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Fighting terrorism

TO SAY, AS L.K. Advani did on Sunday, that terrorism cannot be fought by the security forces alone is to state the obvious. But in the course of labouring this truism, the Union Home Minister was being much too simplistic in suggesting that what was really needed was the cooperation of the media and other sections of society to tackle the menace. On the face of it, the claim that the media can play a substantial role in tackling terrorism may seem like an acknowledgement of its power and influence. However, most often, it is a veiled criticism of the role it has played or is playing. Even if one were, for the sake of argument, to agree with Mr. Advani that a section of the media did not report the brutal attack carried out at Akshardham temple with the necessary caution or fairplay, the point is that the media was in no way responsible for the outrage. The media can be a mirror to what has transpired; it cannot be expected to forestall future events just as it cannot be called upon to be conscripted as a Government ally to fight one cause or another.

A Government which believes that terrorism can be tackled by seeking the cooperation of the media or the cooperation of one section of society or another is a Government that is looking for quick fix solutions to a problem which requires to be addressed holistically and cannot be cured with limited and short-term remedies. The NDA Government loves to proclaim its tough stand on terrorism but what has really defined this policy is an attitude which only deals with the symptoms of terrorism and not the root causes. Mr. Advani argues that "terrorism fuelled by religious extremism" is posing a threat to India's internal security, yet a Government with a broader vision and perspective would be addressing this issue in a totally different manner. It might ask whether terrorism in a State like Jammu and Kashmir can be put down through the mere use of force or whether it requires creative measures which address the alienation of the minorities and the democratic aspirations of the people. It might not have allowed a phenomena such as the post-Godhra carnage, which was allowed to take place under the benign eye of the Modi administration. It might seriously question the wisdom of an anti-terrorist law such as POTA, which had done nothing to discourage acts of terrorism and which continues to be viewed with apprehension by minorities and by civil rights activists.

It might also ask, in the context of the Akshardham outrage, why the attack in the temple premises did not provoke the kind of barbarism which followed Godhra. The answer to this question will reveal that, in an oblique but telling way, the post-Akshardham peace is a damning indictment of the Narendra Modi Government. This is because it shows up the utter falsehood of the Gujarat Chief Minister's post-Godhra hypothesis that actions are naturally followed by reactions. Akshardham has shown that a `reaction' need not flow out of an `action' and that if it did following Godhra, it was because the Modi administration cold-bloodedly allowed it to. The firmness with which his Government acted following the attack on the temple may have been dictated by a number of pragmatic reasons, the overriding one being the desire not to delay the polls any further. But it does tell us a Government can enforce the peace if it really wishes to. It also tells us that terrorism can assume different shapes and forms, that it can also be majoritarian, mob-driven and have the tacit support of the state. Mr. Advani does not appear to understand this, but defeating terrorism means more than looking across the border for its origins or looking towards the security forces for solutions. It also means looking inwards and evolving more holistic strategies and more sensitive policies to tackle the phenomenon.

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