Terrorism is Here to Stay

Yet another rubbish article blaming the victim for the crime.
"It is society’s face in the mirror. And the only way the reflection can be changed is to change the face."

Wtf you mean by that?

Some people just refuse to see the writing on the wall. Those hell bent on destroying India must be laughing their heads off. If only India had more people like you (which hopefully it doesn't), it would be their dream come true.

It isn't poverty or oppression but wrong ideology. Bin Laden hails from a upper class family, the LTTE leader Prabhakaran came from an educated family.

Whats unfortunate is that you are asking us to accept terrorism as if its a common cold that can be quick fixed with a bit of feel good philosophy.

Those who are wedded to the concept that taking lives of innocents forwards their cause will never give your argument much water and won't think twice about gunning you or your loved ones down.

That is a hard cold fact. You can blame the victims who go about living their honest lives but there are others who have lived through worse conditions and yet retained their humanity.

How does one battle terrorism? You voraciously counter the ideology they promote as has been done by the moderate muslims around the world. You educate and hold dialogs with the group from which they harvest and you continue to bring terrorists down to their knees.

And as they say one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. Its a battle of ideologies plain and simple.

It is odd that both Ledzius and Deepti felt that I was holding the victims responsible. Read carefully.

I have clearly said that "poverty and social marginalization is *not* THE root cause of terrorism".

I do hold that it is almost always political and economic agendas of power brokers. And this agenda seeps into the social fabric which most often the ordinary citizen is not even aware of and usually pays for.

A common cold is a viral infection but Aids is a *syndrome*. Similarly terrorism is a syndrome - it requires certain conditions - social, economic, political climate to take root and flourish. We need to understand that.

It is society’s face in the mirror. And the only way the reflection can be changed is to change the face.

Exactly what do you mean? You are saying terrorism is society's face in the mirror. Not Rakhi Sawant Right?

I sure am banging my head against the wall and scratching it at the same time. Maybe I need to go back to kindergarten and get some lessons in English.

Don't see any reason why I should go on this endless moronic debate. I'm outta this thread and moving on to more sensible pastures.

let us put terrorism on the back burner for a moment

and take the case of a robbery... a simple robbery...where a thief breaks in and takes off with the (hard earned) property of another individual and is caught....

the state would try that thief and if found guilty would punish that person according to the law of the land

is there any disagreement?

Dear Maaya,

We need to begin to accept the fact that human society is one. "Vasudha eva kutumbakkam". That's why we need to introspect the basic human nature first. The modern method is to address the symptom and leave the underlying root cause alone to manifest itself in some other ways. Whether it is health, economy or culture there is always the quick fix that is popular. Nobody thinks about why things happen the way they do. In that light your article makes eminent sense. We do indeed need to look in the mirror and examine what we see.

Regards,

Ravi

Dear temporal,

There is no disagreement with what you say. But if that's all you are going to do, then it is clearly not enough. There are underlying causes for the thief to act the way he does. It is more cost effective in the long term to make sure that he does not do it again. The problem can be addressed by ensuring that our children get a proper education, good parenting and good employment opportunities when they are of age. It is ultimately the responsibility of the society to do it.

Regards,

Ravi

rk:

the word you are looking for is "education" and "rehabilitation"...the former perhaps to prevent and the latter obviously to prevent recurrence.

and yes society is where the buck stops "ultimately"

this "society" may be pagan, animist, theocratic, conservative, liberal, democratic...the important thing is consensus achieved within...THAT society agrees to treat those who break the law under a prescribed set of rules

Before we can point the finger at society, the influence and effect of propaganda needs to be fully understood and exposed for the threat that it is.

"Demonizing the enemy" creates prejudice, racism, and hate, in a deliberate attempt to overcome our natural rejection to killing each other.

Like fear, prejudice requires ignorance. To break the prejudice, you humanize. Humanize your own for security, humanize the "enemy" for peace.

Maaya,

You ahould consider your words with care. They are powerful instruments. A little over two weeks ago, the bus I was riding home broke down on the Patriarch's Road in Samaria. You can read more about what happened at the link above to understand why I was nervous about it breaking down again.

