A single act of terrorism is a war against the entire humanity. And the world has witnessed a multitude of such brutal attacks.
26/11 was one such assault which struck a part of the globe called India. The target within was a carefully chosen one – India’s financial capital Mumbai. This was not the first time that terrorists had struck in the city. The most gruesome reminder before last year’s attack were the serial blasts in 1993 and train bombings in 2006.
When extremists strike an area – no matter how big or small, it becomes a site of bloody carnage. People who are witness to such acts get shattered while looking at the bodies strewn all around. Even innocent children become victims of such attacks many a time. And these malevolent are so mighty that they can even destabilise a young and sensitive mind.
We must remember while taking stock of such events that while the dead have gone, the pain that has to be undergone is by those who have sustained irreversible injuries and who have lost their loved ones to a cruel yet avoidable situation.
The tyranny that made baby Moshe an orphan and turned ex-ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s wife into a widow are only a couple of examples.
Yet these two instances are enough to gain an insightful understanding into the consequences of any terror attack.
It is vital to observe that when one terrorist kills a man, it may flow naturally for the kith and kin of that man to pick up the gun. The bullet that is fired against fundamentalism then flies randomly and starts hitting the innocent. Hence, one militant creates another, and an endless cycle could start.
The issue of terrorism needs to be examined more as a subject in itself by the media and educational institutions. It may take generations for the wipe-out to be complete, yet the initiation needs to be made from the power of the written and the spoken words.
Last year’s Mumbai attacks have left behind bitter memories. They spread an inevitable sense of panic across India.
Intelligence inputs being received talk of another terror threat, which looms large ahead of the first anniversary of the worst attack on our national sovereignty.
The question that keeps coming to my mind is, “What is the reason that our intelligence fails despite receiving information in advance?”
The answer too strikes, “Because information gathering needs to be more spread out and efficient.”
So, along with having meetings to assess how well-prepared we are in terms of security, it is important to revamp our intelligence apparatus.
Human life is very precious. It must be preserved at all costs.
Like there are no born criminals, no one is a terrorist from birth. We all begin our lives as innocent human beings. But down the line some of us go astray. Sadly, the impact is felt on all of us in some form or the other. Therefore, only by beginning from first exploring the circumstances under which a man becomes a terrorist can we hope to uproot terrorism.
The war on terror launched by us is just a temporary measure. It has not succeeded in protecting us so far as the militants keep targeting the international community. Besides, any war in which even one innocent man dies is nothing short of terrorism.
To take the battle to the next level, let’s try to understand the system which begets terrorism to the circumstances which make a person susceptible to it.