The concept of terrorism can be defined as the means of achieving goals through the spread of terror blood shed, destruction of innocent lives and destruction of property. The goal of terrorism is to create havoc and panic, to draw the attention of the whole world towards a particular issue - political or social. Some of the well known terrorist organisations happen to be the I.R.A. (which has been disbanded), the Shining Path organisation, L.T.T.E., the Jaish e’ Mohammad, the Taliban, Lashkar e’ Tayeba, Al-Qaeeda, Indian Mojahadeen and ISIS, to name a few. Some of the audacious attacks carried by terrorist organisations include, the Nine Eleven attack on the World Trade Centre in America, the December attack on the Parliament of India, (incidentally the World’s largest Democracy) the Beslan school attack in Septmber 2004, (that left 704 injured and 394 dead) the attack on a theatre in Moscow carried out by the Chechnyan separatists, the Balli night club attack in Indonesia, the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, terrorist attacks in Delhi and Jaipur…and so on. What is common in all these attacks is that many innocent lives were lost and of course, there was unimaginable damage to property. These attacks caused pain and suffering, a trauma that lives on even today in the minds of people.
The attack on the World Trade centre with the crashing of hijacked planes into the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001, was audacious enough! News channels all over the world showed the two planes crashing into the buildings, there were painful images of the injured and the dead; the images of the towers crumbling into pieces was graphic ecnough. The hijacking of the Indian airlines plane from Kathmandu to Kabul raised the hackles of everyone. The scenes of mutilated bodies of tourists in the Bali night club bombing sent a shiver up the spine. The audacious attack on the Indian parliament on the 13th. of December, 2001, raised questions on the preparedness of the Government in tackling terrorism, the bombings in Jaipur, and the bombings in popular shopping spots in Delhi on 29 October, 2005 brought home the pain and suffering that terrorism can wreak on the lives of the common man. The attack on the Akshardham temple questioned the conscience of the terrorists, the attack on the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi Hotel, the attack on Nariman House in Mumbai on 29 November, 2008, cast a sense of horror and helplessness in the hearts of the common man. The terrorist attack on innocent school children in the school in Beslan brought us a glimpse of the depravity of terrorists who are ready to kill innocent school children. Yesterday’s terrorist bombings in Mumbai have once again raised questions on our preparedness in tackling terrorism. The daring attack on the USS Cole, and the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kenya has proved to us that even the most powerful nation is not safe from attacks by terrorists!
Terrorism seems to have become a monsterous Hydra - no matter which head you crush, another takes its place. The recent killing of Osama Bin Laden seems not to have affected a serpent with so many heads. The bombings which took place in Mumbai, on the 13th of July 2011 marked the birthday of Ajmal Kassab, the only terrorist of the Mumbai attack apprehended by the Indian security agencies. It shows that terrorism is very much alive in India, as also the whole world. The whole world needs to be well prepared to fight terrorism. This can be possible only through sharing of intelligence. The disbanding of the IRA proves that negotiations, discussions, and resorting to the negotiating table can solve a lot of problems and grievances. In cases where solutions cannot be arrived at, Governments have tried to freeze banking accounts of terrorist organizations. Imposing of economic sanctions on terrorist organisation, and nations supporting and promoting terrorism has helped. Finally, when all these steps fail, powerful nations have resorted to the military solution by attacking terrorist camps with missiles and bombs.
The fact remains that terrorism is a serious issue before us today; it threatens to destabilize the world's economy. We need to tackle this problem before it overwhelms us! The loss of innocent human lives cannot be condoned at any cost! We need to explore various options for curing this disease before it overwhelms us. Negotiations continue to be the best alternative, although the imposition of economic sanctions followed by military strikes have been resorted to as the last option. Terrorist camps continue to be run, and various schools are being run which are running a campaign of hatred for fellow humans. This campaign of hatred is spreading a poison which is deadly and highly potent. A disillusioned, and unemployed youth is more liable to fall prey to ruthless campaigns for spreading hatred towards others!
The kidnapping of six foreign tourists in the summer of 1995 in Kashmir 'Changed the face of Modern Terrorism' forever according to Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, the authors of the rather explosive real life thriller, 'The Meadow'. This is a wonderful book, which I suggest everyone should read. Terrorism continues to be a a constant threat under which we are all living. With the world becoming even more fragmented and polarized, the chances of resorting to the gun and the bomb for every small act of omission or commission have become real.
Some must reads on the topic of Global Terrorism are given below:
1. The Meadow (Penguin Edition) by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott Clark
2. No Easy Day (Penguin Edition) by Mark Owen
The kidnapping of six foreign tourists in the summer of 1995 in Kashmir 'Changed the face of Modern Terrorism' forever according to Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, the authors of the rather explosive real life thriller, 'The Meadow'. This is a wonderful book, which I suggest everyone should read. Terrorism continues to be a a constant threat under which we are all living. With the world becoming even more fragmented and polarized, the chances of resorting to the gun and the bomb for every small act of omission or commission have become real.
Some must reads on the topic of Global Terrorism are given below:
1. The Meadow (Penguin Edition) by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott Clark
2. No Easy Day (Penguin Edition) by Mark Owen
Technorati Tags: Terrorism,the final scourge!
No comments:
Post a Comment