INDIA- THE WORLD’S TERROR CAPITAL?

INDIA- THE WORLD’S TERROR CAPITAL?
The series of explosions that rocked Ahmadabad & Bangalore, Barely two months after the bomb attacks that left many people dead and wounded in Jaipur, India's IT capital of Bangalore has been left reeling from several bomb blasts across the city yesterday afternoon. Following this, another bomb was placed near a Bangalore shopping mall this morning but was defused before it could explode. Even more alarmingly, late this evening nearly 30 people were killed and over 100 injured by 17 bomb blasts in Ahmadabad, the capital of Gujarat.
The bomb blasts in Bangalore killed one person, and it seems that the bombs were made to alarm and scare people, rather than cause severe damage. Bangalore is believed to have been chosen as the location for the bombings because of its flourishing IT sector, relatively lax security owing to the fact that it had never experienced a major terrorist attack before, and the growing network of militant Islamist groups in the city.
According to an email sent minutes before the first blast in Ahmadabad, the Bombay Stock Exchange is to be targeted next. Where will this all end?
Security is on extremely high alert at all major cities across India, and travellers can expect tightened frisking at railway stations and airports.
I am saddened by these blasts and have been thinking about solutions and avoiding knee jerk reactions. Our emotional response would be to blast them terrorists and any one that resembles them, but then we would be hurting the innocents on the way, just like those terrorists. We do not want to give reason to the innocents to get into the battlefield of revenge, as the revenge cycle takes a long time to stop. That should not be our goal; we need to confine this problem to individuals concerned.Reactions may bring temporary band aid results, we need to go to the root cause of the problem and work on it for the long term security. The network of terrorists is spreading and we have to check them.
The US and UK may like to believe that they are leading the war on terror globally, but the country that has had to face the worst of terrorist attacks on its own soil, barring war-torn Iraq, is India. In fact, India has since 2004 lost more lives to terrorist incidents than all of North America, South America, Central America, Europe and Eurasia put together. All of these vast swathes of the globe lost a total of 3,280 lives in terrorist incidents between January 2004 and March this year. India alone lost 3,674 lives over the same period of three years and three months
One way of handling this is to treat them as criminals and punish them accordingly. Even though the group is claiming an Islamic sounding label, we should not fall for their trap and call them Islamic terrorists, as they are attempting to implicate others who had nothing to do with their criminal act. There is a view in the western world that “All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims!” Instead, we need to isolate them and simply treat them as criminals who violated peace and punish them and not bring the name of religion at all.These are bad signs for our country and we need to move with caution and find the base for these activities. Any reactionary measure would hurt us. India has come a long way and we need to protect and preserve the growth.
Surely, the principle motive of the terrorists i.e., to provoke communal riots & cause civil disorder, has not been materialised. Thanks to the stunning resilience shown by the residents of Bangalore & Ahmadabad. Another theoretically successful, yet practically failed mission executed by the terrorists.
Terrorism in India has often been alleged to be sponsored by Pakistan. On the other hand, Pakistan claims that repeated acts of terrorism on Pakistani soil are sponsored by India's RAW (Research & Analysis Wing) intelligence service. After most acts of terrorism in India, many journalists and politicians accuse Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) of playing a prominent role. These claims and counter claims are something that we have all got used to!

THE FINAL SOLUTION:
Following the September 11 attacks, the US President, George W. Bush formulated a new so-called solution called “The war on Terror.” This solution advocated the use of “Hard military force” on international terrorist groups & State sponsors of terror. Everything from Afghanistan to Iraq was a result of this ‘solution.’ Which only resulted in more civilian casualties (independent repots put it at a whopping 94,000 in Iraq alone!) So indeed, the Bush administration ended up killing more people than what the terrorists could do in all of eternity. Moreover, generous funding by the US to the so-called Anti-terror countries gave reversed results. Take the case of Pakistan, Its economy was in shambles in the early 2000’s. But with military aid pouring from the US, after 9/11, its economy regained lost grounds. But instead of combating terror, Pakistan, a hard lined Islamic nation preferred to support the Taliban & the Al-Qaeda. So, the war on Terror, indirectly facilitated the “Islamic Jihad.” It gave the terrorists what they desperately needed, ‘reasons!’ They now declared that the very existence of Islam was threatened by the West, thus attracting volunteers & funds.
So the best way to combat terror would be to do it in a clandestine way. Most of these ‘Jihads’ come from the most economically backward parts of the society. They are mostly jobless & are disillusioned. Hence, by strengthening the economy of the rural areas and by imparting moral education, we can effectively thwart any attempts by terrorists. Another effective way is to strengthen the national & local intelligence agencies & also by facilitating a deeper penetration by the agencies into these terrorist organisations. This will pave the way for the gathering of specific Intel inputs well ahead. Moreover, enhanced vigil, better technologies, CCTV’s, X-Ray scanning & metal detector facilities at vital installations and a well-staffed, well-equipped & well trained Police force. States like Maharashtra allocate as little as 1% of the total police budget for intelligence gathering. No wonder why underworld dons & terrorists flourish in Mumbai! Moreover, Intel agencies must be freed from being used for political activities. Students must be trained to react to suspicious circumstances with professional expertise.
Borders must either be fenced or must be guarded by troops 24/7. Because it is through these borders that many illegal immigrants & Terrorists sneak in, they don’t need Passports! India must also adopt a tough stand against rogue states like Pakistan & Bangladesh, forcing them to act tough on terrorists in their territory. A good political leadership, backed by an efficient intelligence agency and coupled with smart Police forces will solve most of the problems.

The day when all these fructify, will be the day of salvation for all of us!