Combating global terrorism: The role of citizen
Terrorism is spreading wings everywhere. No state is free from terrorist attacks. Terrorism is an ideological battle. Therefore, besides having the police and the army control terrorism, even us citizens of India should take up the duty to fight it.
The various dimensions of how to combat terrorism and its implications, which pose a serious threat to India’s security, are a big question for security experts. At present, India is the worst affected country to witness terrorist attacks.
With time, the concept of terrorism has changed. Earlier, it was only a means to terrorise people through violence but today it is more than just violent behavior to threaten people. Terrorism today has new magnitudes, which include secessionist terrorism, revolutionary terrorism, and jihadi terrorism, which started as religious fundamentalism.
There is a vicious rise in insurgency and terrorism. On the one hand, insurgency is a movement motivated and fuelled by an ideology aiming to displace those who rule. On the other, terrorism is taking hostages, kidnapping and killing of innocent people like children and women.
But to say that all this is done in the name of religion is inaccurate as religion does not permit the mindless killing of innocent people and as those who are indulging in such activities have nothing to do with any religion.
“Terrorism is not a means to an end but it is an end in itself.” To terrorize and target a community is the basic aim of jihadis who aim to either convert or kill non-believers of their ideology ie, faith based terrorism.
The terrorist groups have proved that they do not have any ideology except that of spreading violence and terror and they have no other cause but to harm humanity, as nothing can be achieved by making humanity bleed.
Lack of political will and effective instruments to face global terrorism have placed India in a much disorganised arrangement. But how do we deal with global terrorism? The corner stone of the policy to deal against terrorism is based on the four ‘P’s - political will, professionalism, peoples’ support and publicity or handling of the media.
The repeated terrorist attacks on Parliament, Akshardham, the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, the 2006 Mumbai train blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks etc have only left the Indian people with an optimism and acceptance that this will come to an end.
The politicians and the lackluster policies of the Central Government have only delivered empty words year after year. Therefore, it is necessary that all of us as a nation must fight this war against terror with the support of the people and a strong government.
We should practice a non-linear and a true foreign policy and also revamp our intelligence and security agencies by not only forming a perfect structure but also seeing that those manning them are not deficient.
Before 1990, there was a lack of effective intelligence. No meaningful coordination, focused evaluation, annual tasking of the intelligence agencies used to take place. Therefore, reforms were undertaken after 1990, to look into the security system.
But they were either not properly acted upon or they were degraded, leaving the country in a sorry state of affairs.
It is not a war with agencies or institutions but one within the society. The jihadis and the mujahideen have a dream and a mission. They don’t have personal enmity with any group. The whole society is their target. This is the religious and cultural context of terrorism.
It is clear that it is not possible to defend everyone and every building and, therefore, terrorism cannot be fought only by the police. It can also be done by people living in the society. It is a war between two ideologies, intelligence forces have a limited role to play, and armies cannot fight an ideological battle that prevails over the whole society.
It can be fought when everybody comes together and stands united in a society where the unarmed people will fighting with the armed and create a social will, awaken the society and make citizens fight against terrorism. But how long will it take for us, riding on the notions of hope and human sacrifice, to quench the terrorists’ thirst for the blood of people!
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