Terrorism
is a major threat to peace in South Asia, speech
of Dr Shabir Choudhry in a conference on terrorism in Vienna on 30 Jan. 15
Mr Chairman, friends and
colleagues aslamo alaikam and very good afternoon.
Topic of this conference is ‘Terrorism and its impact on the region of
South Asia’. Before we say anything else it is imperative that we try to
define what constitutes terrorism. It is sad that despite loss of so many
innocent lives, human rights violations, up till now there is no agreed
definition of terrorism.
Terrorism
There is an old saying: one
person’s freedom fighter is other person’s terrorist; and there is a lot of
truth in this statement.
It is generally agreed that
when people commit acts of violence with intention of killing civilians or non
combatants; or take people hostage with intention of inflicting fear in public
or killing them, it is referred as terrorism. The culprits are called
terrorists. The motives of terrorism could be different in each case; but in
each terrorist act people are killed, intimidated and rights of ordinary people
are violated.
Cynics say, when jet
fighters or some flying machines are employed to kill people it is not called
terrorism, because that is covered under counter terrorism measures even though
that also inflict fear and seriously curb civil liberties. Because all
governments have obligation to protect life and liberty of all the citizens, it
is generally agreed that governments whether they are democratic or
undemocratic have a legitimate right to use force, kill people and violate
certain human rights.
Terrorism could be further divided in to the following:
1/International
(or Transnational) Terrorism;
2/ Non State
Supported Terrorism;
3/ State Directed Terrorism;
4/ State Supported Terrorism.
International (or Transnational) Terrorism: Terrorism has become a ‘business’ for some; and it is no longer
confined to boundaries of any one country. Terrorists have very complex
international network and terrorism transcends national boundaries. Its
planning can take in one country and its execution could be in other countries
thousands of miles away. This kind of terrorism attracts wider publicity and
help terrorists to promote their demands and cause.
In order to
combat this kind of terrorism a sincere and concerted international effort is
required.
Non
State Supported Terrorism. Terrorist groups which are highly organised
with their own finance and infrastructure; and good command and control system
with sophisticated system of communication. They, by and large, operate
autonomously without receiving any significant support from any Government.
State Directed Terrorism. This class of terrorist
groups operate as agents of a Government and act as a proxy to a government to
advance interest or cause of that government or a cause which is mutually
beneficial. They receive substantial intelligence, logistic and operational support
from the sponsoring Government.
State Supported Terrorism. This class of
terrorist groups have somewhat independent existence with their own resources
and their own agenda; but at times they receive help, support and guidance from
one or more Governments.
Right
of expression
Mr
Chairman
Right of expression is a
fundamental human right. Value of this right must be respected and protected.
But is it not strange that when a Black person is insulted, he is protected
under racism laws; when a Jew is insulted he is protected under anti Semitism
laws; when a woman is insulted she is protected under equality laws; when a gay
is insulted he is protected under homophobic laws; but when Almighty’s best
creation, and last prophet Mohammed PBUH, who is followed by more than a
billion people is insulted, culprits are protected under cover of Free Speech.
Free Speech should
have some responsibilities as well? Right of expression should not be taken as
a licence to ridicule others, especially faiths of others? Jammu Kashmir
International People’s Alliance strongly believes that we should work to
promote free speech with some sense of responsibility. We should oppose
intolerance, extremism and terrorism. We should respect all religions and must
not insult religious beliefs of other people.
However, if some
people abuse right of expression and insult another religion, it does not mean
that followers of that religion should behave irrationally and commit
terrorism. This is against teaching of Islam and practise of Prophet Mohammed
PBUH. In his life the Prophet Mohammed PBUH was insulted and even beaten up.
When he came to power he forgave all of them. And those Muslims who commit
terrorism are clearly going against his practise.