Last night, I was riding the 21:00 bus home to Samaria and the fellow sitting next to me on the bus said to someone in a cell phone conversation that he would be at a party at 22:30. I told him that he ought not have done that - the bus might break down. He had been on that bus and we reminisced over the events of that night and how I finally got a ride home to Ma'alé Levoná.

Sure enough, the gas tank sprung a leak and by the time I was half way home on the Patriarch's Road, the driver had stopped the bus and told everyone that another bus would be along. He eventually did get a ride to his party - but he was late. And he said, "be careful; next time wish or a million dollars".

You say that "terrorism is here to stay". Aside fom the obvious - that I hope (and believe) thqt you are wrong - you should watch your words. You may be writing your own future.

Hmmm....

What about state sponsored terrorism?

What about fueling dangerous conflicts around the world to sustain the huge arms industry?

What about economic terrorism, where fear and insecurity is created in masses of people by business establishments and Governments to promote their interests?

What about usage of laws as a weapon to terrorize people?

Human beings are not saints. Lets accept it. All great principles of the world were created more than 2000 years back and yet it made no difference. It is a fact that all humans by default are jerks.

Terrorism of all kinds is here to stay. Because a hero of million people is a terrorist for others.

The great nation states also terrorise and kill innocent people.

Come on..... Right here in Bangalore, police are killing innocent people in police stations (called custodial deaths in India). It is a regular news that a man is having a marital problem and police gets involved and then drive the man to suicide. I am tired reading this every month.

That's state terrorism. The number of people killed by Pakistani terrorists is microscopic compared to the number of innocent people killed by the Nation State called India.

Millions of women in India do not have a choice to marry as they are terrorised by their parents and relatives that they will kill her boyfriend/husband, kill them both (honour killing) or the parents blackmail/threaten that they will commit suicide unless the girl marries a man of their choice.

I have seen so many cases, where parents do not see the face of a girl for ages, if she elopes with someone and marries him.

Is not it also social terrorism unleashed by instilling fear on people's minds?

There was all kinds of terrorism in last 3000 years and there is all kinds of terrorism even today.

Human beings have to evolve.

sumanth and maya:

state terrorism? ask around in gaza and the "vichy" west bank!

book mark the following links and read about it here and here

State terrorism and state sponsored terrorism are much more difficult than say terrorism by seperatist groups or fanatics. In the latter there is recourse to justice and protection. In the former there is nowhere to go ! Whether it was the Emergency period in India or Modi in Gujarat; whether American interventions in South America or Israel in the Middle-East ...
terrorism has always been in the fabric of life, in one way or the other. As long as one human being wants to "control" another no matter what means to be used, some form of terrorism will be perpetrated.

maaya,

a tough one for sure.

1. terrorism is here to stay, despite the absurd "war on terror" and probably because of it.

2. at the same time, nobody can afford to sit back and do nothing about it.

CS: about point 2.

agreed. I am not suggesting we do nothing about it.

But once we understand the scale and nature of the problem, our action and response will be different. Once we see the real magnitude, source and genesis of the problem, we might learn to develop a "vaccine" rather than just an "aspirin" ... learn to treat it as a syndrome and not a disease.

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon - enough people have suffered over the last few decades to know this is a pandemic, and the vaccine approach is too little too late. "Some people just want to see the world burn."

maaya:

re state sponsored terrorism yousay: In the former there is nowhere to go !

i beg to differ

the comity of nations can force the perpetrator to recant and desist...

a study of recent history throws up former czechoslovakia, south africa and germany...

maaya,

i don't disagree with you. in fact i might even go further than you, along the same lines as you, in suggesting that terrorism is not precipitated by deranged individuals or psychopaths. there are social causes (not necessarily poverty)that need to be dealt with on a long term basis. for those of you about to pounce on me, this does not mean that specific actors need not be punished nor does it mean that waves of terrorism cannot be subdued. but unfortunately, despite the highs and lows, sadly enough:

at the end of the day,
as you say
terrorism is here to stay

...to add to cs #18

...THAT is why we have laws...to keep the waverer and violator in check...be they individuals or states

ps: cs i hope you have been 'emailing' yourself during your sabbatical? when can we expect the travelogues?

Temporal,

Re: emailing myself was the best tip i rec'd from anyone, so thanks! whether the emails will eventually be converted into travel writing, is still at the khayali pulau stage of being!