Essays

Terrorism' is a much talked about term today. And why should it not be when the whole world is coming under its shadow and under its threat. Even the most protected and most technologically advanced country in all modem techniques — America — could be attacked — who then is safe?

 But what this terrorism is? The Chamber’s Twentieth Century Dictionary definite terrorism as an organized system of intimidation especially for political ends’. This thus explains the mind set of terrorism and terrorists. But today this menace has grown to great dimensions and has taken big proportions.

India has been suffering this menace of terrorism from Pakistan now for more than two decades. Pakistan has, just the one point political agenda, to grab Kashmir in any manner. Having failed in their attempts four times through full scale wars on the issue, they resort to the terrorist activities. sponsoring and infiltrating brainwashed young men whom they send on with the lure of big money as well as with a fanatical fervour that they are fighting a 'Jehad', wherein, even if they lose their lives, they go straight to heaven. That is how they even have come as human bombs, ready to blow themselves up in their attempt to blow up something important in India.

It was this fanatical move that led the attack on the Red Fort, the J&K Assembly building and on December 13, 2001 on the Indian Parliament. These have been open attempts of terrorism while there have been so many attempts going on in smaller and larger measure in Kashmir.

Pakistan has not been able to swallow the political situation of compulsion that Kashmir stands constitutionally accessed to India. India had been fighting its own battle against this terrorism — all the world knew it, watched it but turned its eyes away, particularly the big powers like U.S. and U.K. It has been when the Twin Trade Centre Towers and the Pentagon of U.S. were attacked by terrorists that the whole world suddenly woke up to the terror of terrorism and the U.S. launched its offensive against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan — targeting Osama Bin Laden as the master-mind behind the attack. The Taliban regime has been finished but Osama Bin Laden has still not been apprehended.

Now the world has come to understand what terrorism is or can be. It is now that the shoe has pinched the biggest world power.

There has been terrorism in India on other fronts too. There was terrorism in Punjab over the demand of Khalistan; there has been terrorism in Nagaland over the demand of a separate Nagaland; there have been and are still the Nasalizes operating in the South and in Madhya Pradesh. India has been suffering this disease for long and on so many fronts.

The LTTE in Sri Lanka is also a terrorist outfit which has been fighting for a separate homeland in Sri Lanka. Their activities have also been going on since long without any cessation or solution. It was the LTTE terrorists who sent the human bomb which killed Rajiv Gandhi.

But there is one point which can be seen as common to all these terrorist activities. The terrorist group got created and got encouraged and ultimately those who encouraged them, they themselves became the victim of those very terrorists.

In Afghanistan, Russia was trying to wield its influence and power. The U.S. could not tolerate it. Afghanistan is an oil-rich country and U.S. could not give that country up to Russia. So with the help and connivance of Pakistan, anti-Russian Taliban forces were sponsored, created and encouraged. And those very forces today made U.S. their target— Russia has withdrawn from there,

Similarly against the Khalistan forces Indira Gandhi created a counter force of Bhindemwala and he, ultimately became so powerful that he became a threat to Indian integrity and Indira Gandhi had to resort to Operation Blue Star to blast the Golden Temple of Amritsar to eliminate Bhindemwala and that ultimately resulted in the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh security men.

Rajiv Gandhi boosted up LITE cadres, had then to send Peace keeping forces to Sri Lanka when the LTTE activities became uncontrollable and the net result was the LTTE terrorists assassinated Rajiv Gandhi through a human bomb.

The Kashmir terrorists also got encouraged when Indira Gandhi dismissed Farooq Abdullah's duly elected government and we are kept on suffering the menace.

So terrorism has been the Alladln's geni who once out of the bottle cannot be put back into the bottle. One gets reminded of Faustus in Marlowe's tragedy, whom Dr. Faustus creates and that results in his doom. So this is all what terrorism and terrorists are and have been.

But India has to get determined to fight this 'devil' — it may have to fight by itself — particularly the terrorism in Kashmir. At least the world conscience has also got awakened to this menace and for all that the U.S. and U.K. pronounce, they also at least express their determination to fight terrorism, now that it has struck them straight.