| Today, terrorism is hot
stuff for the media. Everyone is involved in hectic criticism
and blatant condemnation of religious terrorism. But sadly, no
one seems to realize that it is only the most conspicuous
symptom of a deep rooted disease which is slowly but surely
eating into the very flesh and blood of mankind. The current
treatment of this very sensitive issue seems to be too
superficial to expect any substantial outcome from all these
intellectual gymnastics.
The basic approach should be to
destroy the roots of terrorism and terror and not just massacre
of terrorists. The "he was the first to strike back"
approach of the western states and media has served only to fuel
the hatred of the terrorists.
As an unholy coalition of world
powers came down everso heavily upon an already war - ravaged
and devastated Afghanistan (where no conventional signposts
existed to be plotted on military maps and where the only
collateral damage was human life) and are contemplating similar
assaults on countries having only their religion and culture in
common, the line between civilization and savagery fades almost
imperceptibly. Behind all the media hype about the glorious
victory of the 'civilized forces' in the war against terror and
the sense of freedom that the Afghans have come to possess at
the uprooting of the Taliban's antihumanitarian regime, silently
unfolding is one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of
modern times. UN estimates that there are 8 million Afghan
citizens who need emergency aid. Supplies of food and aid have
long run out and the refugee problem is expanding to terrorising
proportions - Witness the infinite justice of the new century!
"In America there has been
rough talk of bombing Afghanistan back to the stone age. Someone
please break the news that Afghanistan is already there"
- Arundhati Roy; Sep 29, 2001
The American foreign policy had
no less a role to play in the sorry state of Afghan affairs,
than religious fanaticism. In 1979,during the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, the CIA, together with the ISI, launched one of the
largest covert operations in its notorious history. They funded
and recruited radical mojahedin soldiers and fueled and
propelled the anti Soviet compaign into a holy war, 'the Jihad'
as we know it now, with the aim of destabilising the USSR by
turning its Muslim countries against the communist regime. The
plan worked perfectly. But the fallout was disasterous. The war
and proxy war in all its forms spread into Chechnya, Kosovo and
our very own Kashmir. And no surprises, it has spelt doom for
the very chefs of this hot bowl of soup. Pakistan is in doldrums
with its economy crumbling and sectarian violence tearing
through its heart. The US has suffered in more than one way. The
Pak-Afghan border has been the biggest source of heroin in the
American streets for quite some time and of course more evident
are the trail of events leading to Sep 11.
"It must be very hard for
ordinary Americans, so recently bereaved, to look up at the
world with their eyes full of tears and encounter what might
appear to them to be indifference. It isn't indifference. It is
just augury. An absence of surprise. The tired wisdom of knowing
that what goes around eventually comes around"
- Arundhati Roy
'Algebra of Infinite Justice'
The phenomenon of terrorism is
not new to mankind. An exact definition of the term is possible
but difficult as far as the West is concerned because as they go
about defining the limits of terrorism, a fair share of the
territory would be accredited to them. The souls of the millions
who died in Iraq, West Bank, Somalia, Haiti, El Salvador,
Yugoslavia, Nicaragua, Chile, Vietnam..... would come to haunt
the American conscience.....
Religious terrorism, as we now
know it, probably has its roots in the medieval period when the
notions of 'civilization identity' and interaction between
civilizations rather than individuals was advocated. Of these,
conflicts among two of them, namely 'the West' and 'Islam'
became the main focus of attention. Broad generalisations of
even minor conflicts into Islam - West confrontations led to the
delicate interface between these civilizations being looked upon
as sensitive fault lines. This plague has persisted in some form
or the other from then on, Sep. 11 and the Afghan war being mere
exacerbations. During this period, Islam - West tension has been
amply fueled by 'Desert Storm', Israel - Palestine conflicts
etc. etc.
"The problem is with
unedifying labels like 'Islam' and 'the West.' They mislead and
confuse the mind, which is trying to make sense of a disorderly
reality that won't be pigeonholed or strapped down as easily as
that"
- Edward W. Said
'The Clash of Ignorance'
There is no doubting the fact
that Sep. 11 attacks on World Trade Centre and the Pentagon were
inconscionable acts, whatever be the circumstances. No human
would be ever inspired by the acts of the hijackers and
religious terrorism deserves all condemnation it receives.
All of us should derive
inspiration from the courage of the firefighters, rescue workers
and ordinary American citizens. The people of America should
realise that it is not them, but the foreign policy of their
country which is so hated.
As Arundhati Roy sums up in her
'Algebra of Infinite Justice', "It would be a pity if,
instead of using this as an opportunity to try and understand
why Sep. 11 happened, Americans use it as an opportunity to
usurp the whole world's sorrow to mourn and avenge only their
own"
...
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INFINITE (IN)JUSTICE ?