Essay

The Menace of Terrorism

Terrorism has become the systematic weapon of a war that knows no borders or seldom has a face.
JACQUES CHIRAC
Terrorism is use of illegal means and violence against innocent people to further the cause of particular ideology. This ideology may be motivated by the purpose of attainment of a particular goal which may be political or social. The persons using this illegal violence are known as a terrorist. The terrorists do not care if they have to take life of these innocent people to intimidate government and the people in power to submit to their demands. The history of acts of terrorism goes as far back as 14th century when the Tartars threw dead bodies over the walls of Kaffa hoping to start a plague. The word terrorism itself was invented in 1795 and used to refer French revolutionaries who executed their enemies and tried to suppress opposition to their ideology.
The exact definition of ‘Terrorism’ is still not formulated as what can appear as a terrorist act to one party or a nation can occur as an act of getting freedom to the people who are doing this act . Methods used by terrorists include kidnapping, hostage-taking, bombing, shooting and hijacking of aeroplanes and vehicles. Some terrorist attacks do not in any way endanger the actual person responsible for carrying out the attack , while at the other end are suicide bombers known as Fidayeen , who are prepared to die as a result of their own actions. Aside from politics as a motive for terrorism, there are other causes, including racism, and religious convictions. The religious zealots and fanatics brainwash people especially inexperienced youth and inspire them to fight in the name of God . These youth are motivated to fight a holy war for spreading their faith and destroy every country and individual who does not want to practice it . Terrorism is extremely difficult to control, given that it nearly always has the advantage of the 'surprise' element. Terrorist attacks, by their very nature, can rarely be predicted. Furthermore, most prominent terrorist groups are well-funded both within their countries and abroad. This funding provides weapons and security. Since there are so many different terrorist groups, each with its own agenda and demands , attempts to curb terrorism through international agreements are considerably difficult to yield any result .
Terrorist also fund their activities through illegal human trafficking, drug trafficking, intimidating business tycoons and film stars and match fixing. As human generation has evolved so has terrorism. Today there are different types of terrorism used by terrorists to spread agony and destruction. Terrorism is basically classified into six types so that we can understand it better and combat it with all our resources and military might.
State terrorism is when a particular state sponsors the terrorist organizations which spread terrorism in other states . Also when a state uses force to terrorize citizens of other countries without declaration of war in order to achieve particular goal, it is an instance of state terrorism.
Bioterrorism refers to intentional release of poisonous substances to harm and terrify human lives. Various toxic substances ranging from Anthrax , Botulism , Small Pox etc can be used in these kind of attacks. The use of biological agents in warfare isn't new. Pre-modern armies tried to use naturally occurring diseases to their advantage. In 1346, the Tartar (or Tatar) army tried to turn the Plague to their advantage in their siege of the port city of Kaffa, which was then a part of Genoa. Dying from plague themselves, army members attached bodies and heads of the deceased to slings and then landed them inside the walled city of their victims. A plague epidemic followed and the city surrendered to the Mongol forces.
Cyberterrorism came into prominence recently with the phenomenal growth of internet. In this form of terrorism the terrorist use information technology, such as computer systems or telecommunications, as a tool to coordinate a traditional attack. More often, cyberterrorism refers to an attack on information technology itself in a way that would drastically disrupt networked services. For example, cyberterrorists could disable networked emergency systems or hack into networks housing critical financial information. The hacking and mutilating of United Nations website is an example of this type of terrorism. In the present scenario terrorists are also using internet to get important and strategic information and then plan and coordinate their attack. Recently after Delhi bomb blasts terrorists hacked into an account of Mumbai based businessman to send email owning the responsibility for executing the bomb blasts.
Nuclear terrorism refers to number of different ways nuclear materials might be exploited as a terrorist tactic. These include attacking nuclear facilities, purchasing nuclear weapons, or building nuclear weapons or otherwise finding ways to disperse radioactive materials.
Ecoterrorism is a recently coined term describing violence in the interests of environmentalism. In general, environmental extremists sabotage property to inflict economic damage on industries or actors they see as harming animals or the natural environment. These have included fur companies, logging companies and animal research laboratories.
Narcoterrorism is using of force by drug peddlers to influence governments or prevent government efforts to stop the drug trade. In the last several years, narcoterrorism has been used to indicate situations in which terrorist groups use drug trafficking to fund their other operations.
The most horrifying terrorist strike occurred on September 9 2001 when two hijacked planes were flown into World Trade Centre in New York leading to death of 3000 people. On the same day another hijacked aeroplane flew into pentagon killing 189 people and another crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers on board it fought with the hijackers . Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaida was blamed for this attack and the fall out of this attack was United State going into war against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan which is still a battleground. India has also been battling terrorism since late 1970’s . In 1970 Punjab became prosperous due to effects of Green Revolution and this prosperity led to the movement of demand of Khalistan where Sikh community were demanding a new nation to be carved out of India. Led by Jarnail Singh Bhindarwale, they began using militancy to stress on their demands. Soon things turned bloody with India alleging that neighboring Pakistan supported these militants, who, by 1983-4, had begun to enjoy widespread support among Sikhs.
In 1984, Operation Blue Star was conducted by the Indian government to stem out the movement. It involved an assault on the Golden Temple complex. In 1985, Sikh terrorists bombed an Air India flight from Canada to India, killing all 329 people on board Air India Flight 182. It is the worst terrorist act in Canada's history. The terrorism in Punjab was finally quelled in 1993 .
The other states which is most tormented by terrorism includes J&K and the seven sisters in the north east India. National capital Delhi and commercial capital Mumbai also have had their share of terrorist attacks. Some of the most devastating attacks that took place were the Mumbai bombings that took place on March 12 , 1993. In these series of bombings 13 bombs ripped the city apart and claimed 257 lives. Mumbai also witnessed another series of blasts on 11 July 2006 when seven bombs exploded in space of eleven minutes in suburban trains. These claimed life of 209 victims. The national capital Delhi was left reeling when an attack on epicenter of our democracy occurred on 13 December 2001. In this attack none of the member of parliament was injured but 7 police officers had to sacrifice their lives. Delhi was again targeted on 29 October 2005 when 62 people were killed by three powerful blasts . Recently on 13 September 2008 five coordinated bomb blasts took place which left 30 people dead. These incidents have severely terrified the people of Delhi in particular who fear to tread out to crowded places after sunset.
The state of J&K has also been targeted from terrorist from across the border time and again. The most noteworthy attack was on October 1 2001 , when terrorists attacked the Jammu & Kashmir assembly complex killing 35 people. There has been a spate of bombings in year 2008 and the terrorist outfit responsible for it has been Indian Mujaheedin. In 2008 Delhi ,Ahemdabad , Bangalore , Guwahati has been targeted by militants belonging to different terrorist organizations.
There has been a considerable loss of life and money in all these attacks . The victims of these attacks have been innocent people some of which were sole bread winners for the family. These attacks happen and are soon forgotten except for the families who are affected by these attacks , the families who loose their loved ones in these gruesome incidents. For them the memories of these horrible episodes last a life time. The pain of loosing someone for no explicable reason cannot be explained . Some families are forced into poverty and their whole life style changes due to these attacks. People are always under constant fears of loosing their and their relatives life. The government and the police should crack down on the persons responsible for spreading this apathy so that people are not deprived of their basic right that is the right to live. No ideology and no goal can be accomplished by blatantly using force and killing innocent people the more sooner there propagators of terror realize it the better it would be. We can only hope that one day this never ending war will be over and human civilisation will live in peace and harmony .