The Pahalgam attack on tourists led to a chain reaction leading the attack on bases of terrorist violence in Pakistan. As a ceasefire has been in place; it is time to think about dealing with this cancerous phenomenon in society. Surely the phenomenon of terror has been more in news post 9/11, 2001, twin tower attacks leading to the death of over two thousand people. The term ‘Islamic terrorism’ was coined by US media and picked up by the World over associating Islam to terrorism.
While acts of terror have been defined, defining terrorism is not easy and no such definition could be articulated even by the UN bodies working on this. As far as India is concerned it has been witnessing regular killings in Kashmir by the insane acts of brain washed Muslim youth. India saw the 26/11 2008 attack in Mumbai in which nearly 200 people lost their lives. Very interestingly Hemant Karkare, the then Anti-Terrorist Squad chief of Maharashtra was killed during this attack.
Parallel to this we also witnessed the acts of terror beginning in Nanded (2006) and later four major places, Malegaon, Ajmer, Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad) and Samjhuata Express. For Malegaon related blast, NIA is demanding death penalty for Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, BJP MP, whose motor cycle was the instrument used in Malegaon. Along with her Lt Col Purohit is also being tried and other names which came into picture were those of Swami Aseemanand, Major (retd) Upadhyay and many those who had affiliation to Hindutva politics.
As India faces these acts of terror, it is imperative that we give a serious thought to the root of global terror and its impact on India. While the security measures undertaken at the moment are being questioned as earlier Pulwama and now Pahalgam terror attacks have shown chinks in our armour, there are some deeper issues which India needs to collaborate with global agencies in eradicating some of these.
At one level the terrorist groups which are affecting India, have bases in Pakistan. The plight of Pakistan is pathetic as it is not only an agency of acts of terror; it is also the victim of this dastardly phenomenon. The present terror acts are taking place in Kashmir. The major actors involved in this tragedy in Kashmir are offshoots of terror groups, which came up in the aftermath of the American project of countering the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
As the US was in no position to take on the Russian army’s presence in Afghanistan, it promoted Madrassas in Pakistan which gave training to Muslim youth; Taliban and its later clones was the result. Mahmood Mamdani in his well-researched book, ‘Good Muslim Bad Muslim’, tells us how the syllabus of these Madras’s was prepared in Washington. Communists were presented as Kafirs. Killing Kafirs was propagated as the goal and in the achievement of this goal, even if one loses life, Jannat was assured. America spent eight thousand million dollars in these madrassas and provided them with 7000 tons of armaments, which included the latest stinger missiles.
The same phenomenon of terror, promotion of which was the imperialist ambitions of America in controlling the oil wealth of West Asia, did assume dangerous proportions creating havoc in the region. Just to remind it was this era when Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis was ruling the roost. To the global good fortune, Kofi Annan the UN Secretary General appointed a high level committee to examine ‘Clash of Civilization’ in particular.
This committee came out with a report “Alliance of Civilizations” which concluded that the World has progressed due to the alliance of Civilizations. This report did not get projections from various quarters. The Islamophobia planted by the acts of terror and the negative role of American media was so intense that at places copies of the Koran were burnt.
The terror phenomenon turned into Frankenstein’s monster. While it played its negative role at multiple levels, it turned into destruction recklessly and Pakistan has also been a victim of this phenomenon. One recalls the Ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was killed in one such attack by the terror groups. GTI (Global Terror Index) is a composite measure made up of four indicators: incidents, fatalities, injuries and hostages. To measure the impact of terrorism, a five-year weighted average is applied. In this Pakistan is 2nd and India 14th . Meaning the acts of terror have tormented Pakistan much more than India.
No wonder that the victims of terrorism are more in Pakistan, as it is the madrassas in Pakistan where the training was given. While India has to ensure that no acts of terror take place in India, there is also a need to understand that this cancer of terror sown by imperialist ambitions for control over oil can be eradicated by cooperation at global level.
“…Pakistan—a country repeatedly labelled as the “global exporter of terror”—has been appointed to chair the United Nations Security Council’s Taliban Sanctions Committee in 2025. Simultaneously, it will serve as vice-chair of the Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee.” Surely this tells a complex tale.
There are many factors controlling the policies of Pakistan, the emerging angle of China is yet another of these. While Pakistan needs to be held accountable, there is also a need to ensure that it is brought to the discussion table to get rid of this scourge. To prevent terror attacks in India all steps in promoting democracy in Kashmir are the need of the hour.
We are at present facing multiple dilemmas. The progress of Kashmir is static despite its vast potential. Pakistan needs to engage at multiple levels to ensure the eradication of the cancerous growth of terrorist violence. At a subtle level there is a propaganda associating Islam, Muslims with the phenomenon of terror. This understanding lacks a deeper understanding of the peculiar circumstances in which the American designs to control over West Asian oil resources has operated and led to the present impasse. Symptomatic countering of this dastardly phenomenon needs to be added on with the deeper analysis of the global scenario where dominant American policies have played a ruinous role in promoting this phenomenon and is now washing its hands off it.
The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.