ‘terrorism’ means extreme and intense fear. Terrorism is using terror as a strategy to achieve some objectives. Death, physical harm, mental and emotional torture are its main tools for intimidation. Recently, various attempts have been made to define it precisely enough to obtain a common definition of the phenomenon. International summit on Democracy, security and Terrorism held in Madrid in 2006, defines it as ‘it is the intimidation of a population by an individual or group so as to force a legitimate government or an international organization towards or against an action. However, there has been no universally agreed upon definition of terrorism which remains a serious issue in talking the problem effectively. Consequently, it becomes difficult to demarcate clearly between terrorism and non-terrorism. The adage, “ One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” is an expression of this fact. In the same way, yesterday’s heroes are today’s terrorists and vice versa. However, despite this controversy over definition of the term, the fact remains that it poses one of the greatest threats to human race. People in every continent of the world have been victims of terrorism. Violence, bomb blasts, killings and militant movements are common and ordinary phenomenon in today’s world. Almost every news channel every day would report these incidents occurring on almost daily basis. These terror incidents have become an inherent component of lives, of our world. And perhaps the saddest part of it is that there seems no limits to this phenomenon of terrorism. Bomb blasts, shooting, target killing and the like are not the only instance of terrorism. Television in specific and electronic media in general also subject people to terrorism. That is why it is said that terrorism has descended upon the whole world as a curse. We have become so used to it that perhaps we cannot now even imagine that the world can become free of terrorism. It shows the intensiveness and extensiveness of the problem. Besides, terrorism so prevalent can be seen at different levels and of different kinds. It can be state-terrorism which means terrorism at the level of state, sponsored and executed by a state. Terrorism in Kashmir and Palestine are typical examples of state terrorism. And secondly, terrorism can be waged by Non State Actors; the most recent example of which is the Mumbay Attacks in November 2008. In non-state terrorism, individuals or groups are involved in the events of terrorism. Terrorism is also divided on the basis of the motivation that terrorists employ as cause are justification for their activities. On these lines, there are terrorists who are motivated religiously and others motivated politically. The former makes the bulk of today’s terrorists, although politically motivated terrorism is also very prevalent. Further, sometimes clear demarcation between the two is not possible. Al qaida, taliban and Zionism are primarily regarded as religious in nature while the Tamil tigers or even the Balochistan militants are considered political in nature. Perhaps the most important part of the terrorism phenomenon round the globe are the victims of terrorism. These are the people who ultimately bear the brunt. The saddest fact about these victims is that mostly they are innocent. Among these victims, the people of Iraq and Afghanistan are towards the top of the list. Citizens of both these countries became victim to one of the history’s most ridiculous and ironic misadventures of the present day sole super power- the pre-emptive strikes. They were to eliminate WMD, instead, they destroyed the peace of Iraqi citizens. History is replete with the horrible tales of terrorism. Obviously, terrorism is not a new phenomenon. So the Iraq or Afghanistan disasters are not the only instance of human misery at hands of terrorism. Human mind has not yet forgotten the horrific deaths and miseries brought by the two word wars. Before that, the colonialism had also brought unimaginable misery upon the innocent people in the colonized regions. All these massive terrorism instances are apart from the terrorism inflicted by feudalism regionally, across the world. There are numerous examples of economic exploitation and violence in history as well. The bloodiest of all, the French revolution is the typical example. Then there are tales of religious terrorism in history which are no less in horror than any other kind of terrorism. Coming back to the current scenario, one can observe similarities between today’s terrorism and that of the past. However, there are contrasting aspects also. One of the particular features of today’s terrorism is that it is generally widely associated with Muslims. It is generally believed that the concept of jihad in Islam results in terrorism. Most people consider Jihad and terrorism synonymous with each other. In fact, it is not true. Jihad has been misinterpreted by many, particularly west. Jihad is actually struggle against oppression, aggression and cruelty. While terrorism has no rules. Unfortunately, Muslims all over the world feel that they are being treated unfairly. Palestine, Kashmir and Chechnya are the most evident and obvious examples of it. That is why the people of the above mentioned regions are struggling for their legitimate right. Their struggle became violent because these issues have become chronic. To look into the above mentioned long-standing conflicts and understand their nature can help us understand the root causes of terrorism today. Disputes like these are actually the breeding grounds for terrorism. If these issues have been solved immediately after they emerged, the world could have been different today. These issues must be solved equitably as soon as possible. Understanding and trust has been absent among nations, religions, and particularly between east and west, especially USA. USA and Europe are involved in the so-called great game to indefinitely dominate the world. They also went to get hold of the natural resources like oil in the Middle East and gas in central Asian region. It is believed that this oil politics is the reason why west is not showing the will to stabilize the danger zones of the world. The double standard of the west are also causing anger amongst many and turning them to terrorists. Extremism, particularly religious extremism is also one of the major causes of terrorism around the world. But the roots of extremisms can be traced to lack of social infrastructure i.e. poverty, education and the like. What is the way forward? How to deal with terrorism? This is the most urgent and most important question. Following are some suggested strategies to reduce or rather eliminate terrorism: - Balancing the global power equation. - Equitable resolution of the world major disputes i.e. Kashmir, Palestine. - Focusing on social issues like poverty & education. - Rationally normalizing the danger zones of the world like Afghanistan. - Finding economic resources other them oil, so that the west’s strategic and economic interests can be secured alternatively. - Promotions interfaith harmony and understanding for peaceful coexistence. - Taking responsibility for the mess created by our own hands and then showing the will to effect change, so that our future generation can be saved: As Madiha Lodhi noted: There is no silver bullet which can address the issue of terrorism in all its complexities, there fore, it is concluded here that by addressing all the above causes through the suggested strategies, there can be hope that we would see a peaceful world free from the menace of terrorism. Thanks to Urooj