WORLD SHOULD NOT BE AT THE MERCY OF TERRORISTS – By N.S.Venkataraman
The attack by terrorists at Pahalgam in Jammu Kashmir , mercilessly killing 26 innocent people who were tourists , only indicate how heartless these terrorists could be . Further, it is reported that the terrorists asked each one of the tourists to identify their religion and then shot them down , if they were known to be Hindus . This shows the level of extreme crudeness that the mind set of these terrorists are made of. While this Pahalgam attacks has sent shock waves all over India and in other parts of the world with several world leaders strongly condemning the terrorist attack, the ground reality is that this is not the first time that such terrorist attacks have taken place in one part of the world or the other.
The 11th September , 2001 attack on twin towers in New York , 26th November , 2008 attack in Mumbai , 21st April, 2019 attack on Easter Day in in Sri Lanka and several other terrorist attacks in Europe and other regions, only indicate that the battle against the terrorists in the world have not been successful so far and the terrorists are able to hit wherever they want and whenever they want. In short, the Pahalgam terror attack only indicate that the global fight against terrorism has not so far been effective and has remained largely on paper.
The investigation on the background of the terrorists have led to the conclusion that most of them owe their allegiance to Islam religion. This is very unfortunate , since the Holy Quran ,which lays down the basic principles of Islam religion , does not advocate militancy but only stresses on the need for love, compassion, charity and ask people to observe code of life that would enable people to reach the feet of Almighty .
A small section of people following Islam religion have not understood or have misinterpreted the cardinal principles of Islam , thinking that Islam religion should be spread around the world with the least regard for means adopted. Because of the activities of these people, who have indulged in terrorism, the word “Islamic terrorists” have come to prevail in the communication across the world.
The question is how to tackle this terrorism and wipe out the terrorists from the world scene? Very recently, Palestinian President called on the Hamas militant group to hand over the arms to the Palestinian authority. Palestinian President made the remark in a meeting in the West Bank City of Ramallah , and criticised the Hamas led attack on Israel in 2023 , which , he said , gave Israel a pretext to destroy Gaza. The terrorists across the world should clearly understand and appreciate this view and stand of the Palestinian President , which amount to denouncing terrorism .
After the attack on Israel by Hamas , Israel has launched counter attack, virtually destroying most part of Gaza and in the process , killing thousands of innocent people. While Israel is still using force to attack Gaza and nearby regions, the world has remained , by and large , silent without criticising the strong attack by Israel adequately , since the world view appears to be that Israel is fighting against the terrorists.
Is the only way of wiping out terrorism can be by launching counter attack on terrorists, in which process innocent people also suffer. Responding to the Pahalgam attack, Indian Prime Minister Modi has declared strongly that he would chase the terrorists and destroy them wherever they are. Is this the only way of rooting out terrorism ? The world view seems to be on these lines.
A careful analysis of the terrorism scenario would indicate that the terrorists operate having base in certain countries , with extend sort of tacid support from the governments . Such countries entertaining the terrorists to settle score with some countries elsewhere, should realise that these terrorists are also harming their own country , as terrorists enjoying sort of hospitality in these countries can resort to any acts of cruelty within or without.
While this article does not want to point out name of any country for harbouring such terrorists , such countries should carefully re examine their methods and hear the world wide condemnation against the terrorists and derive right lessons and correct their approach.
Finally, as most of these terrorists claim allegiance to Islam , the peace loving and devote Muslims should actively join the world wide movement and concern against terrorism. Islam is a great religion and Muslim devotees should ensure that the extremists do not have a free hand in tarnishing the image of the great Islam religion. While the world would continue to fight against terrorism, the Muslims across the world have a special responsibility in the matter , since the terrorist attacks are being made in the name of this religion and spreading its base.
