DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Terrorism in India: Its Causes

and Effects

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. MONIKA SRIVASTAVA SIDDHANT JAISWAL
(LECTURER, POLITICAL SCIENCE) Roll No. 135
First Semester
(B.A. LLB HONORS)

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 Acknowledgement
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude
towards our political science teacher Ms. Monika Srivastava, who has been a
constant guide. I thank her for allowing me to choose my topic for this project,
working on which I gained knowledge which I hope to be able to utilize in the
future.
Among other, I would like to thank my friends and family for helping me,
and suggesting me ways to improve upon the project.

Siddhant Jaiswal
B.A.LL.B (Hons) I semester
Roll No. 135

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 Index

Topics: Page No.

Introduction.4-6
Causes of Terrorism7-8
Types of Terrorism..9-10
Terrorism in India..11-13
Role of Politics in Terrorism...14
Counter-Terrorism Techniques in India..15
Conclusion...16
Bibliography17

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 INTRODUCTION
"Terror" comes from a Latin word meaning "to frighten". The terror cimbricus was a
panic and state of emergency in Rome in response to the approach of warriors of the Cimbri
tribe in 105BC. The Jacobins cited this precedent when imposing a Reign of Terror during the
French Revolution. After the Jacobins lost power, the word "terrorist" became a term of
abuse. In November 2004, a United Nations Security Council report described terrorism as
any act "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with
the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international
organization to do or abstain from doing any act".

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. At

present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism. Common definitions of
terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are
perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or
disregard the safety of combatants. Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence
and war.

The word "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged and this greatly
compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. A 1988 study by the United States
Army found that over 100 definitions of the word terrorism have been used. In many
countries, acts of terrorism are legally distinguished from criminal acts done for other
purposes, and "terrorism" is defined by statute. Common principles among legal definitions
of terrorism provide an emerging consensus as to meaning and also foster cooperation
between law enforcement personnel in different countries. Among these definitions there are
several that do not recognize the possibility of legitimate use of violence by civilians against
an invader in an occupied country and would, thus label all resistance movements as terrorist
groups. Others make a distinction between lawful and unlawful use of violence. Ultimately,
the distinction is a political judgment.

The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" (someone who engages in terrorism) carry
strong negative connotations. These terms are often used as political labels, to condemn
violence or the threat of violence by certain actors as immoral, indiscriminate, unjustified or
to condemn an entire segment of a population. Those labelled "terrorists" by their opponents
rarely identify themselves as such, and typically use other terms or terms specific to their
situation, such as separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant,
paramilitary, guerrilla, rebel or any similar-meaning word in other languages and cultures.
Jihadi, mujaheddin, and fedayeen are similar Arabic words which have entered the English
lexicon. It is common for both parties to a conflict to describe each other as terrorists.

Terrorism is also often recognizable by a following statement from the perpetrators:

Violence According to Walter Laqueur of the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, "the only general characteristic of terrorism generally agreed upon is that
terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence". However, the criterion of

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 violence alone does not produce a useful definition, as it includes many acts not
usually considered terrorism: war, riot, organized crime, or even a simple assault.
Property destruction that does not endanger life is not usually considered a violent
crime, but some have described property destruction by the Earth Liberation Front
and Animal Liberation Front as violence and terrorism.

Psychological impact and fear The attack was carried out in such a way as to
maximize the severity and length of the psychological impact. Each act of terrorism is
a performance devised to have an impact on many large audiences. Terrorists also
attack national symbols, to show power and to attempt to shake the foundation of the
country or society they are opposed to. This may negatively affect a government,
while increasing the prestige of the given terrorist organization and/or ideology
behind a terrorist act.

Perpetrated for a political goal Something that many acts of terrorism have in
common is a political purpose. Terrorism is a political tactic, like letter-writing or
protesting, which is used by activists when they believe that no other means will
effect the kind of change they desire. The change is desired so badly that failure to
achieve change is seen as a worse outcome than the deaths of civilians. This is often
where the inter-relationship between terrorism and religion occurs. When a political
struggle is integrated into the framework of a religious or "cosmic" struggle, such as
over the control of an ancestral homeland or holy site such as Israel and Jerusalem,
failing in the political goal (nationalism) becomes equated with spiritual failure,
which, for the highly committed, is worse than their own death or the deaths of
innocent civilians. One definition that combines the key elements was developed at
the George C. Marshall Center for European Security Studies by Carsten Bockstette:
"Terrorism is defined as political violence in an asymmetrical conflict that is designed
to induce terror and psychic fear (sometimes indiscriminate) through the violent
victimization and destruction of noncombatant targets (sometimes iconic symbols).
Such acts are meant to send a message from an illicit clandestine organization. The
purpose of terrorism is to exploit the media in order to achieve maximum attainable
publicity as an amplifying force multiplier in order to influence the targeted
audience(s) in order to reach short- and midterm political goals and/or desired long-
term end states."

Deliberate targeting of non-combatants It is commonly held that the distinctive

nature of terrorism lies in its intentional and specific selection of civilians as direct
targets. Specifically, the criminal intent is shown when babies, children, mothers and
the elderly are murdered, or injured and put in harm's way. Much of the time, the
victims of terrorism are targeted not because they are threats, but because they are
specific "symbols, tools, animals or corrupt beings" that tie into a specific view of the
world that the terrorists possess. Their suffering accomplishes the terrorists' goals of

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 instilling fear, getting their message out to an audience or otherwise satisfying the
demands of their often radical religious and political agendas.[15]

Unlawfulness or illegitimacy Some official (notably government) definitions of

terrorism add a criterion of illegitimacy or unlawfulness to distinguish between
actions authorized by a government (and thus "lawful") and those of other actors,
including individuals and small groups. Using this criterion, actions that would
otherwise qualify as terrorism would not be considered terrorism if they were
government sanctioned. For example, firebombing a city, which is designed to affect
civilian support for a cause, would not be considered terrorism if it were authorized
by a government. This criterion is inherently problematic and is not universally
accepted, because: it denies the existence of state terrorism; the same act may or may
not be classed as terrorism depending on whether its sponsorship is traced to a
"legitimate" government; "legitimacy" and "lawfulness" are subjective, depending on
the perspective of one government or another; and it diverges from the historically
accepted meaning and origin of the term. For these reasons, this criterion is not
universally accepted; most dictionary definitions of the term do not include this
criterion.

The Rise of Non-State Terrorism:

The rise of guerrilla tactics by non-state actors in the last half of the twentieth century was
due to several factors. These included the flowering of ethnic nationalism (e.g. Irish, Basque,
Zionist), anti-colonial sentiments in the vast British, French and other empires, and new
ideologies such as communism. Terrorist groups with a nationalist agenda have formed in
every part of the world. For example, the Irish Republican Army grew from the quest by Irish
Catholics to form an independent republic, rather than being part of Great Britain. Similarly,
the Kurds, a distinct ethnic and linguistic group in Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, have sought
national autonomy since the beginning of the 20th Century. The Kurdistan Worker's
Party(PKK), formed in the 1970s, uses terrorist tactics to announce its goal of a Kurdish state.
The Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are members of the ethnic Tamil minority.
They use suicide bombing and other lethal tactics to wage a battle for independence against
the Sinhalese majority government.

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 Causes of Terrorism
All terrorist acts are motivated by generally these things:
Social and political injustice: People choose terrorism when they are trying to right
what they perceive to be a social or political or historical wrongwhen they have been
stripped of their land or rights, or denied these.

The belief that violence or its threat will be effective: and usher in change. Another
way of saying this is: the belief that violent means justify the ends. Many terrorists in
history said sincerely that they chose violence after long deliberation, because they felt
they had no choice.

Politics played by Politicians: This is seen essentially in Assam and Tripura. The
political factors that led to insurgency-cum-terrorism included the failure of the
government to control large-scale illegal immigration of Muslims from Bangladesh, to
fulfil the demand of economic benefits for the sons and daughters of the soil, etc.The
common men must understand it is not you their concern but how to retain power is the
concern.

Economic causes: Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar are prime
examples. The economic factors include the absence of land reforms, rural
unemployment, exploitation of landless labourers by land owners, etc. These economic
grievances and perceptions of gross social injustice have given rise to ideological
terrorist groups such as the various Marxist/Maoist groups operating under different
names.

Ethnic causes: Mainly seen in Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur due to feelings of
ethnic separateness.

Religious causes: Punjab before 1995 and in J&K since 1989.In Punjab, some Sikh
elements belonging to different organisations took to terrorism to demand the creation
of an independent state called Khalistan for the Sikhs. In J&K, Muslims belonging to
different organisations took to terrorism for conflicting objectives. Some, such as the
Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front, want independence for the state, including all the
territory presently part of India, Pakistan and China. Others, such as the Hizbul
Mujahideen, want India's J&K state to be merged with Pakistan. While those who want
independence project their struggle as a separatist one, those wanting a merger with
Pakistan project it as a religious struggle.There have also been sporadic acts of religious
terrorism in other parts of India. These are either due to feelings of anger amongst
sections of the Muslim youth over the government's perceived failure to safeguard their
lives and interests or due to Pakistan's attempts to cause religious polarisation.
The maximum number of terrorist incidents and deaths of innocent civilians have
occurred due to religious terrorism. While the intensity of the violence caused by
terrorism of a non-religious nature can be rated as low or medium, that of religious

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 terrorism has been high or very high. It has involved the indiscriminate use of
sophisticated Improvised Explosive Devices, suicide bombers, the killing of civilians
belonging to the majority community with hand-held weapons and resorting to methods
such as hijacking, hostage-taking, blowing up of aircraft through IEDs, etc.

Osama bin Laden's declaration of war on American interests in the 1990s stemmed from his
belief that U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia represented an abomination to the kind of
Islamic state he believed should exist in the Arabian peninsula.

In some cases, people choose terrorist tactics based on a cause whose righteousness they
believe in to the exclusion of nearly all else. Abortion clinic bombers in the 1990s and groups
such as the Animal Liberation Front believe zealously in their causes.
People who choose terrorist tactics are also persuaded that violence, or the threat of violence,
is effective. There is some question about who actually 'chooses' terrorism, and it may be
unfair to think of young recruits, such as some suicide bombers today, who are seduced by
cult-like methods of indoctrination as completely culpable for their choices.

In a way, Poverty is an incubator of terrorism and a root cause of corruption. It breeds the
Naxalites and the local terrorist groups. The government needs to be tough in implementing
reforms to maintain rapid economic growth and uplift the status of its downtrodden people.

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 Types of Terrorism
Political terrorism Violent criminal behaviour designed primarily to generate fear in the
community, or substantial segment of it, for political purposes.

Non-Political terrorism Terrorism that is not aimed at political purposes but which
exhibits conscious design to create and maintain high degree of fear for coercive purposes,
but the end is individual or collective gain rather than the achievement of a political
objective.

Quasi-terrorism The activities incidental to the commission of crimes of violence that are
similar in form and method to genuine terrorism but which nevertheless lack its essential
ingredient. It is not the main purpose of the quasi-terrorists to induce terror in the immediate
victim as in the case of genuine terrorism, but the quasi-terrorist uses the modalities and
techniques of the genuine terrorist and produces similar consequences and reaction. For
example, the fleeing from who takes hostages is a quasi-terrorist, whose methods are similar
to those of the genuine terrorist but whose purposes are quite different.

Limited political terrorism Genuine political terrorism is characterized by a revolutionary

approach; limited political terrorism refers to acts of terrorism which are committed for
ideological or political motives but which are not part of a concerted campaign to capture
control of the state.

Official or state terrorism "referring to nations whose rule is based upon fear and
oppression that reach similar to terrorism or such proportions. It may also be referred to as
Structural Terrorism defined broadly as terrorist acts carried out by governments in pursuit
of political objectives, often as part of their foreign policy.

In an analysis prepared for U.S. Intelligence four typologies are mentioned.

Nationalist-separatist
Religious fundamentalist
New religious
Social revolutionary

Democracy and domestic terrorism

The relationship between domestic terrorism and democracy is very complex. Terrorism is
most common in nations with intermediate political freedom, and is least common in the
most democratic nations. However, one study suggests that suicide terrorism may be an
exception to this general rule. Evidence regarding this particular method of terrorism reveals
that every modern suicide campaign has targeted a democracy- a state with a considerable
degree of political freedom. The study suggests that concessions awarded to terrorists during
the 1980s and 1990s for suicide attacks increased their frequency.

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Some examples of "terrorism" in non-democracies include ETA in Spain under Francisco
Franco, the Shining Path in Peru under Alberto Fujimori, the Kurdistan Workers Party when
Turkey was ruled by military leaders and the ANC in South Africa. Democracies, such as the
United States, Israel, Indonesia, and the Philippines, also have experienced domestic
terrorism.

While a democratic nation espousing civil liberties may claim a sense of higher moral ground
than other regimes, an act of terrorism within such a state may cause a perceived dilemma:
whether to maintain its civil liberties and thus risk being perceived as ineffective in dealing
with the problem; or alternatively to restrict its civil liberties and thus risk delegitimizing its
claim of supporting civil liberties. This dilemma, some social theorists would conclude, may
very well play into the initial plans of the acting terrorist(s); namely, to delegitimize the state.

Religious terrorism is terrorism performed by groups or individuals, the motivation of

which is typically rooted in the faith based tenets. Terrorist acts throughout the centuries have
been performed on religious grounds with the hope to either spread or enforce a system of
belief, viewpoint or opinion. Religious terrorism does not in itself necessarily define a
specific religious standpoint or view, but instead usually defines an individual or a group
view or interpretation of that belief system's teachings.

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 Terrorism In India
Right from the first few days of its independence, India has been a target for terrorists.
Within the first few months of its independence, the first major infiltration backed by
Pakistan took place in the newly acquired state of Jammu and Kashmir.The Indian Army was
able to repel the infiltration successfully. In the 1970s and 1980s, India was targeted by Sikh
terrorists, demanding a new nation for the Sikhs. The Khalistan Movement (so called)
resulted in the assassination of many political leaders including the then prime minister Indira
Gandhi. In the 1990s a new form of terrorism emerged. Some foreign intelligence agencies
(mainly the ISI of Pakistan), started recruiting the mafia gangs which were headed by
Muslim's. They started a propaganda against India by preaching "Jihad" to the Muslim
gangsters. The result was a series of bomb blasts in the heart of Mumbai (then Bombay). It
was only after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington that the world realised
the potential of terrorism. India and many other nations like Israel, Philippines, Indonesia etc.
were able to curb the financial supply to these organisations.

Following is the list of terrorist organisations which are currently banned in India. Some of
them are now inactive as the government was successfully able to convert the opinion of the
dissatisfied sectors. The best example of this would be the state of Punjab which had given
maximum recruits to the Babbar Khalsa group.

1. United Liberation Front of Assam ( ULFA )

2. National Democratic Front of Bodoland ( NDFB ) in Assam
3. Peoples Liberation Army ( PLA )
4. United National Liberation Front ( UNLF )
5. Peoples Revolutionary party of Kangleipak ( PREPAK )
6. Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP)
7. Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup ( KYKL )
8. Manipur Peoples Liberation Front ( MPLF )
9. Revolutionary Peoples Front (RPF ) in Manipur
10. All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF)
11. National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT ) in Tripura
12. Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC)
13. Achik National Volunteer Council ( ANVC ) in Meghalaya
14. Babbar Khalsa International
15. Khalistan Commando Force
16. International Sikh Youth Federation
17. Lashkar-E-Taiba/Pasban-E-Ahle Hadis

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18. Jaish-E-Mohammed/Tahrik-E-Furqan.
19. Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen/Harkar-Ul-Ansar/Karkat-Ul-Jehad-E-Islami
20. Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen/Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen Pir Panjal Regiment
21. Al-Umar-Mujahideen
22. Jammu And Kashmir Islamic Front
23. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
24. Students Islamic Movement Of India
25. Deendar Anjuman
26. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Peoples War, All Its Formations And
Front Organisations
27. Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), All Its Formations And Front Organisations
28. Al Badr
29. Jamiat-Ul-Mujahidde
30. Al-Qaida
31. Dukhtaran-E-Millat (DEM)
32. Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA)
33. Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT)
34. Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj (ABNES)

Some Major Terrorist Attacks In India

Mumbai

Mumbai has been the most preferred target for most terrorist organizations, primarily the
separatist forces from Kashmir. Over the past few years a series of attacks including
explosions in local trains in July 2006, to the most recent and unprecedented attacks of 26
November, 2008, where two of the prime hotels and another building, in south Mumbai,
were sieged.

Terrorist attacks in Mumbai include:

12 March 1993 - Series of 13 bombs go off killing 257

6 December 2002 - Bomb goes off in a bus in Ghatkopar killing 2

27 January 2003 - Bomb goes off on a bicycle in Vile Parle killing 1

14 March 2003 - Bomb goes off in a train in Mulund killing 10

28 July 2003 - Bomb goes off in a bus in Ghatkopar killing 4

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 25 August 2003 - Two Bombs go off in cars near the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar
killing 50

11 July 2006 - Series of seven bombs go off in trains killing 209

26 November 2008 to 29 November 2008 - Coordinated series of attacks killing at least 172.

New Delhi

29 October 2005 Delhi bombings

Three explosions went off in the Indian capital of New Delhi on October 29, 2005 which
killed more than 60 people and injured at least 200 others. The high number of casualties
made the bombings the deadliest attack in India of 2005.It was followed by 5 bomb blasts on
13 September 2008.

Attack on Indian parliament

Terrorists on December 13, 2001 attacked the Parliament of India resulting in a 45-minute
gun battle in which 9 policemen and parliament staffer were killed. All the five terrorists were
also killed by the security forces and were identified as Pakistani nationals. The attack took
place around 11:40 am (IST), minutes after both Houses of Parliament had adjourned for the
day.

The suspected terrorists dressed in commando fatigues entered Parliament in a car through
the VIP gate of the building. Displaying Parliament and Home Ministry security stickers, the
vehicle entered the Parliament premises.

The terrorists set off massive blasts and used AK-47 rifles, explosives and grenades for the
attack. Senior Ministers and over 200 Members of Parliament were inside the Central Hall of
Parliament when the attack took place. Security personnel sealed the entire premises which
saved many lives.

Uttar Pradesh

Ayodhya crisis: 2005 Ram Janmabhoomi attack in Ayodhya

The long simmering Ayodhya crisis finally culminated in a terrorist attack on the site of
the 16th century Babri Masjid -Demolished Ancient Masjid in Ayodhya on July 5, 2005.
Following the two-hour gunfight between Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists based in Pakistan
and Indian police, in which six terrorists were killed, opposition parties called for a
nationwide strike with the country's leaders condemning the attack, believed to have been
masterminded by Dawood Ibrahim.

2006 Varanasi blasts

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 A series of blasts occurred across the Hindu holy city of Varanasi on 7 March 2006.
Fifteen people are reported to have been killed and as many as 101 others were injured.
No-one has accepted responsibility for the attacks, but it is speculated that the bombings
were carried out in retaliation of the arrest of a Lashkar-e-Toiba agent in Varanasi earlier
in February 2006. On April 5, 2006 the Indian police arrested six Islamic militants,
including a cleric who helped plan bomb blasts. The cleric is believed to be a commander
of a banned Bangladeshi Islamic militant group, Harkatul Jihad-al Islami and is linked to
the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Pakistani spy agency.

Air India Flight 182

Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal-London-Delhi-
Bombay route. On 23 June 1985 the Boeing 747-237B operating on the route was
bombed over Irish airspace, killing all onboard. Until 11 September 2001, the Air India
bombing was the single deadliest terrorist attack involving aircraft. It remains to this day
the largest mass murder in Canadian history. This act was taken responsibility by Babbar
Khalsa known as being a hardcore terrorist group which was and still is banned in
Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and India in 1985.

Role of Politics In Terrorism

The root cause of this terrorism is the dirty politics being played in respective
countries for personal gains by certain section of politicians and their operational colleagues
the religious-fundamentalists. The common men do not understand that it is just the family of
politicians (It is called Dynasty politics) and their loyalists only gain by these kind of pseudo-
secular agenda. This is a front-end & Back-end process. Front-end they create false agenda,
then push the people to fight each other and shed tears for that cause, back-end they make use
of such situation by harnessing votes of the victims, once back in power they forget them.
The common men must understand it is not you their concern but how to retain power is the
concern.

The concept of terrorism is itself controversial because it is often used by states to

delegitimize political or foreign opponents, and potentially legitimize the state's own use of
terror against them. Terrorism has been practiced by a broad array of political organizations
for furthering their objectives. It has been practiced by both right-wing and left-wing political
parties, nationalistic groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments.One
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form is the use of violence against noncombatants for the purpose of gaining publicity for a
group, cause, or individual.

A man who well established with all certain and specific evidence in Indian
Parliament attack as the main culprit and punished with death sentence by the Supreme
court of India years back still enjoy his days in jail!!.

Communist groups like CPI-ML, MCC and People's War take advantage of situations
and instigated the low caste people to take up arms against establishment which was seen as a
tool in the hands of rich. They started taking to force killing the high caste people.

A state can sponsor terrorism by funding or harboring a terrorist organization.

Opinions as to which acts of violence by states consist of state-sponsored terrorism or not
vary widely. When states provide funding for groups considered by some to be terrorist, they
rarely acknowledge them as such. Civilization is based on a clearly defined and widely
accepted yet often unarticulated hierarchy. Violence done by those higher on the hierarchy to
those lower is nearly always invisible, that is, unnoticed. When it is noticed, it is fully
rationalized. Violence done by those lower on the hierarchy to those higher is unthinkable,
and when it does occur is regarded with shock, horror, and the fetishization of the victims.

The best example of State sponsored Terrorism is Osama Bin Laden, who was created and
Supported by United States Of America for its personal gains but now Osama Bin Laden is
not only a great threat to U.S.A. but Also to the whole World!!

Counter-Terrorism Techniques in India

The techniques followed by India stress the following:

1. The importance of a good grievances detection, monitoring and redressal machinery so

that the build-up of grievances in any community is detected in time and the political
leadership alerted and advised to take prompt action to redress them. The intelligence
agencies have an important role to play as the eyes and ears of the government in
different communities to detect feelings of anger and alienation which need immediate
attention.
2. The importance of good, preventive human intelligence. This is easier said than done
because of the difficulties in penetrating terrorist organisations, particularly of the
religious kind.
3. The importance of timely technical intelligence, which is generally more precise than
human intelligence.
4. The importance of objective and balanced analysis to avoid over-assessing the strength
and capabilities of the terrorists, which could lead to over-reaction by counter-terrorism
agencies, thereby aggravating the feeling of alienation within the affected community,
driving more people into the arms of terrorists. Such analysis is particularly difficult in
the case of human intelligence. For every genuine source who gives correct intelligence,

