GLOBAL ERA OF TERRORISM

Browsing news in the internet has become such an emotionally draining exercise. It is extremely hard to avoid news related to the loss of a large number of civilian life and property throughout the globe. Flipping across newspaper leaflets keeps on revealing more and more blood and gore, accompanied by the implicit raw human emotions of grief, helplessness and anger. Whether it is the mass executions being carried out by ISIS, abductions of children in Nigeria via Boko Haram, the recent killing of school children by the Taliban, incessant attacks on innocent masses in Kashmir and lone wolf attacks across the globe in U.S.A, Australia; one thing is for certain, there has been an unprecedented astronomical rise in terrorist activities across the globe. Are we a living witness to a new era of global history, the era of global terrorism?

Erstwhile centuries had their own issues which captured the minds and bodies of the billions across the globe through their massive collateral impact. The ill-fated world Wars, propagation of imperialism, exploitative exploration and subsequent colonization, princely wars and now it seems this is the onset of a new phenomenon “terrorism” affecting the masses at large. Question is “what is terrorism?” Though the standard oxford dictionary defines it simply as “the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims”, I find it very difficult to properly define it in clear terms. Undoubtedly the definition has been extremely controversial because the inclination towards violence may definitely differ from political pursuits and may be inclined towards religious, ideological, racial as well as ethnic factors. Its association with Jihad and fanatic Islam has also been a reason for controversy amongst the Islamic nations. The fact that one’s perception plays a major role in the underlying definition cannot be denied, for example freedom fighters and social activists like Bhagat Singh, S.C. Bose and even Nelson Mandela were labeled as terrorists by the ruling side making it tricky to generalize definitive intentions. In similar fashion terrorists exploiting religion for vested interest helps them justify their heinous acts to the receptive masses. Nevertheless the UN did come out with one definition encompassing all of them yet having fissures which might never get filled because of the complexity involved.

The word terrorism takes its roots in the latin word “terrore” meaning “I frighten” and first came into practice by the French government. It was the French revolution which saw indiscriminate killings of more than 40000 civilians at hands of the ruling government. Started as a state sponsored act of forced control, it has now grown into a full-fledged multi headed monster like HYDRA with appalling objectives. Today the perpetrators of terrorism can be anyone from a mentally deranged fanatic to a group of persons and even a nation. However the most common amongst these are secretive cells of highly motivated men and women who carry out horrific incidents like the 9/11, Mumbai attack, London underground bombing and now the recent attack at Peshawar. In contrast to this, there is a recent entry of the IS, a highly public sophisticated institution, which now occupies huge territory in Iraq and Syria and has a fully organized operational machinery. Whether discreet or conspicuous, these motivated hooligans have disrupted the social harmony and peace in their respective regions displacing millions of people. The motivation behind these activities varies greatly from getting international attention for selfish demands to the undermining of authority of the existing state; from the persecution of minorities like Yazhidis and kurds to the political ambitions like the liberation of Kashmir. It is but difficult to comprehend how people are willing to participate rigorously in these campaigns of war and hatred. Such is the determination to cause bodily harm to innocent civilians that people have turned into suicide bombers. I believe it takes the extreme resolve and sense of purpose to sacrifice one’s life, and when one hears such things related to terrorism, one can hardly wonder the venomous rhetoric pumped into these minds.

The aftermath of terrorist activities has resulted in the people becoming very cautious, highest levels of restraints are being practiced in volatile regions across the world. It does not take more than 5 minutes to evacuate a large international airport at the news of an impending explosion. 10 minutes for highly skilled special weapons and tactics team to arrive at the spot and 15 minutes for the international media to swarm around the target. Annual budgets worth billions of dollars are spent on developing intelligence, counter terrorism cells and carry out precision strikes against terrorist hideouts. The U.S. drone strikes, NATO operations in the Middle East, Pakistan attacks at Khyber are a constant phenomenon these days. The Indian military has to remain vigilant and in a ferociously aggressive stance 24/7 along the L.O.C. as well in the interior states protecting the civilians from both external threats and internal anti- social elements, thus upholding the flag of democracy. Such tremendous amount of energy and resource is being invested in this sphere of world affairs that terrorism seems to dominate the priority list of all the nations across the world.

Figuring my nation at the 6^th place in the Global terrorism index (just behind Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq), does send jitters down my body. So much has to be done in order to create a sense of security and peace for the people. Undeniably the peaceful resolution of this issue requires highest level of cooperation from all the stakeholders. However political interests have to be abolished to fight a bigger demon, the recent release of terrorist master chief Lakhvi by Pakistani anti-terrorism court shows their resolve in poor light in contrast to the recent killings in Peshawar. Though it got averted and he got subsequently booked for other case, it still highlights the gross neglect in dealing with the evidence provided by India. Though jailed, he still enjoys VIP treatment as the most coveted prisoner in the premises. This ostensible act of acting harsh on perpetrators of terrorism won’t help in the greater cause. It is required that all nations work constructively to root out the weeds of terrorism with iron will and a firm resolve, to instill faith amongst the masses and maintain peace. These are hard times, where there is more of an internal conflict with numerous sporadic attacks rather than large scale wars. Let’s come together for a more secure and peaceful existence in this new chapter of global history, the era of global terrorism.