Beating the summer 250 years ago

Many in India observed May 21 as Anti Terrorism Day. The day reminded them of the day in May, several years ago, when Rajiv Gandhi, one of the greatest sons of India, was blown to pieces during a visit to Tamilnadu, by a suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE). Earlier, they had made an unsuccessful attempt on his life during a friendly visit to Colombo. It was truly a Black May in the history of India and had a message for the politicians and leaders of the world that using terrorism as a political instrument could have disastrous results for the politicians and people of the world.

Is it coincidence or deliberate that most suicide bombers attack their targets in this month. Like the full moon having some sort of effect on mad people does the blistering heat of May have some effect on suicide bombers to motivate them to give up their lives just to snuff out another life?

DANFES sought to investigate the State of terrorism in the world. The scenario appeared disturbing. Saudi Arabia, which had generously funded Islamist terrorist organisations in several countries of the world, notably Pakistan, was itself shaken by terrorist suicide bomb attacks.

Before and after the explosions in Saudi Arabia, terrorist explosions had hit Mombasa, Bali, Karachi, Islamabad, Chechenya, and there was a renewed spurt in Palestine and Israel. The latest was the scare of parcel bombing in Spain. Despite the claims and euphoria of the U. S.-
U. K. led coalition against terrorism, which targetted Iraq for being in possession of WMDs and allegedly collaborating with Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda, the world scenario had the clear message that even after the 9/11 terrorist strike in the United States of America and the U. S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, terrorism continues and is in fact secretly but steadily spreading to other parts of the world with North America, Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia on the ‘jehad’ map of the Islamist terrorist.

In the report on the patterns of global terrorism during 2002, submitted by the Counter-Terrorism Division of the U. S. State Department to Congress, there appeared to be an attempt to tell a lot, but not all. Perhaps the U. S. A. did not want to tell all that it knows and all that some of its leading allies and "friends" in Asia and Africa are doing to use terrorism as an instrument of political and State policy within their own countries and in the international arena.

There are some things which deserve special attention in India in particular and the world community in general. The report for 2001 did not refer to Jammu and Kashmir as disputed territory. The Report for 2002 does. It says in very sophisticated language: "Like the United States, India faces a significant terrorist threat. Its primary source is the activity of militants opposed to continued Indian rule over the disputed province of Kashmir."

Of course, Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda, the main constituents of the International Islamic Front, also fathered by Osama, are at the present point the greatest ghosts haunting American and European minds. But were the leaders of the world unaware of the collusion of these very terrorist organisations in some of their own global interest campaigns. Black May could become blacker if the world continues to ignore the old and new realities of terrorism in the world. The confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan, between North and South Korea, between Israel and Palestine, between Iraq and Turkey, between the warring states of Europe and between China and Taiwan, may be well intentioned, but they have to be well planned, well directed and credible also. There is no partial or partisan campaign against terrorism which is likely to succeed. The threat of use of nuclear force by some countries which includes North Korea or missile power, which was quite evident during the Iraq war, might have to be included in acts of terrorism. The sponsorship of cross-border terrorism , whether it is in South America, Africa or Asia, would have to be considered a criminal act attracting U. N. sanctions and reprimand. Using religion as an instrument of political hatred, intolerance and terrorism should be banned as a matter of policy by all nations and through a covenant signed by all the U. N. members.