Terrorism is not a new problem. It has existed since the time of Christ. But the question is: Can the world end terrorism? If yes, then does everybody agree on how to fight this growing menace?
It may seem like terrorism is a modern phenomenon, but in fact, it goes back 2,000 years when a Jewish extremist group tried to expel the Romans and their sympathisers at the beginning of the first century AD with the use of daggers hidden in their cloaks. In a public gathering, the zealots pulled their daggers to attack not only the Romans and their sympathisers, but all Jewish collaborators, including the Herodians and the Sadducees.
Orsini was an Italian leader of the ‘Carbonari’, who attempted to assassinate French Emperor Napoleon III on January 14, 1858, while the Emperor and Empress Eugénie de Montijo were on their way to the theatre, by throwing three bombs at the royal carriage. The incident resulted in the death of eight bystanders and injured 142 more.
A terrorist attack happened in the Financial District of New York City on September 16, 1920. It killed 38 people and injured 400 more. The attack involved a horse-drawn wagon containing 45kg of dynamite with 230kg of slugs. It instantly killed all the brokers, clerks, messengers and stenographers working in the area and destroyed the interiors of the JP Morgan building. The crime was never solved
There were a series of terrorist attacks on US embassies in the east African cities of Nairobi and Dar es Salaam on August 7, 1998, the eighth anniversary of the arrival of US forces in Saudi Arabia. The truck bomb explosions were linked to the local terrorist group of Al Qaeda, headed by Osama bin Laden. The trucks, laden with three to 17 tonnes of high explosive materials, detonated simultaneously, leaving over 200 dead and thousands wounded. Though it was directed at American facilities, most of the victims were local citizens — with only 12 American casualties. The 9/11 attack on New York is still fresh in people’s memory, as are the attacks on the Indian Parliament and in Mumbai trains, wherein thousands have been killed.
In Pakistan, the Karachi bombing on October 18, 2007, happened on the day Benazir Bhutto was being welcomed home after an eight-year self-imposed exile in Dubai and London. The blasts occurred while Bhutto’s motorcade was on its way from the airport to the tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Three police vans bore the impact of the explosions, killing 20 policemen instantly and resulting in the death of 139 people, most of whom were members of the Pakistan Peoples Party. And then, let us not forget the recent massacre of school children in Peshawar in December 2014.
Another terrorist act, which occurred between November 20, 1979 and December 5, 1979, was the takeover of Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, by Islamist dissidents. The group leader, Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, declared that he is the ‘Mahdi’ or ‘redeemer’ of Islam and that all Muslims should obey him. Hundreds of pilgrims who were present for the annual haj were taken as hostages and a number of them were killed along with the rebels in the crossfire for the control of the site. The siege ended with the death of 255 pilgrims and terrorists, leaving 500 injured. The details of terrorism all over the world and wholesale massacres of the innocents are too many to be counted.
The question is: Can terrorism be ended? If yes, then next big question is: Is there any unanimous global agreement on how to deal with terror? The problem of dealing with terrorism is to do with the approach or assessment of different nations. One man’s goose is another man’s gander. Instead of our neighbours and others’ interests, we only think of ourselves. The approach of every person or nation for himself and god for us all, will take us nowhere. As the interests of individuals and nations vary, no country will walk the same path. For example, as long as it suits Pakistan, it will continue to rear, train and support terrorists, and it will never hesitate to use them against India,
In the Charlie Hebdo episode, French Police killed the two brothers and their Islamist ally who perpetrated the attacks, on January 9, after three blood-soaked days that left 17 other people dead. This incident shook Europe and specifically France to its core. The attack on France by the terrorists has done the greatest damage to the Muslim community in the world, and particularly in Western nations. No nation can be cowed by such attacks, but it will recoil on the attackers. India has been exposed to numerous terror strikes. Such attacks by a few lead to the whole community, an overwhelming of whose members have nothing to do with terrorism, being bracketed with terror elements. These terrorists make innocent and peace-loving Muslims unwelcome.
If terrorism has to be ended, it has to be done on a collective basis and not on selective and partisan considerations — as some Western countries and others, including Pakistan, are doing. It has to be cut across the frontiers, and has to be answered in kind. The bullet-for-bullet policy has been successful so far to an extent. It seems that would be so in the days ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment