December  2001 
Froum


Types of terrorism

Terrorism, whether indigenous, cross border or global, cannot be fought like ordinary crime because it cannot exist without some mass support and /or benevolent neutrality of a section of people

BY SATYAPAL DANG

Before February 19, 1917, the Czars ruled Russia. Some of them were most despotic rulers ever seen by the world. Lenin’s younger brother shot dead one of them. Lenin’s observation was that this was not their path.

Udham Singh alias Ram Mohammad Singh of Punjab shot down Dyer, the British general responsible for the Jalianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. Dyer was shot dead in England many years after the incident. Udham Singh was hanged. He is considered a great patriot and a hero. Even defenders of Dyer and of the massacre of 1917 would not go beyond characterising his action as "individual terrorism’’. All violence is not terrorism.

Some Khalistani terrorists tried to exploit the name of our great martyr Bhagat Singh. But here is what Bhagat Singh himself said on February 2,1931, in his message to his revolutionary comrades just a few weeks before he was hanged. "Apparently I have acted like a terrorist, but I am not a terrorist. Let me announce with all the strength at my command that I am not a terrorist and I never was, except perhaps in the beginning of my revolutionary career. I am convinced that we cannot gain anything through these methods’’.

I do not consider myself competent to make any comment on this.

Then there were the Babbar Akalis of Punjab. Like Bhagat Singh, they had the purest of motives and noble objectives. Their targets were the agents of British imperialist rulers of India. They would announce their targets beforehand and also the names of persons who would kill them. So it would be almost impossible for the British rulers and their police to harass innocent persons.

Their targets never included women and children, even of informers. Compare this with what ‘Khalistan’ terrorists did to people, including women and children of Punjab. Anyone would feel ashamed of calling Babbar Akalis "terrorists’’. Even if the method adopted by them could be called "individual terrorism", experience made the Babbars give that up.

Keeping the above in view, I would like to define terrorism as a method of achieving some political or even social objective by creating terror through kidnappings, killings etc., deliberately targeting even innocent persons and trying to prove that ‘militants’ or whatever the terrorists may call themselves are stronger than the State.

Punjab’s experience of about a decade and a half of terrorism (1978-79 to 1993-94) has important lessons which should held fight terrorism everywhere. Terrorism cannot be fought like ordinary crime because it cannot exist without some mass support and /or benevolent neutrality of a section of people. It, therefore, has to be fought both on political as well as law-and-order fronts.

The aim on the political front must be to ensure removal of genuine grievances of people; and to the extent support for terrorism is because of imagined grievances, to convince people about that. Even if terrorism gets suppressed, it is likely to re-appear (may be in a different form) if grievances, real or imagined, persist.

Many anti-social-elements are likely to join the ranks of terrorists from the very beginning. What is worse, many of those who are motivated by praiseworthy objectives to begin with are in due course likely to become anti-socials if they don’t give up the path of terrorism.

Terrorism in Punjab was based on (Sikh) religious fundamentalism Experience however proved that terrorists have no religion; they only exploit religion. Terrorism is not always based on religious fundamentalism. In Assam, for instance, it is based on Assamese nationalism. Religion-wise most of the terrorists in Assam are Hindus.

In the fight against terrorism, some excesses and violation of human rights are unavoidable despite maximum possible precautions. But the tendency to commit avoidable excesses, however, would surely be there. If that is not guarded against or is allowed a free run, it may only help the terrorists. It may also prove counter-productive in the fight against terrorism.

The reasons for the rise of terrorism in Punjab were both external and internal. Apart from the genuine and imagined grievances, the vote bank politics of all non-left parties, especially the Congress and the Akalis, played a big role in swelling the ranks of ‘militants’.

Cross border terrorism played a big role in Punjab between 1978 and 1994. Pakistani rulers were the main culprits responsible for it. Interestingly, the term ‘cross border terrorism’ was not used then. And for good reason. No amount of cross border terrorism (as also training of Khalistani terrorists in US, etc.) could lead to the situation which prevailed for about 15 years without reasons rooted in the internal situation of Punjab.

There is much talk today and justifiably, too, about cross border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. However, there is a strong tendency to ascribe the entire situation to it. That amounts to shutting eyes to the reality as a whole. No amount of cross border terrorism can succeed much anywhere unless it has support from inside.

In 1948, when J&K state acceded to India and the Indian army marched in to throw out the Pakistani raiders, it was welcomed with garlands by Kashmiris (Muslims). If a big section of them have today become alienated, some of the responsibility for this lies with the government of India. It is not insignificant that in a free vote even today, more Kashmiris will vote for remaining in India than those in favour of joining Pakistan — though the largest number may still opt for an independent state (which may not be viable).

The state of J&K would not have become part of India but for the National Conference and Article 370 of the Constitution of India. Much of the autonomy promised to the state has been eroded with the help of resolutions of successive J&K Assemblies which came into existence through rigged elections. The fact is that there were only two fair elections — one that elected the constituent Assembly of J&K state which endorsed its accession to India and the election held when Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister. The worst case of high-handedness was the dismissal of Farooq Abdullah as the chief minister and the installation of his brother-in-law in his place. This was like the last straw on a camel’s back.

Of course, it would be wrong to think that the government of India’s policies alone are responsible for the rise of terrorism. Islamic fundamentalism has possibly played some role even though it had no roots in Kashmir. A class has arisen which believes that if J&K becomes an independent State it will be able to make the best of both the worlds. However, the consequences of India’s own mistakes must not be under-estimated.

Unfortunately, the BJP-led government seems to have no intention to grant any more autonomy to J&K than what it enjoys at present, though going back to pre-1953 situation may not be desirable or even practicable.

