Even as we search for reasons, it is necessary to pause and think seriously about what can be done differently to address increased terrorism in this era of radicalisation.
Terrorism committed by states and their agents has been responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in the last two centuries. Yet the mainstream literature seems to be obsessed with terrorism perpetrated by non-state actors, and state terrorism remains an under-theorised and under-studied concept as compared to its non-state avatar. It is important, therefore, to critically look at the dominant discourse on terrorism; and the politics behind labelling someone as a terrorist needs to be interrogated thoroughly.
Afghanistan is clearly unprepared for a massive influx of refugees, and human rights groups have raised concerns about their future in a country ripped apart by war and terrorism with a worsening security situation. Many of the refugees are likely to join the ranks of close to a million internally displaced people in Afghanistan and live in inhuman conditions by all accounts.
The type of surgical action undertaken by India across the Line of Control in October 2016 in response to the terror strikes carried out by groups operating from the territory of Pakistan is neither unprecedented nor unusual in the contemporary global scenario. However, these strikes require international legal justification and have to be viewed in the context of established norms of international law. India needs to institutionalise the architecture for factoring in international law for conducting external affairs.
The cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan has to be situated in the broader context of the burgeoning terrorism that has plagued contemporary Pakistan. The links between top army personnel, bureaucrats and political leaders, on the one hand, and terrorists and drug barons, on the other, have acquired a measure of legitimacy under the banner of Islam and jihad. The transnational links of terrorist outfits also necessitate international coalitions to weed out terrorism. Nevertheless the India-Pakistan peace initiatives that are currently under way represent a positive development because they can make an incremental contribution to ending cross-border terrorism.
It is incredible that Chechnya with an insignificant population has been waging a protracted battle for independence against a one time superpower without visible or legitimate outside support. What is the nature of support for the Chechens especially after 9/11? What is the nature of this war? Given its regional and Islamic ramifications, the Chechen case fits well into the global war scenario against terror headed by the US and supported by Russia. The issues and problems of Chechnya, therefore, ought to be addressed largely in a global context and not from a narrow regional perspective of the Caucasus or Russia.
Even as the Kashmir Valley is returning to normalcy, militancy in Jammu appears to be picking up. The peculiar social and political background of the region, so different from the rest of the state needs to be taken into account in addressing the continuing militancy.
While we should praise famous men, how does one know that today's notorious terrorists could not emerge as tomorrow's famous men? What is much more ominous, are we heading towards a situation where the world witnesses a mechanistic fissure along ethnic lines?
