The Anxiety of Terrorism

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

If we go by the dictionaries, terror simply means extreme fear and terrorism means an attempt to cause fear in order to achieve political ends. If this is the meaning of terror and terrorism, a terrorist is the instrument and agent of fear. And fear is the basic element which a state should not have  in any political territory so that the people can live with hopes for tomorrow. It’s the responsibility of the state to ensure terror free life to its people. Any agency or enemy (country or organization) which attacks to kill unsuspecting people to cause panic and destabilize a state, is a terrorist activity. Terror also aims at destroying the symbol of national pride in another state as was the case in the 9/11 attack. The twin towers of the World Trade Center was destroyed in a dramatic manner which the world watched on television. India has been a victim of Pakistani terror for more than 30 years, particularly after 1971 when India dismembered Pakistan into Pakistan and Bangladesh. Pakistan too is a victim of terror. In fact the entire world is now under the grip of terror of one kind or another.

But the United Nations has not yet accepted any definition of terror, that is, the member countries have not yet agreed upon a definition. When America after 9/11 attacked Afghanistan and Iraq and Tony Blair echoed the words of George Bush the U.N accepted the classroom meaning of terrorism. When France pounded Syria with bombs terrorism had meaning. But when India wanted U.N intervention after 26/11 the U.N had doubts over the meaning of terrorism. During the Modi regime Pathankot Uri and now Awantipura(pulwama)  have happened but Jaish e Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar cannot be declared a global terrorist because, One : ‘terrorist’ has not been defined and Two: China applies veto nullifying the wisdom of America, European nations and others. It is obvious that the UN. Security Council Members do not accept the stated meaning of terrorism or terrorist when non SC Member countries complain. China has its own economic interest to safeguard. The CPEC ( China Pakistan Economic Corridor) can develop dangerous bumps if Masood Azhar is declared an International terrorist. Self interest of China is more important than defilement of human rights by terrorists. Very often a terrorist is defined as a freedom fighter, Subhas Chandra Bose, for the British Administration was a terrorist, so was Bhagat Singh. Thank God Gandhi was not declared a terrorist. Martin Luther king (jr) was not hanged as a terrorist. But countries which play with the destiny of weaker nations decide the meaning of freedom fighters and insurgents keeping in view their own interest as the hallowed repository of meaning which they give to terror.

But who is a terrorist? A terrorist is a weak person who cannot inflict greater damage on his so called enemy. He can, however, change the political climate by causing a sense of fear in the normal people by daring military action. He is no hero; he is essentially a coward who can never challenge his ideological adversary to a single combat. He masks his face, lives in dark jungle areas and under the cover of darkness blindly kills and destroys. He kills a few people but he spreads panic. The political and intellectual establishment reacts so vociferously that the impact of it on the general unsuspecting public, is full like war. The media sensationalizes the terror strikes and the echo is of a higher decibel than that of the explosion. The terrorist thinks he has a cause. It may be political or religious. But at bottom it is a cynical hatred for life and human well being which makes him play anti- God to destabilize the balance of societies.

Our Awantipura experience reinforces the idea that the terrorist is a vengeful cynic who cannot tolerate the rise and prosperity of India. Be he Masood Azhar or Hafiz Sayed, he is an enemy of man. The religion he professes and the god he worships, he definitely knows, will not ratify his action. But he must falsely convince himself that he is doing the work of God. He plays anti god to deceive himself. This gives him a sense of power and self importance to be feared by many and hunted by organized forces. He is anti-life and worships death for its own sake.

How to combat this menace? If by some quirk of luck they lay their hands on Nukes what will happen to mankind? Well these are imponderables. If such an eventuality ever becomes a reality perhaps the world will go back to the stone age. But hopefully man and his civilization will be responsible for man in the 21^st century. Bioterrorism and nuclear terrorism are possible but man will reduce its probability by his innate reason and humanity. Man must celebrate life and its glories even by embracing dissent of all forms. But it is easier said than done for we are all slaves of interests and motives.