Terrorism - A Philosophy

Terrorism is the gravest international problem in modern times. Many of us in India would like to believe that it is uniquely an Indian or American or British crisis. It is not so. There is hardly any country, which lacks this characteristic feature or is not affected by the global spread out of this epidemic.

Yes, I call this a disease. A communicable disease. A communicable disease caused by contamination of opinion and often carried by poverty and greed for wealth. Well, it’s always stated that prevention is better than cure. But in this case, I hold that prevention cannot be separated from cure.

There have been raids, there have been operations, and there have been wars to destroy terrorism. What’s the outcome? Absolutely nothing. Because we’re not caring about the roots of this phenomenon, which are spreading out like those of a tree with a severed trunk.

Now first let us analyse the reasons for terror – fanaticism, greed and compounded grievances unhealed over ages. Please mark that I’m not talking only about the so-called ‘Islamist’ terrorism. But I hold greed to be a minor cause. Why?

We are grounding many a militant, terrorizing terrorists, shedding blood for blood. We’re pushing them out on many fronts, but to no avail. What we’ve forgotten is that terrorism is nothing alien to any nationality; it’s always bred within a nation’s borders. The Americans blasted the Talibans, but they seem to be back with a bang. The Bangladesh government have hanged and handcuffed quite a few Mujaheedin fundamentalist heads, but there are reports of new uprisals. The less we talk of our country on this aspect, the better it will be. A huge number of militants may have been finished off, but we have failed to kill their philosophy! Yes, this is what I’m trying to say. It’s the thought that’s destructive.

Most “do not know what they do!” They have built in such a way that they believe emphatically in what they do. Have you seen the film “Main Hoon Na”? There you see that Raghavan’s followers blindly believe in and follow his views.

Now, what helps more is unattended and insulted personal wounds, and the deadliest of them are poverty and racial discrimination. Almost from the attainment of intellect, these are aggravated slowly into ulcers. Your anger comes up, but you can’t even protest lawfully. Here evolves the urge for revenge – the urge to teach the society a lesson (remember Cho?). And this is when the militant philosophy appeals to you.

Maybe you can understand a little more if I draw a reference from the very recent developments related to the bomb attacks in Glasgow. 8 medical professionals have been held. Now, to some interesting figures. According to a study made on 172 Al Qaida militants, 75% of them are from middle or upper class families, 75% are married, 66% are graduates, 66% are professionals like physicians, engineers, architects, lawyers or scientists and 66% have joined militant groups while living abroad. It also says that the average age for conversion to militancy is just 26.
These are the worst concerns. A large number of intellectuals are associating themselves, and an innumerable number are misled into the unfortunate tunnels at an age when you just begin dreaming. Today, you cannot tell a terrorist from a normal person like you and me. Your nearest friend, highly placed and respected to a society, maybe one to have fallen pray. How many you’ll kill? Today one goes down, tomorrow ten more will come up, including his offspring. No defence system can vanquish militancy.

Better kill the thought. How? Irrationalism breeds extremism. Our education system has to be revolutionised – it has to be put in the budding years of a child, all and sundry; it’s as important as a polio vaccine. Secondly, neglect fires hatred. Spread love. Next time you go on to insult a hapless person, beware that he might be the one to blow up you and your family. Take care!