Dealing with terror

By P. V. Indiresan

THE TERRORIST attack on the United States will evoke a medley of emotions - anger, sorrow, disgust, hatred, fear and the like. At this juncture, it is best to recall the words of Abraham Lincoln. In a memorable speech he said that a potentate sent his finest scholars in search of the greatest words of wisdom. They went to the East (India?) and came back with the words ``This too shall pass away'', meaning however great or horrific anything may be, that too will come to an end. This wave of terrorism too (and the rage and hatred behind it) will come to an end. In the ultimate analysis, the terrorists will not succeed.

Evidently, people in Palestine do not agree. They have been jubilant. Similar feelings must be widespread in many parts of the Islamic world. At the same time, even the Taliban has found it expedient to disassociate itself from this attack. That is interesting.

On the one hand, most Islamic fundamentalists, particularly, the hotheads among them, are likely to become more enthused about terrorism. On the other, Islamic rulers, even those who have been patronising terrorism, are likely to hold back. Distressed at the lack of enthusiasm on the parts of their leaders, with faith in the power of terrorism magnified by the success of this attack, extremists may like to take over the reins themselves.

History has shown again and again that those rulers who patronise terrorism themselves fall victims to the same brand of terrorism. So, it is probable that rulers of extremist Islamic countries who have been promoting terrorism are in greater danger of their lives than Western rulers are.

There is much admiration for the skill with which the attacks were carried out. However skilled and coordinated the attacks might have been, it is nevertheless a skill of a very low order - it cannot design, even build a 767 aircraft. These terrorists, their supporters have not yet realised that destruction requires a far lower order of intelligence than creativity does.

So, they do not deserve the praise that has been heaped on them. Islamic fundamentalists may think they have done well. They need look no farther than Afghanistan to know that destructive skills do not make a nation prosperous.

World terrorism is not divisible. If India is attacked by terrorists, it is the world that is attacked; ultimately everyone in the world including those in the U.S. will suffer. If the West had been sensitive to what India has been going through for the past several years, it would not be suffering as much as it is doing now.

However, if Islamic fundamentalists have their blind spots, so do have the rulers of the West. They are unlikely to take Pakistan- sponsored terrorism seriously.

Ostensibly, property disputes, in Palestine, Kashmir and elsewhere are the justification for Islamic terrorism. Will peace be established if Palestinians are given the territory they want and Kashmir is handed over to Pakistan? It is more than likely that such concessions will only whet the appetite of Islamic fundamentalists.

For instance, in the Economic and Political Weekly (December 2, 2000), Samar Abbas has written: ``Indeed, within the Kashmir Study Group proposal for the communal trifurcation of Kashmir lies the seed for a final solution to the Hindu-Moslem problem all across South Asia. Perhaps, the Hindus may wish to set aside 12 per cent of the territory of the Indian Union for Muslims who form 12 per cent of the population and hence could claim to have a ``right'' to 12 per cent of the land. This land would sensibly comprise the already Muslim dominated and historically Islamicised regions of Northern U.P. (Rohilkhand, North Oudh) and Northern Bihar (Seemanchal) where Hindus already live in fear of Muslims. Muslims all across the rest of India could then migrate to that region, while Hindus would then comprise the sole ethnic group in the remaining 88 per cent of India... At the ground level, I would like to point out that this process is already at work in many parts of India.''

Most Muslims in India will dismiss this proposal as nonsense. So did the Indian National Congress when the idea of Pakistan was first mooted by an unknown student in Cambridge. In its first reaction, even the Indian Muslim League rejected the idea of Pakistan as ridiculous. Within seven years the same Muslim League adopted the same idea of Pakistan as its unalterable goal. In another seven years, it actually got its Pakistan, at any rate, most of the territory it hankered after.

So, we will be repeating a grave error if we brush aside the proposal made by Samar Abbas. All populist ideas, however outlandish or repugnant, must be taken seriously. Anything less is folly.

India's Muslims constitute the best bulwark that can protect the country. It is in the self-interest of the Hindus to reinforce them, help them to help the Hindus. That will happen when, and only when, Hindus bury their internal differences and agree to make India a truly secular country.

Much of our Constitution divides our society on communal lines. Just as one cannot be a little pregnant, a Constitution cannot be a little communal, a little casteist or a little sectarian. Until the Constitution discards all provisions that promote communal, even caste-based discrimination, and Hindus give up their fundamentalism, we cannot hope to succeed against Islamic fundamentalism.

Unfortunately, just like the Westerners and Islamic fundamentalists have their blind spots, so do Hindus have their own. They prefer to divide and subdivide themselves, destruct each other even, rather than accept a truly secular state.

Terrorists may be violent criminals. They are also sick. It is at this juncture that we are liable to forget, but must not forget that the antidote to violence is not more violence but curing the underlying disease. That disease is the fanatic idea that Islam is not compatible with the rest of humanity and that Muslims cannot live in a non-Islamic state.

Thanks to oil wealth, Islamic extremists the world over have acquired unimaginable riches. Instead of making them happy and secure, all that wealth has made them the unhappiest, the most insecure tribe on earth. They complain that everyone, Jews, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, even atheists are against them. They would better enquire why everyone should be against them. If they do, they will realise that their troubles are founded on their inability to tolerate diversity of thought.

Muslims in India have had the widest experience of living under non-Muslim rulers. They can explain best why Allah is so powerful that Islam will flourish even where non-Muslims rule. That offers an opportunity for India's Muslims to provide sane leadership.

Let us not blame Muslims alone. We are all sinners. Forgive us my Lord for we know not what we do! Give us the wisdom to know what we should do now!

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : Ways of seeing
Next     : Religion, real evil?