Monday, September 15, 2008

Terrorism - A Handmaid of the Poor

What is this of thread expression of ‘Terrorism’? Why does this exist at all, is a point to be discussed and understood. There are two moot points to be discussed when we talk of terrorism. Terrorism is in reality the use of terror or fear in the minds of people in a very organized and systematic way. The next obvious question that arises is, why is this used at all – to this also the answer is simple – it is used to create panic and thus achieve an objective in mind. With a growth in a sense of insecurity among the masses in general, the objective is achieved.
In my opinion, terrorism is something which is much worse than a regular war, for, against was all preparations are always ready at hand but these terrorists attacks being unexpected and unwarranted can just not be secured against. What can be done when people are traveling by train, getting ready to board a bus, or watching a cinema, and the terrorists strike. How can any prevention against this be arranged? It is this very uncertainty of time and place that makes terrorist attacks more dangerous than even a regular warfare. Another point that makes these attacks worse than war to some extent is that, these attacks are always against poor innocent people of the public. In a war also no doubt, the public suffers but, they are not the targets, they are given protection till it is possible. With these terrorist activities, to – day, there is a continuous fear of attack and so, danger is always looming large on the horizon.
Terrorism is of two kinds, one is political terrorism and the other is criminal terrorism. In the former, terrorism seeks to attain some political objective by creating panic on a large scale. This type of terrorism can be disastrous as, these terrorists are well trained for the task, they are very well organized, and also have a solid back up support of some political big wig. In this, senseless violence is indulged in, just to create a panic among the people and to create problems for the Government. Organizations who harbour and t rain terrorists indulge in hijacking aeroplanes, shooting innocent people, using of bombs to scare the public, and the spreading of rumours are the main modus operandi of these political terrorists.
Besides these political terrorists, there is another brand of terrorists termed as, criminal terrorists. Their work is chiefly to kidnap for ransom.
After studying the two types of terrorisms that exist now, let us analyse how this community takes birth, and who they are. What we understand is that these people are usually those young men who are enticed into this profession by old professional politicians, they get attracted to this because they are out of employment, and the charm of money hooks them into this profession, even much against their desire to follow this particular profession. What do these young men gain in the bargain? Besides a few years of employment, I do not think that these young men could gain anything. They are used and exploited by their mentors, their political bosses, whom, they probably don’t even see. It is just some trash money which attracts them, and in the bargain, they lose sight of their own goals of life, and get lost in the labyringth of crimes. They lose a vision of their objectives and get strayed from the mainstream of development. These crimes are most shameful because they are conducted by unmeaning innocent men, and they are also they are targeted against innocent people. Most of these young people even lose their young and precious lives while participating in these nefarious activities, in ‘encounters’ with the police. Thus, in a nutshell, the young boys who choose to become terrorists, lose their all, yes all, their careers, their youth, and finally even their lives at the hands of the crafty old political brain working from behind them.
To-day terrorism has become a world wide phenomena, it is rampant in the Middle – East, most of the European countries. Some countries help in the development of terrorism in other countries and, since their boys are trained, their level of performance is flawless and absolutely superb. As we have seen in India, in the process of the last one decade or more, our neighbour Pakistan is training, providing sophisticated weapons to spread Terrorism in India. A series of bomb blasts off and on, murders of prominent personalities, all go to show that this process being a continuous and silent war, is very difficult to curb. This menace of terrorism continues to spread in India because some big person or country wants it to continue.
The Government has tried to deal with this menace by assuming greater powers for itself. The Anti Terrorist Act was passed by the Parliament, provind for stringent punishment for such’ disruptive activities’. Amendment was also made in the Arms Act in order to control the possession and usage of unlicensed arms. In reality, this Act pronounces a minimum punishment of three years R.I. for any person found in possession of unlicensed arms. Use of a religious place for political purposes is also strictly prohibited. However, inspite of all this the extremists or terrorists manage to carry on their acts of sabotage and violence absolutely unabated.
Terrorism is condemned by all right thinking people of the world, but now to curb this spreading menace, is what defies all solutions. No matter how good or noble the cause for which the terrorists are fighting, their style of functioning I’d say is cowardly. Since this has not been cured by any Acts of Parliament it is felt now that, the Government should start providing for the poor sections of the society who thus do not get tempted to join these terrorist outfits merely to get employment. Education is another instrument that may be used effectively against this demon of Terrorism.