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 there are often two or three spurious sources who, out of greed to make more money or at
the instance of the terrorists themselves, give false information. This tends to make
security forces over-react or take wrong action.
5. The importance of reverse analysis so that one is trained to analyse possible scenarios not
only as a good intelligence analyst, but also as an irrational terrorist.
6. The importance of prompt and co-ordinated follow-up action on well-assessed
intelligence from all agencies, without allowing inter-agency jealousies and rivalries to
come in the way.
7. The importance of effective physical security measures so that even if intelligence fails,
security agencies are able to prevent acts of terrorism.
8. The importance of an effective crisis management apparatus so that if both intelligence
and physical security measures fail, one is able to deal effectively with the resulting crisis
or disaster.
9. The importance of good investigative machinery, specially trained to investigate
terrorism-related cases.
10. The importance of constantly underlining to the public that just because some people
of a particular community or religion have taken to terrorism, the entire community or
religion should not be looked upon with suspicion.
11. The importance of highlighting the positive aspects of the affected community or
religion to prevent the build-up of a negative image of the community or religion in the
eyes of the public.
12. The importance of observing human rights during counter-terrorism operations.
13. The importance of periodic refresher training of all those involved in counter-
terrorism operations through special classes, seminars, opportunities for interaction with
those who have distinguished themselves in counter-terrorism operations, etc.

Conclusion
It is a bit unfortunate that we as a country are facing hostilities from our neighbouring
countries since independence. Pakistan since its creation has always harboured terrorist
elements against India with an intention to destabilise our country. China the Big Brother
supports Pakistan in their endeavour to divide India. We face threats from Bangladesh and
from Sri Lanka in the South. Since we have open borders with Nepal, terrorists use Nepal as
easy entry and exit points. Our borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh are porous and not
fully sealed. We face trouble on the North -East side with China claiming Arunachal
Pradesh. These countries hobnob with these terrorists and have helped them to establish their
bases from where they can carry out their evil acts. So all the expertise for planting Bombs
on soft targets come from these countries. But not everything can be done from these foreign
bases. So they take advantage of the unemployed youth and others who fall easy prey to their
indoctrination and create local groups who forment trouble in all cities across India. They
take help from some political class and the corrupt officials provide fodder for their entry and
exit from India.

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 So Terrorism is not about Muslims only and their quest for Jihad. Not all Muslims are
terrorists and not all terrorists are Muslims. India's 140 million Muslims are a salutary
negation of the facile thesis about Islam's incompatibility with democracy. The terrorists that
we encounter today are not men who commit evil acts out of revenge. For these men
indoctrinated by outfits like the Al Qaeda and the Dawood gangs, terrorism is a full fledged
profession. The cold blooded killers of Ahmedabad last week went about with their tasks
with clinical precision.. They did it because it was a job they wanted to do. Only few
Muslims believe that these phonies are fighting for any cause but their own. Hindus have
stopped fulminating against terror despite the heavy toll it takes each time. For these
terrorists who are invisible, they have no Agenda. They do it in the name of Jihad or some
linguistic or religious cause, which a common man does not identify himself with.

Democratic politics, political freedoms, civil liberties and religious tolerance must be
protected at all costs. The corruption and politicisation of the police forces must be
minimised. We need a dedicated and an unbiased police force. Criminalisation of politics
must stop. Instead, we have number of parliamentarians with pending criminal cases. Some
jailed parliamentarians also cast their vote on important National issues which is alarming!
Terrorism prospers and thrives in such conditions. In a way, Poverty is an incubator of
terrorism and a root cause of corruption. It breeds the Naxalites and the local terrorist
groups. The government needs to be tough in implementing reforms to maintain rapid
economic growth and uplift the status of its downtrodden people.

Bibliography
Books:

Terrorism: A global challenge, Dr. Lokesh, Dr. A.D. Mishra

Websites:

www.cdi.org
www.wikipedia.com
www.rediffmail.com

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