An
Indian writer, Rakhshanda Jalil, in her article published
in Indian Express on 14 January 2015, wrote that
Charlie Hebdo previously published as Hara-Kiri since 1970. It was shut down by
the French government for making fun of Charles de Gaulle. No one at that time
protested that closing of Hara Kiri was against free speech. 1
The magazine resumed its publication in 1992 with a
new name of Charlie Hebdo; and apparently claimed the right to offend Islam
and Muslims, and offend with impunity. However, it must be
remembered that one of Charlie Hebdo’s staff member, Maurice Sinet, was sacked
in 2009 for being anti-Semitic. Sinet had mocked then President Nicolas
Sarkozy’s son for marrying a Jewish heiress for her money; he was lambasted by
the French intelligentsia and pressure was brought upon the newspaper’s editor
to fire him since he refused to apologise. Strangely, no one protested that
right of Free Speech was suppressed in France. 2
Islam
and terrorism
Islam is a religion of peace
and brotherhood. It also promotes free speech, tolerance and equality. Prophet
Mohammed promoted moderation and kindness. He Said: “I do
not want extremism and disenchantment to be seen in your religion (Baihaqi).”
The Qur'an declares: "Let there be no compulsion (or
coercion) in the religion (Islam). The right direction is distinctly clear from
error." (Qur’an 2:256)
Almighty God says: “Whosoever kills a person
without any reason (of murder or mischief in the earth); it is as though he has
killed all the people. And whosoever saves a single life, it is as though he
has saved all the people.” (Surah al-Maaida, 5:32)
Despite
this unambiguous message of Islam, illogical acts of some
misguided people not only create more problems for embattled Muslims, but they
also defame Islam and its message of peace and brotherhood. British government
established a Task Force in 2013 to help to formulate policies to tackle
Radicalisation and Extremism. In its report the Task Force defines Islamist
Extremism as:
‘An ideology which is based on distorted interpretation of Islam, which
betrays Islam’s peaceful principles, and draws on the teachings of the likes of
Sayyid Qutb.’ 3
So one can see even the British Task Force acknowledge
in its report that Islam is a religion of peace. Problem, however, emerge when
some Muslims with their myopic view of the world and Islam commit acts that are
contrary to the teaching of Islam. Islam teaches peace, tolerance and respect
for other faiths. These misguided Muslims, on the other hand, promote
intolerance, hatred and violence.
It is clear from
the above that Islam and overwhelming majority of Muslims have nothing to do
with terrorism; but we have to acknowledge this bitter fact that some misguided
people use name of Islam to advance their agenda and defame Islam and create
problems for Muslims. To blame Islam for terrorism, or to assume that these
misguided people are representatives of Islam is similar to claim that the Ku
Klux Klan is representative of Christianity.
Some causes of terrorism
Mr
Chairman
We need to look at some
causes of terrorism as well. One narrative is that extremist views and beliefs
can lead people to commit terrorist actions or become accomplice. Those who
support this discourse recommend that extremist views must be challenged and promoters
must be apprehended.
Another narrative is that
people with extremist views should not be prohibited to express
their views, as
that will build anger and frustration which could lead to violence and
terrorism. Instead, they should be allowed to express their views; and they
should be countered logically, and efforts should be made to engage them in
dialogue and make them part of the system rather than alienate them.
This policy will help to
either educate potential terrorists or neutralise them; or at least provide
them with an alternative view point which runs counter to their beliefs. People
who are in a position of power must make efforts to ensure that these people
are not alienated and frustrated, because those who are excluded from the system
are more likely to be influenced by the radicals and terrorists.
On one hand these fanatics
and misguided people promote hatred and intolerance; and propagate that the
West has unleashed a war on Islam; on the other hand people belonging to far
right and Neoconservatives wrongly assume that it is extreme religious
ideologies which create a mindset that commits terrorism. They tend to focus on
acts of violence where culprits are Muslims, and conclude that Muslims and
Islamic teaching is responsible for acts of terrorism.
By adopting this approach
they intentionally or otherwise, leave out other forms of terrorism, and
provide justification for their actions against Muslim states and Muslims. They
tend to ignore other forms of terrorism, for example, political and ethnic
terrorism or terrorism in general. In many places acts of terrorism have been
committed where there were no religious motives, for example, in America (and
in some other places too) where individuals killed school children or other
people and then committed suicide.
People in this category
could have some psychological problems, or they may have some personal issues
with individuals or with some institutions. People could have had very rough
and unfair treatment in life and he/she holds society or some sections of the
society responsible for their miseries. In some cases people are deprived of
fundamental human rights, and what they rightly deserve to own and enjoy. This
deprivation and discriminatory treatment builds anger and frustration, which
can, at times, lead people to take drastic measures to satisfy their anger.
