PR Chari

Mr. PR Chari initiated the discussion by attempting to dispel two misapprehensions about terrorism in India. First that Pakistan is responsible for the entire problem and second, that terrorism is an externally inspired problem, devoid of internal motivations. He was of the opinion that neither Pakistan nor any other external agency can be totally blamed for the advent and growth of terrorism in India. Enumerating the characteristics of the new terrorism, he said that it had become more difficult to detect and hence eradicate, because of the participation of ordinary citizens in acts of terror. It is a perceived sense of injustice that is turning ordinary, educated, law abiding citizens into terrorists. Since many of them come from well to do families and have no past history of crime, it becomes very difficult to detect them. In this situation the need of the hour is to turn the searchlight inwards rather than blame others for our problems. Justice for all should translate into equality for all. Stating that India has the second largest Muslim population in the world, he said there is an urgent need to instill confidence among them and dispel the atmosphere of bitterness and hate, since hate only breeds hate. Bringing to notice the pivotal role of the media, he said, “the media bears a great responsibility”. It is capable of flaring up or toning down communal passions. It should act constructively and responsibly. Finally, making a case for nipping fundamentalism in the bud, he said that if no action is taken against the fundamentalists, it will send a wrong message to our minorities and alienate them further. In addition it will also encourage fundamentalists in our neighbouring countries to spread their tentacles within India.

Maj Gen Afsir Karim

Gen. Afsir Karim’s, opening remarks were that while dealing with terrorism one has to be “brutally frank” and “brutally objective”. Tracing South Asian history, he said that it was replete with instances of ‘retaliatory terrorism’; the 1992 Bombay riots being one such manifestation. His submission was that outside agencies play a role in fuelling terrorism. However, it is domestic retaliatory terrorism that is the main culprit. Another interesting observation made by him was regarding the role of ISI. In his opinion, the ISI had reduced its activities following US pressure on Pakistan. However, the Al Qaeda, under various names, continues to operate with vigour, more so after the US declared a global war on terror. Al Qaeda has embarked on an anti-US policy in a bid to force moderate regimes to change their stance towards the US. The recent attacks on moderate Islamic societies like Morocco, Indonesia, Turkey and also Pakistan is indicative of this policy. The General said that it was easy to recruit people today because of Gujarat type episodes. According to some estimates, at least 1000 people are currently undergoing training to avenge the Gujarat carnage. The communal problem is linked with the Kashmir issue, but also with Gujarat and the Mandir movement. Expressing concern over the proliferation of fundamentalist organizations in India, he said that nearly 60% civil society the organizations are fundamentalists, be they Hindu or Muslim. On the issue of Muslims being used as cannot fodder for terrorist activities, he said that about 70% of the Muslim population in India are illiterate and below the poverty line, making them an easy target for by terrorists indoctrination. This provides the breeding ground for domestic terrorism and must be eliminated. The Muslim population in India is so large that it can neither be liquidated nor evicted. Hence it must be accommodated. Non-conformists cannot be killed or done away with. Pakistan’s best bet is to see that India’s communal problem gets further exacerbated. General Karim was of the belief that the situation can still be controlled, if proper initiatives are take, who will take the initiative, is the key question. Finally, he wished for Hindu-Muslim amity for the sake of India.

Prof Riaz Punjabi

Narrating the changing social atmosphere in Kashmir over the last 6-7 months, Prof. Punjabi stated that the people of Kashmir have distanced themselves from militancy. The new found resistance to militancy and disillusionment with Pakistan was attributed to the present political dispensation in Kashmir, which has provided the people with alternate means of participation. According to him, the basis for the Islamist movement in Kashmir was the philosophy of Al Hakmi’il Allah, which means ‘no government except God’s government’. Blaming the lack of remedial measures at the institutional level as the prime cause for Islamic fundamentalism in Kashmir and the rest of India, he went on to describe the change in the rhetoric and discourse of protest since independence. From independence till 1988 the chief mode of voicing grievances was protest. However, after 1989, this was replaced by rebellion. He blamed events like Gujarat, which exemplify state complicity and institutional exclusion of the minorities, for flaring communal passions and spurring terrorism. Regrouping or the emergence of new groups in Kashmir was attributed to the Gujarat episode and the subsequent hate speeches by VHP leaders. Citing Gujarat as a domestic and foreign policy failure by India, the speaker mentioned Fareed Zakaria’s ctitical remark that India should clear up the Gujarat mess before staking a claim to the permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Prof. Punjabi said that the VHP the Modi and the Gujarat work as the oxygen that sustains and nurtures terrorism. Such agencies draw up covert and even overt strategies to deny institutional remedies to protect the minorities, thereby alienating them, and providing a breeding ground for terrorism.

KK Mitra

Mr. Mitra divided his lecture into three parts; the first part provided of a general framework on terrorism, the second part dealt with the new trends in terrorism and the concluding part listed remedial measures to combat the problem. According to him, terrorism flourishes in societies with dogmatic bigotry. Democratic and multireligious societies like India are highly vulnerable to threats of terrorism with the potential to destabilize the country. He enumerated some characteristics of the new terrorism as follows:

·         Targeting public places;

·         Attacking soft targets preferably in crowded urban city centres;

·         Growing threat of mass casualty terrorism;

·         Practice of ‘revenge terrorism’ against perceived injustice to a community;

·         Terrorism is based on misconceived or ill-founded beliefs;

·         Mindless killing of innocent citizens;

·         Suspected role of educated, middleclass youth with a grudge against the ruling regime. The advent of educated, middleclass youth into terrorist activities adds a new dimension to the entire problem.