The RSS ‘solution’ of the Kashmir problem (vide an official resolution of this organization) is to export a very large number of Hindus from all over India to Kashmir so that the Valley becomes Hindu-majority. If necessary, a section of Kashmiri Muslims may be forced out. Such a ‘solution’ can be advocated only by a fascist organisation. In any case, it can only lead to India’s disintegration. Together with much greater autonomy to J&K, within the state Jammu and Ladakh will have to be given considerable autonomy.

Another failure on India’s part and even on the part of the Indian Left has been the failure to educate the people of Pakistan on the true facts of J&K dispute and its historical roots, including such facts as that it was Pakistan rulers who violated the Security Council resolution and not India. Information technology must be made full use of to reach the people of Pakistan and make then aware of the truth. I am sure their response to this will surprise many Indians.

Religious fundamentalism is not as strong in Pakistan as it appears to be only because fundamentalists have all along controlled the Pakistani army. It is not without significance that not a single MP of the Jamaat-e-Islami has ever been elected to the Parliament of Pakistan.

Of course, India must restrain those who talk of wiping out ‘’the artificial line that divides India and Pakistan’’. We should also not assume the "my country right or wrong’’ posture. As Prime Minister Vajpayee often says, neighbours cannot change. However, it must be realised by both neighbours that they can be friends benefiting each other only if both stand for justice and for same give and take.

The terrorist attacks on two symbols of power of the most powerful country in the world —US in September 2001 resulting in deaths of more than 3,000 innocent people sent shock-waves throughout the world. This has led to much talk of global terrorism, international coalition against global terrorism, etc. A war in Afghanistan has been launched by the US with Britain as the junior partner, with the originally declared objectives of catching Osama Bin Laden and his outfit, and the forming of a new broad-based government in place of the present Taliban government.

In our opinion, the entire approach is defective. "Islamic terrorism" may be most widespread area-wise, but it is dangerous to equate it with global terrorism. Terrorism in Lanka is "Hindu" by religion though it is based on nationalism while the government is Buddhist dominated. The LTTE is the most powerful terrorist organisation in the world perhaps next only to Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda outfit. In Algeria "Islamic" terrorism is being fought since many years by a Muslim-dominated government.

In our country, we have "Islamic terrorism" in Kashmir, "Hindu terrorism" in Assam and "Christian terrorism" in the north-east. To talk only of terrorism in Kashmir when we refer to global terrorism is to help only those dyed-in- wool reactionary forces which want to convert the fight against terrorism into a fight between "civilizations" — Muslims on one side and Christian and Hindus on the other. If their game is successful, it will lead to a disaster for the whole world and human civilisation as it can only strengthen Bin Ladens of different hues.

It is significant that neither Lanka nor Algeria have asked for US help as a part of its fight against global terrorism. Our NDA government and especially its strongest component, the BJP, have been begging for at least a commitment by the US that it will fight terrorism in Kashmir also. Even a novice in politics would realise that US intervention in Kashmir will lead to American domination of this strategic region to the detriment of India’s own national interests.

It is deliberately ‘forgotten’ that the US is an imperialist power and today the only great power in the world, anxious to remain the sole global policeman. They also choose not to remember that the US government has been the biggest promoter of terrorism in the world. Even Osama Bin Laden and his organisation is their product.

The Taliban are the brainchild of the ruling class of Pakistan, made strong with the blessings and help of all kind from the US. History proves without a shadow of doubt that the US government is with terrorists when they play its game and is against them only when its interests are hurt.

Modern technology has turned the entire world into a Global Village. The US has committed many sins which have earned it the hatred of innumerable people. Arabs have strong reasons to be led astray by throwing up terrorists to fight injustices against them. The US has been out to grab their oil. Palestinian Arabs were deprived of their country. Later, because of world opinion, it was decided that a part of to be given back to them as a sovereign State. But with the unconcealed backing of US, Israel has grabbed a big part of even the area which was to be an independent Palestinian State. Israel has grabbed even some parts of Syria.

The Camp David agreement and subsequent agreements have been violated by Israel with the support of the US with impunity. Lakhs of Palestinians live in refugee camps. And the small area they have has not much more autonomy than what a Municipal Committee has. The conclusion is obvious. Arab terrorists exploit (Muslim) religion just as terrorists in Punjab exploited (Sikh) religion.

Whatever crimes Saddam Hussain of Iraq may have committed, the US has done immense injustice to Iraqi people. The lesson is obvious, even global terrorism has to be fought on the political as much as on the security front. The grievances of Arabs are not imagined ones but very deep and very genuine. They must be removed. In fact international terrorism cannot be defeated finally without ensuring justice to every nation, big or small.

The immediate steps which need to be taken simultaneously are an end to the war in Afghanistan, replacement of the Taliban with a broad based government; and efforts to nab those guilty of September terrorist attacks on US. But the leadership of all the operations and processes must pass into the hands of the UNO.

Many questions remain unanswered in this paper. For instance: are "militants" in Kashmir terrorists or freedom fighters, even if the question were to be decided on the (wrong) basis, premises and theory of Pakistan rulers? And what about fighters for the unification of Ireland? The question could also be asked about the PLO hijackers in the past.

To these can be added other kinds of questions: For example, terrorists themselves being major violators of human rights, to what extent should violation of their human rights be tolerated? What is state terrorism and would that be justified to suppress terrorism?

We will try to answer these and such other questions the next time other time. 

(The writer is a communist from Punjab who is respected nationally and internationally for the role he played in fighting terrorism in his state).


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