As a result of accumulative
anger and frustration, they strongly feel that culprits or those associated
with them must be taught a lesson. These lone angry wolves can go to any
lengths to do what they think is right. So it is not prudent to associate all
kinds of terrorism with some ‘poisonous extremist ideology’ or some religious
ideology.
In view of the above
argument, terrorism should not be perceived as an issue related to any religion
or a nation. It is an international problem and must be seen in a wider
context. Furthermore, terrorism should not be seen as a product of Islamic
culture; or that Islam is anti West and anti modernism.
Many Muslims strongly feel they are victims of inequality and unfair
treatment by the West. They believe that because of their superiority in new
technology and arms they victimise and exploit the Muslims around the world. At
times, their frustration and sense of helplessness manifest in adopting
extremism and violence.
It must be noted that more
terrorist acts have been committed against Muslims rather than non Muslims; so
it will be wrong to say that Muslims who commit terrorism do so because they
are anti West, anti Christians or anti Jews etc. I am sure there could be other
reasons why people commit terrorism. For example, some people believe that poverty, inequality and discrimination at home together with other
degrading treatment could create fertile conditions in which extremism can
flourish. The Western exploitation of Muslim resources and military
misadventures could inflame sentiments and can encourage people to become
violent.
In Western countries,
violence is generally attributed to Muslim fundamentalism, fanaticism, clash of
cultures and lack of education. While asserting this, they tend to forget that
overwhelming majority of Muslims condemn acts of violence against innocent
people. However, some people urge writers and thinkers and media people of the
West to understand the rationale why some people happily sacrifice their lives.
Supporters and promoters of terrorism
No terrorist
organization can exist and function in a ‘vacuum’. They heavily rely on local
support which could be from powerful religious, ethnic or regional parties; or
in some cases directly from a State which uses its organs to support and train
these terrorists. People
generally only talk about the terrorists who commit violent acts; they overlook
the fact terrorists cannot be successful without a considerable support
provided to them. There is someone there to provide them logistic support.
Someone sitting in a safe place who plans the action; and there is someone who
provides funds for such actions. There is someone who preaches violence; and
incites people to commit such drastic actions which not only kill other human
beings; but also seriously endanger their own lives and lives of friends,
colleagues and even their own families. So, to
eradicate terrorism, it is imperative that these states are identified and
pressurised to stop their support for terrorists.
It must also be noted that
terrorists are hungry for publicity. They need media attention to reach out to
people to promote their objectives or their mission. So there could be people
in media who are their hidden allies.
In some cases, some
governments directly or indirectly promote extremism and terrorism. They help
to set up groups which apparently provide religious teaching or provide welfare
support; but their actual role is to prepare extremists and terrorists who
could be used to advance the cause of that government.
Whether we like it or not,
Islamic Republic of Pakistan is regarded as ‘epic centre of terrorism’.
Extremism got a big boost in Pakistan during the military government of General
Zia Ul Haq. Under the government patronage and with help of the American
dollars and Saudi support religious schools flourished with aim of producing
Jihadi warriors to fight the Soviet Russia.
New brand of Islam, which is
now known as radical Islam or Wahabi Islam was promoted to advance a political
agenda. Extremism and terrorism became an industry which made many people rich
and powerful. These people with help of this petro dollar influence and newly
acquired power dominated the civil society; and to some extent, made the
government and society hostage. The ordinary people of Pakistan, Afghanistan and
Jammu and Kashmir are still paying the price for this selfish and erroneous
policy with their blood and suffering.
Various governments of
Pakistan, for many decades, used these extremist groups to advance their
agenda. These people were known as strategic assets of Pakistan. These Jihadi
warriors were successfully used to keep India engaged in Jammu and Kashmir, of
course, the policy resulted in death of tens of thousands of innocent people of
Jammu and Kashmir; and immense suffering for the people of the divided State of
Jammu and Kashmir.
These Jihadi warriors were
also successfully used against the Soviet Russia in Afghanistan. Pakistan
continued to call shots in Afghanistan even after the Russian withdrawal. This
policy continued even when Pakistan was an ally in the war against terrorism;
and many experts regarded Pakistan as a part of the problem rather than a part
of the solution.
