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rkumar
October 22nd, 2006, 12:46 AM
Dear friends,

Terrorism is spreading very fast and there is hardly any place on the Earth where its effects are not visible. Will it consume humanity or it will be eradicated some day? Here are my views on Terrorism and on how to deal with it;

I strongly believe that Terrorism is like social cancer. I am not the first one to use this analogy. Many people have used this analogy and here are some references;

Terrorism is like cancer. Either you deal with it and you cut it out, or it eats
you up. - Itimar Rabinovich

Certainty is that terrorism is like cancer: it must be rooted out from our history with every means, even if the method does not promise to be painless. This cancer has already reached a metastatic stage. Hence it is our duty not to prevaricate with unproductive, sterile debates in order to avoid the destruction of the little there still is to defend in our world. - Genina Iacabone

Terrorism is like cancer. Cancer spreads rapidly, and if cells are left to proliferate, they kill their host organism, and thereby kill themselves. There is no reasoning against it. So what do we do about it? - The Real Kato Online

Terrorism is like cancer. It's starts small then spreads rapidly. - from a comment at Mental Mayhem

Terrorism is like cancer. You have to eliminate it. Sometimes you use surgery and sometimes radiation. - Lt. Col. William Bograkos, quoted by Ron Jensen in Stars and Stripes

Terrorism is like cancer, it is both a specific and systemic condition. - William Meyer

An article titled "Fighting Cancer and Terrorism - Our Fight Is Similar" by Karl Schwartz at Lymphomation.org, of all places. This one compares the two concepts on many different dimensions.

Taking this analogy further, let us look at dealing with terrorism as social cancer. Like cancer, the best way to deal with terrorism would be to;

1. prevention
2. early detection
3. ellimination

No doubt the best strategy remains to prevent it. How ever its not always easy and possible. Terrorism which is confined to a particular are like a localised cancer tumour, can be handled effectively like how it was done in Punjab. Religious terrorism which spreads like metastesies, makes it very hard to deal that way. One can not use radical methods of treatment in such cases. One has to look at primary souce ( Primary tumour) and the seconday. The treatment strategy has to be worked out accordingly. If one looks at present day Islamic terrorism, the primary site is Pakistan to a very large extent. Cancer of terrorism can never be eliminated effectively unless this primary is either surgical removed or neutalised like what we do in Radiation therapy.

RK^2

shamshermalik
October 22nd, 2006, 07:52 AM
In present scenerio we are only treating the metastatic lesions of the CAT ( carcinoma of terrorism) the cells are still proliferating from the primary lesion Pakistan and untill and unless we treat this primary lesion only thing we can do is irradiate these sporadic cells and only taking caring of the secondary lesions.

"Sanp ko maarne se kya sanp ki maa ko maaro" and that mother of this snake is Pakistan.

There can be some effort for immunisation..but the chances are very bleak. It only consist in the form of taking Kashmiri people into confidence but I am sorry that is not going to happen untill and unless this spread of hate towards India is stopped by Pakistan.

devdahiya
October 22nd, 2006, 09:30 AM
RK bhai jaan, Terrorism has become a bussiness today.People are taking up terrorism as profession.Agar beemarri ho tou illazz ho sakta hei parr ye aajkal ek shoukk ho gya hei tou ilazz kaisse ho...It is a very well paid business on this planet...I hope you got..what i mean!

raj2rif
October 22nd, 2006, 06:50 PM
Dear Dr. Sahab,
Thank you very much for initiating an interesting topic. You have rightly classified the topic under three sub heads since it is a big subject and a lot can be written on each aspect.

The most important part of the problem is the cause of people resorting to terrorism. I don't believe in the philosophy, that people taking up it as a hobby, as some members may think.

Who are the likely targets of the terrorists as far as recruitment is concerned?

I shall deal with the portion of this problem in this post, and that is why the terror group resorts to terrorism.

There are two types of people who are involved in terror activities. Firstly, the political groups and secondly the state sponsored groups. State sponsored terrorism has become the norm for it is a low cost war against an adversary with much better results. Freedom is some thing that is most dear to any human being, and the terror activities do pose restrictions in the daily life of citizens thus making them angry against the establishment.

One of the reason and probably the main reason the political group resorting to terrorist activities is that they don't get the attention and the platform to express their political views on the issues those are very dear to them. Since they want to draw attention, they want to do some thing sensational that draws the public attention. The media is a main collaborator with the terror groups by sensationalizing the issue by giving the 24 hours non stop coverage on the silver screen and by putting the terror news on the front page in boldest of fonts. That is exactly the terror group want.

