Since November 26, 2008 many Indians, along with others around the world, have been preoccupied with the why of what happened. We wonder how Islamists could kill themselves and innocent people, believing they are doing this in the name of God. But terrorism is not new and exists everywhere. The radicalism of the late 1960s spawned its own terrorist movement, the Weather Underground. More recently the Unabomber-a lone individual with a history of mental illness-carried out successful terrorist operations and eluded capture over a period of many years. We saw another example in Hyderabad in 2007. Terrorists have come from religious fundamentalist organizations, social protest groups, and radical political movements, both of the left and the right. Although many of the terrorists have been poor and uneducated, others have come from affluent, privileged circumstances. The fact that nearly all are late adolescents or young adults (or started their terrorist careers during this phase of their lives) raises the question as to whether there is something about youth that makes the lure of an ideology that promises a perfect society, together with the prospect of the violent overthrow of the existing world order, irresistible. If there is, can anything be done about it? This chapter is an attempt to explore this question and its implications.
“TERRORISM” What Constitutes Terrorism?
The simplest definition of terrorism is: "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives". However, the differentiation between terrorism and legitimate political struggle is not easy. The saying, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" illustrates the difficulty in knowing where to draw the line.
Terrorism is not a new phenomenon. The origin of the word terrorism comes from the period in France after its revolution, which became known as "the Terror." Terrorist groups have existed in the United States in many forms; examples include ecoterrorists, rightist militias, the Ku Klux Klan, Black Panthers, Weather Underground, and militant antiabortion groups. Worldwide examples include the Red Brigades, Islamic Jihad, Basque separatists, and the Irish Republican Army. We also speak of nonpolitical groups as terrorist, such as narcoterrorists, organized crime, and gangs. Although these groups resemble political terrorists in the methods they use and in many cases have similar dynamics, however they are usually thought of simply as criminals rather than terrorists. Basically, terrorists are extremist groups with political agendas; their goal is to impose their views on others. The goal of theocracy is puritanism, that of Marxism is socialism, and that of groups such as the Aryan Nation is racial purity. All have a dream of what they consider to be an ideal society, and all believe that this ideal is achievable in reality, if only they can establish control. The goal of terrorism is to intimidate those whom they seek to influence. They do this by striking unexpectedly, creating a climate of fear and uncertainty-waiting for the other shoe to drop (Post, 2002). They choose targets that are symbolic, magnifying the perception of their destructive power. Thus, the influence of terrorist groups is often out of proportion to their numbers; a small group or even a single person can have a very large impact. The term asymmetrical warfare is an apt description. The prospect of violent change has its own appeal. Destroying entire buildings, disrupting social institutions, and striking terror into whole populations provide an unparallel sense of power, beside which the slow and incremental process of political change pales. My question to the young citizens of tomorrow is.
Q. The most horrible part of a terrorist attack is
A. The death toll
B. The retaliation (In terms of wars and cancelling of sports and social ties with a country)
C. National grievances
D. Kee farkh Painda hai???
At the time when the whole world is crying foul over the sickeningly aggravating rates of international terrorism, when the aftermath of Ahmadabad, Madrid, Hyderabad, London, Delhi, Kenya, Malegaon and Mumbai still haunt an average human being. More so, the agony and the pain of the victims which, I daresay (still alive) resides in the chasm of their eyes. But my question, (if you are reading this or not) is, What is it to you? Does it affect your life?
Are you getting a job\million dollars\recognition of some sort by worrying over petty things such as a ‘terrorist attack’? The inability of the participation of today’s youth in the effort to curb terror activities is breathtakingly scarce.
“Youth is the first victim of war; the first fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him.”
Fundamentalist ideologies offer ready-made answers to make sense of the world and one's role in it. As pure, theoretical frameworks, they do not necessarily have to work in practice. They are beautiful in their perfection as only ideas can be. One need not bother to figure out how people will actually live on a day-to-day basis in a theocracy. An Islamic state, led by an imam, with strict enforcement of the rules of the Koran as expostulated by the Sharia, will result in a perfect society. If people lead virtuous lives, everything else will take care of itself. Late adolescents, with their newly developed powers of abstract thinking that enable them to imagine a perfect world, are suckers for ideologies. The price they pay, a willing suspension of disbelief, seems small to them in comparison with the emotional and social rewards they gain. “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently”, that is the exact scenario of Indian youth at the present time, The onus is on you, it’s up to us to decide either to build a nation where “The head is held high”, or where it’s unsafe, even to shop for bead at the nearest supermarket.