He listed the following aims of the new terrorism:

·         Cause maximum casualty with minimum effort;

·         Undermine people’s confidence in the government’s ability to safeguard them;

·         Create communal disharmony; and

·         Lower government’s image, domestically and internationally.

He was of the opinion that the threat arises because the enemy is invisible and employs covert ways of execution. The main instrument of terrorism in India, according to him, continues to be the ISI, though it operates through organizations like the Laskar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. These organizations have their network in neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, apart from Saudi Arabia. It is difficult to penetrate them as they are tightly held, closely guarded fanatical organizations. One needs time and sustained effort to make a breakthrough.

·         Remedial measures suggested by the speaker were as follows;

·         Government needs to be proactive;

·         Need for collective public safety and security measures;

·         Need for stringent action by the enforcement agencies;

·         Need for an apex body to collect, coordinate and analyze data. This is important in the wake of failures arising out of the inability to analyze all the data available with various intelligence agencies;

·         Need for timely, actionable intelligence, which can be most efficiently provided by HUMINT(human intelligence);

·         Win public support to combat terrorism effectively. Stringent counter measures but without public support will prove ineffectual;

·         Government should ‘constructively engage’ the media in times of crisis, rather than enlisting their help in consequence management; and finally

·         Criminal justice system needs to be revamped;

Discussion

The following issues were discussed during the ensuing discussion:

·         Various questions were raised about the role of the media during crisis situations associated with terrorist strikes. It was highlighted that the recent Mumbai blasts were greatly exaggerated by the media. In recent times, the media has been irresponsible by giving wrong information and adding a commercial angle to the problem, which is preventing objective and informed news reporting. Dealing with the electronic media presents a challenge to the enforcement agencies. Evolving a Code of Conduct for the media was one of the measures suggested to meet the threat of misinformation.

·         With reference to the Mumbai blasts, it was pointed out that this situation was different from terrorism in Kashmir. In Mumbai, the local people and organised criminal gangs are used to carry out blasts. Therefore, it needs a totally different approach and remedies.

·         On the Pakistan angle, it was accepted by most of the participants that the ISI is linked with these attacks, but it was stressed that Pakistan is taking advantage of the prevailing socio-economic conditions in India. Everything cannot be blamed on Pakistan, because religious and political parties in India are equally responsible for the present situation. An element of revenge rather than ideology motivates terrorist’s activities in India because 85 % of the victims of riots belong to the minorities. Mr. A K Dave stressed that police personnel are ineffective in communal riots because of excessive political interference and frequent transfers. He also suggested deployment of the local police to curb communalism at local levels as they are better acquainted with the socio-political dynamics of the place. In the same context, Air Marshall Vir Narain emphasized the need to differentiate between terrorism and communal violence.

·         Professor Kalim Bahadur established a correlation between revival of fundamentalism and the departure of the Indian middle class from the Nehru-Gandhi model. While tracing the historical reasons for Islamic fundamentalism, he said that 95% of Indian Muslims are converts from Hinduism. After conversion they carried their old way of life to Islam. This was a concern for Wahabbi leaders in their dialectical struggle with Arya Samajists to exercise religious control over the converted Muslim population. However, despite the existence of these fundamentalist elements, no Indian Muslim has been known to be involved in the Al-Qaeda network. 

·         On the issue of Indo-Israeli cooperation, Prof. Riaz Punjabi asserted that there is no problem with this cooperation, but terrorists will use ‘cooperation on terrorism’ with Israel as an issue against India. An attempt to develop US-India-Israel nexus and its counter effects were also criticized while noting pointed out along with the differences between India’s and Israel’s war against terrorism.

·         Notice was taken of the need to analyze the role of Madrassas in spreading Islamic fundamentalism and the flow of money to religious educational institutions from foreign countries like Saudi Arabia.

·         Former Director of the Stimson Center, Washington, Mr. Michael Krepon appreciated India’s resilience. He pointed out that democracies all over the world are facing the same problems about intelligence coordination, minority rights, legal measures and so on while countering terrorism. According to him the instruments of terror have changed and unconventional means are being used in terrorist activities. While focusing on the psychological aspects of Nuclear Terrorism, Mr. Krepon cautioned that attack on these facilities by terrorists is a cause for worry.

·         While discussing the remedies to control terrorist strikes, all participants agreed with Gen. Dipankar Banerjee’s proposition that the Gujarat riots has delegitimized the state. There was general agreement that it was not too late to improve conditions by effective policy measures like ensuring minority rights and reforming the criminal justice system. The need to train the police in handling communal riots was also suggested. With reference to the Dharam Vira Police Commission recommendations, the police should not seek orders from politicians during communal strife. Besides these measures, effective coordination among investigative agencies, establishment of rule of law and genuine secular governments at the Central and State levels were also suggested.