Prevention:

Suppressive activities of any law and order implementing authority are only going to fuel the terrorism. Terrorism is the war that can only be won by winning the heart and mind of the people and that certainly can't be done by the guns and bullets. Many members would be coming firing on me, by saying that how does one deal with the suicide bombers and the groups like Taliban or Al Quida who defy all logic. The point here is that all these groups will become toothless, if their acts are not published in the media or spoken in the media. These groups are largely dependent on letting the new and potential recruits to know about their potency and success. How does that reach the public: Media.

In the age of technology, where a real time information is available in remotest of the areas, preventing information reaching the targeted public is difficult, yet it needs to be prevented. Media has the responsibility to inform the public about as to what is happening, but they don't have to sensationalize the event of terror. Negotiation with the terror groups is an art. There are many people who are trained and are expert in the negotiations. Governments do use their services to seek the release of hostages.

When a political movement starts, we need to hear them out. Let the debate be on National Channels. Whether it is JKLF, ULFA, AGP, or LTTE, the governments should have arranged the public debates on the issues raised by these groups. Hear them out and counter them with facts. The problem is that many within the government don't want to do that due to their involvement and fear of their own exposure to the public.

I think for this post this much is enough. Will continue as time permits.

pnauhwar21
October 23rd, 2006, 01:42 PM
[B][I][FONT=Georgia]Terrorism is the war that can only be won by winning the heart and mind of the people and that certainly can't be done by the guns and bullets. Many members would be coming firing on me, by saying that how does one deal with the suicide bombers and the groups like Taliban or Al Quida who defy all logic. The point here is that all these groups will become toothless, if their acts are not published in the media or spoken in the media. These groups are largely dependent on letting the new and potential recruits to know about their potency and success. How does that reach the public: [COLOR=red]Media.


When a political movement starts, we need to hear them out. Let the debate be on National Channels. Whether it is JKLF, ULFA, AGP, or LTTE, the governments should have arranged the public debates on the issues raised by these groups. Hear them out and counter them with facts.



Col. Sir,
On one hand you are saying that any activities of the terrorist groups should not be published/sensationalized by media so that their preachings do not reach the common man and they will cut off automatically but then you are also saying to hear them out via national debates? Won't that increase their importance and their preachings will reach a wider mass?

You can really draw parallels between cancer and terrorism as in both cases, disease is known and if it is detected and cured in earlier stage itself, there are chances of survival but if you neglect it, you will just spend enormous money in trying to cure it but no avail and reach the end result - death.

Hence, we need to stop the terrorism at its nascent stage itself. Now, to do that we cannot simply preach the terrorists the good things and solve it. First thing to do should be to stop further spread of the virus. Since we know more about India's problems, lets start from here. We know that Kashmir terrorism is mostly due to Muslims and they keep recruiting younger generation by giving wrong messages about Allah and Jehad through madarsas all over the country. Secondly, they give them lots of money and gurantee of taking care of their family. First thing to do is to keep a close watch on activities of madarsas and their teachings and give a stern warning to any maulvis and muslim religious heads that anyone found giving anti-national teachings will be dealt sternly. Now, about money part. We obviously can't give the kashmiri youth same amount of money, but try go give them decent paying jobs in kashmir itself. Create more government jobs there as private org. won't be interested in present state.

Parallely to this, give a free hand to Indian army to venture across LOC (UNOFFICIALLY without any declaration) and destroy the training camps on a regular basis. So many previous terrorists captured are well aware of their locations and should be used to identify their tactics and weak points. Until and unless this is done, we are just letting them create more and more of new terrorists just like dengue virus breeds in old stagnant water.

And lastly, I would actually like to take ur second route. National debates with the groups like JKLF and Hurriyat Conference who support independent Kashmir. In the debate, it should me made very clear to these folks as well as terrorists, that they are only wasting their time and money as India is never going to return kashmir. Secondly, strong action should be against anyone staying in Indian kashmir and lobbying for free kashmir or supporting terrorist groups. I am surprised that ppl like Yasin Malik and Faruq Abdullah are given free hands to talk openly of free kashmir. Why no action is ever taken against them? This all shows the timid mindset of our governments whether its BJP, Congress or anyone else. Nobody has the guts despite being in such powerful positions and incharge of such a big country.

I don't have much knowledge on demands of ULFA and other North-eastern groups but am sure they can also be dealt in the similar manner.