In this regard,
Carlotta Gall in her book, The Wrong Enemy asserts that ‘Pakistan army plays a double game by supporting
the terrorists while enjoying the status of an ally with the United States and
NATO... “Pakistan, not Afghanistan, has been the true enemy.” 4
Mr
Chairman
This is not to say that
Pakistan has not suffered from terrorism, but problem is, despite so much
suffering they have not learnt any lessons from their drastic policy. They
continue to patronage or ignore some extremist groups, and their infrastructure
is still intact; and they are still regarded as assets of Pakistan. Despite
much publicised operation against terrorists the concept of ‘good terrorist’
and ‘bad terrorist’ still exists.
They need to understand that
they cannot win a war against extremism and terrorism by being selective; or by
just trimming branches of terrorism while the whole tree is left intact. They
need to seriously look at their policy regarding religious schools and regulate
them.
Apart
from that the government needs to look at role of some English medium schools
as well, because some militant outfits have established English medium schools
to equip their ‘students’ with the modern technology that they can use it to
advance their agenda.
Hussain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former Ambassador to the US, in
his article, Our Jihad Addiction makes very serious observation, he wrote and I
quote:
Pakistan’s jihadists are already exercising virtual
veto over Pakistan’s relations with India. The Mumbai attack proved
Lashkar-e-Taiba’s ability to undermine the initiatives of a civilian government
for normalization of India-Pakistan relations. They could, in future, force the
Pakistani military’s hand in a similar manner...Over the decades, Pakistan has
managed to evade crises and failure status primarily because the international
community has bailed it out. But now the rest of the world sees Pakistan as
Jihad Central. Camps nestled in the tribal areas have trained and equipped
militants who have gone on to fight in the name of Allah in different regions
of the world. Foreign fighters trained in Pakistan have reportedly been in
action in Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Mali, Nigeria and China’s Xinjiang region. It
is no longer possible to keep Pakistani jihadists as a strategic reserve “only
to cause damage to India.” Unquote 5
Another Pakistani writer and famous
journalist Marvi Simed, in her daring article, Death of Dissent, questions
Pakistani establishment’s intentions with regard to war on terrorism, she
wrote, and I quote:
‘When are the arrests going to be made for Haqqani network leaders? Has
the Quetta Shura been abandoned from Pakistan’s soil? Have they been ousted
from Para Chinar and Kurram? If not, are they going to be arrested? Is a new
military offensive in the offing in Kurram? With thick clouds on the current
military operation and without any independent reporting on it, one wonders
what method the Army implies to identify those killed in aerial strikes as
terrorists? How come there is no collateral damage, which was trumpeted out of
proportion in the case of (much more precise) drone strikes?’ Unquote 6
Mr Chairman
I want to conclude by saying that the
Pakistani establishment and government must realise that their wrong policies
of promoting extremism and terrorism have come back to haunt them. You cannot
nurture forces of extremism and violence, and hope that they will not harm
them, especially when these extremists have an agenda of their own. I want to
conclude by a quote of Khawaja Asif, Pakistani
Minister of Defence, who On 16 December
2014, said: “There is
absolutely no doubt about it, that the Taliban the extremists are the biggest
threat to the peace in this region, to the peace in Pakistan to the existence
of Pakistan”. 7
If Pakistani
government and establishment do not change their erroneous policy of playing a
‘good cop and bad cop’, while apparently fighting terrorism and extremism, they
will miserably fail in fight against terrorism; and Pakistan will suffer
immensely. This wrong policy will not only result in more bloodshed, but it
will seriously endanger future of Pakistan. END
References
2. Ibid
3. HM
Government, Tackling Extremism in UK: Report from the Prime Minister’s Task
Force on Tackling Radicalisation and Extremism, December 2013, Pages 1-2
4.
Mr. Jan Agha Iqbal,
Islamic State’s emergence – following US withdrawal:http://www.eurasiareview.com/24012015-islamic-states-emergence-afghanistan-following-us-withdrawal-analysis/
5. Our Jihad addiction - http://newsweekpakistan.com/our-jihad-addiction/, Haqqani, Pakistan’s
former ambassador to the U.S., is Director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute. Jan
10-17, 2015, issue.
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