“Terrorism has become the systematic weapon of a war that knows no borders or seldom has a face.”

-Jacques Chirac

Can we ever think of a society free of violence? Can the government ensure a peaceful society? What are the goals that the perpetrators of terror activities seek to achieve? Are we losing the war against jihadis?

These are some of the issues that come out of the in-depth discussion on the terrorism.

            In a layman’s language, terrorism is a sort of violence that is aimed to achieve some goal. These goals are generally those, which the government denies to the perpetrators of the terror activities. These monstrous activities have been ramped up in the recent weeks, in India. This calls for a strident response on the part of the government. Terrorism is more awful than the war. When there are the indications of war, we have the room for the tackle mechanisms. But the terror attacks leave no room for such mechanisms. Moreover the response of the Indian government has been not to the extent that it can be ensured that such activities are the past story.

UPA no better than the NDA.

The UPA government is always set to criticize the terror attacks that occurred during the NDA regime. But the estimates, from the Washington-based National Counter-Terrorism Centre, discern that the lives lost to the terror attacks in India in last four and half years have crossed 5000.

            The recent incidents that occurred in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Samjhauta Express, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and the like have overshadowed the memory of Kandhar hijack, Akshardham, Parliament attacks. The UPA can no longer use the arguments that the NDA regime was worse, as these arguments come with use-by-dates. Government can, use these arguments during the time of election.

After the UPA won the trust vote, despite the it was bruised by the accusations of giving payoffs to the BJP MPs, it got down to the major reforms. Although the UPA might have shaken off the trust vote dilemma, a major responsibility of ensuring a counter terror mechanism has still to be observed.

Naxalism and loopholes in the government’s policy.

The government might consider naxalism as a kind of sinister happenings in some faraway places that are out of sight and out of mind. But it is to be observed that the internal security has never in the history of insurgencies has lost so many lives. If we go over the five decade history of insurgencies, it becomes obvious that the 38 lives lost in the Naxalite attack on the police boat were the second largest loss of life by security forces in a day, only after the army’s casualties on the night of the Operation Bluestar.  It is very rare for the security forces to suffer double digit casualties during insurgencies. It underlines the loopholes in the policies of the government and thick-skinned response of the government as well.

Communalization of our policies.

Over the years what we have witnessed is the communalization of our foreign policies as well as the national policies. Denial to vote against Iran at IAEA, so that it may not upset our own shias; denial to sign on the deal with the US, so that it may not irritate all our own Muslims; putting the two missile development projects in abeyance, no matter how badly our army is in need of these - all suggest the communalization of our foreign policies to curry the favour of others.

            The POTA was being misused, so repealing it, the government served the purpose. But in the public discourse, it was repealed as a favour to the Muslims. Even the investigations in the aftermath of the serial blasts in Mumbai trains and Hyderabad, were interfered by the same communal motive.

            How can the government justify its stand on the sitting on special anti-terror laws fro all BJP-run states, while it has the similar ones passed in all the Congress states?

Government’s response.

Even years after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre (9/11), we have not evolved such a kind of mechanism that can tackle the mayhem. We are not in a position to handle the situation tactfully. How can we consider ourselves to be secure citizens? The loopholes on the part of the government policies have materialized the fact. Ordinary policemen, with no sophisticated weapons, are the soldiers in this ugly war. They do not have the training for the counter- terrorism. We do not have a national database that can show the faces of those who act behind the scenes.

            The laxity on the part of our system can be discovered from the fact that within the hours of 9/11, the faces of the 19 hijackers were before us. In India, after the hijacking of IC 814, we could only find out about Maulana Azhar Masood and Omar Sheikh, after we released them in Kandahar.

            How can we rely on our national security? Islamist groups have struck in tandem in our cities. They are so confident of their ability to remain undetected that they e-mail us before the terror strike.

How to tackle the mayhem?

Are we not in a position to live peacefully? Have the days come that we will have to wait and watch the next attack?

            Government will have to answer these questions. Only publishing the advertisements of dos and do’nts will not do. Time has come that a strident action like Operation Bluestar has to be taken, so that these activities are nipped in the bud. For that end, our intelligence services have to be looked after. After every terror incidents, the flaws in our intelligence services come into picture.

            Time has come that we will have to secure the cooperation of all the states to tackle these attacks. If the government does not take a tough stand against the perpetrators of these inhuman activities, we can get assured that next target is our city.