raj2rif
October 23rd, 2006, 05:39 PM
Dear Prashant,
You probably did not get what I have said. We are talking about the psychology of terrorists. Why does one person become terrorist in first place? The frustration of not hearing him is the one leads to taking up arms against the establishment. The terrorists attack those with whom he/she does not have any grievances. That is purely to draw attention of the media. When you and me see those heinous events in our drawing rooms, we identify ourselves with the victims. A continuo showing of these events dilutes the authority of the establishment in our own views and hence is the success of any movement. The terrorist is made a hero, by all these events being shown on the national and international media.
Now the question of hearing him out. The terrorist is propagating a philosophy, which is popular in a particular region. If you as an establishment have not heard his views obviously, those are not in the national interests and are not in the interests of the local people. Counter him point by point in front of public.
I remember we had a Hazi in Kashmir. The most influential person in the local area. A TV reporter was making a documentary on the sufferings of the local people. I was supposed to accompany that lady to the local villages with the strict instructions not to speak any thing. This Hazi, was explaining the sorry state of affairs of the 13-KM section of the local road which was in worst state and was passing through their village. He wanted that section of the road to be given to the military of maintenance, as on both side of this section the road was owned/maintained by the military and was in good shape.
I asked the Hazi, in front of the entire village, as to when the road was last repaired? He said about four years ago. I then asked the Hazi as to who got the contract to repair this road from the government during this four-year time? He kept mum. I told the gathering that as per the government documents, it is Hazi's son who got the contract for all these years and amount of money given to the contractor to repair it. Hazi had the best house in the area. Sure enough, Hazi's house drew fire from the terrorists within a week’s time.
The question here is to tell the truth about the terrorist as well as about those who are responsible for the sufferings of the citizens.
Not only that, these villagers informed the divisional headquarters about the terrorists plot to blow up our vehicles. We were able to nab couple of them with the help of these villagers.
Terrorist is not a new phenomenon. It is an age-old problem, and probably started some time about 200 years ago. The Italian Mafia was well known for its terror attacks in Europe long time ago.
You are right about tackling the madarsas. But the problem is not Madarsas only. When the situation is bad, each house and each Chaupal is a Madarsa.
The terrorist organizations want to use the media for their publicity, for their movement can only survive if people know about their successes. By making an even sensational, media is just doing it. Instead of that, assume getting the terrorist leader to talk that is telecast live all around. Pin him down point by point. He might have a lot to say about the problem that the people may be facing, he will have very little plans to address them effectively.
What are the guarantees that he will govern better than the current regime? Ask him how will he get rid of poverty? How will he get every one employment? Where the money is coming from? Why the Middle Eastern countries giving him the money. Those who are supporting him, have they got rid of the entire problem in their own country to say the least. Talk about solid facts and pin him down. More often than not you will find terrorist leader himself involved in some kind of discrimination or illegal activity. Just do it at the beginning. Ask him to give his manifesto if they have one. Counter him on each point.
Accept if some mistakes that have been made by the government and take action against erring officials, and you would have won the mind and hearts of the people. That is where the lasting victory would be achieved. Counter the Maulvis, record their teachings and counter them on those issues.
Media has a great responsibility and can do better than what it is doing today. Unfortunately, media like politics is suppose to be a service, but has become business. That is the problem. I hope I have been able to explain the contradiction that came to you in my earlier post.
More next time.

rkumar
October 23rd, 2006, 06:41 PM
Points raised by Tavathia Sahab are very valid. Media has been playing to the Terrorists all over the world for its own gain. Now that we have fully blown up terrorism in many places in India and outside, very little we can do as far as prevention is concerned. Only option left is that its eradicated. What are the options?

1. Indian way of handling it whereby engage terrorists an all fronts and just fatigue them ? This has been fairly successful as with time people get fed up with the news of terrorists. People like Lal Denga had fallen in line with time. As terrorists grow in age they learn the futility of violence. In my view this approach is best suited if terrorism is of internal origin like we have in North East and in Kashmir. Dacoits of Chambal were also annihilated same way.

2. Follow surgical approach and carry out large scale destruction. I am not sure of this approach as it has never been followed so far. There is no case study to support or oppose this approach. This approach might be best suited when terrorism is of external origin.

RK^2

raj2rif
October 24th, 2006, 12:03 AM
Lured into the terror group, for want of money or any other attractive thing, an unemployed young person develops a hard shell around him/herself. It becomes difficult for him/her to get out of it for various reasons. Some of these reasons are fear of getting killed by own terror group or being disgraced by the community believing in the terror philosophy. Thus it takes an extra effort to motivate these people to get back to mainstream. Once a terrorist gets the taste of success, he becomes bolder. It is therefore very important to deny him that success. Even though continuous hardships of life do take toll on his morale and physical strength, the fear of not being accepted by the mainstream as well as terror groups prevents him to leave the organization.

We as the system have to find out ways and means to get him out of this fear. While people may think that a terrorist who has surrendered gets a better treatment than a freedom fighter, it is important to ensure a feeling of security and a better quality of life to motivate a misguided youth to get back to mainstream.

No matter, what we do, the most important is to deny the terror groups the breeding ground and availability of new recruits. That can be achieved by eliminating the unemployment and discrimination. It is in this light that even our reservation policy needs to be seen. The youth needs to be given equal opportunity so that they feel that if they have failed in life, the establishment is the least to be blamed.

Conditions at home go long way in preventing young people getting involved in terror activities.

Will continue………….