2.
A common definition of terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use
of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect
political, religious, or ideological change.
Terrorism in India are basically two types external and internal, external
terrorism emerge from neighboring countries and internal terrorism
emulates from religious or communal violence and Naxalite-Maoist
insurgency. Terror activities involve either Indian or foreign citizens.
The regions with long term terrorist activities today are Jammu and
Kashmir, Mumbai, Central India(Naxalism) and the Seven sister
states(independence and autonomy movements).
Terrorism in India has often been alleged to be sponsored by Pakistan.
At least 232 of the country’s 608 districts were afflicted, at differing
intensities, by terrorism.
Over a period of time terrorism has severely affected Indian economy.
3. A look at the very elementary picture of terrorism reveals certain things:
1. A handful of immensely wealthy, influential and powerful people provide the
leadership. In many instances they lead a justifiable movement. In an equal number
of instances they have a personal axe to grind in the garb of mass movement. Some
of them are prepared to come out and discuss their grievances. Others prefer to
remain away from the public eye.
2. The foot soldiers are almost invariably youth of impressionable minds. It is also
commonly seen that they come from ordinary or poor families.
Favourable conditions for rise of terrorism:
Lack of Education for moral/social values
Poverty and Unemployment
Religious fanaticism propagated for political gains.
A feeling among a certain class of people, resulted due to
constant political alienation, that they are not a part of the
main stream.
4. The Naxalites has been identified as the biggest internal security threat to
India by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The terms Naxalites or
Maoists are used to refer to militant far-left radical Communist groups
operating in India. Inspired by the doctrines of Mao Zedong, Naxalites
work to overthrow the government and upper classes by violence. The
Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) describes the objectives of
Naxalites as destroying “state legitimacy…with the ultimate object of
attaining political power by violent means”. They are considered as a
terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of
India (1967). The movement started in West Bengal in the early seventies
but has since spread to the rural areas in central and eastern India. The
MHA notes that Naxalites attach themselves to civil society and front
organisations on issues such as displacement, land reforms and acquisition
where they can increase their mass support.
Naxalites have been attacking police establishments and infrastructures
such as public transportation, causing insecurity and instability to the area.
5. Inequality in Justice - There are so many
Jassica Lal - Manu Sharma cases which we
don't even know about. Their family, friends
are easily attracted to naxalism for instant
justice.
Social inequality - Caste, creed, tribe, subregion, etc
Economic instability, inequality and
Unemployment.
Forceful land acquisition, and
eviction of tribal population from their
ancestral lands .
Lack of education
Lack of basic amenities.
6.
7.
Tourism of an economy slides to the negative scale
due to intimidation.
Agricultural Production of an economy is greatly
affected
There is a Direct Human and Military loss
Share Markets and GDP gradually are shown the
way down
Loss of Population or manpower will decrease the
working population of the nation which is a great
loss.
The social effects are to leave people poor,
starving, homeless, without family members and
often without jobs.
8.
Terrorist attacks has left its footprints especially on three
industries-tourism, hospitality and medical.
It has also increased the cost of security especially on land
and sea borders. Big and reputed Companies of India has
also demanded for "Z" security.
Tourism sector has come to stake- be it International or
domestic. Clients have cancelled their tours by 25-35%
because of security reasons which has directly hit the
Aviation and Hotel industry.
These attacks will affect India not only domestically rather
globally as most of its business comes from outside India.
The target attack on foreigners will have a incalculable
impact on Investment climate as well affecting the financial
market of India.
Foreign capital investment due to this reason in our country
has been adversely affected.
9.
Terror attacks continuously in the last decade have come as
a whammy for India's Tourism and Hospitality industry.
We can see now that the most famous tourists places in
India are having lonely roads with very few tourists all
round .Goa Tourism has lost almost half of its tourists.
Travel advisories have put a warning of a high terrorist
threat throughout India and especially the attacks on the
luxurious hotels have added to the negative impact .Hotel
Industry is viewing a large dip in revenue .Hospitality
industry has been hit harder, especially after 26/11 attacks.
Even the domestic tourism has slowed down .
Even the aviation industry are in for a rough ride ahead
with decrease in trips by overseas visitors. Drop in the
tourists will take away a good chunk of seasonal income .
Situation is grim for the industry , which will have its
impact on gross domestic product of our country.
10.
It has been viewed that financial markets are directly or
indirectly the victims of Terrorist attacks .It has been found
that attacks in countries which are wealthier and more
democratic are associated with larger negative share price
reactions.
Also, human capital loss such as kidnappings of company
executives are associated with larger negative stock
reactions than physical loss such as bombings on buildings.
It can be concluded that when the return deviation is large
and statically significant, the market saw the events as
important.
On the global platform, it has added a lot of volatility to the
market. Whenever there is a lot of uncertainty (and the
threat of terrorism does that easily), it creates a lot of risk
aversion, which has a lot of negative effects on the economy
such as less investment, less spending, and less risk-taking.
11.
12.
13.
Government has launched a Police
Modernization Scheme in areas affected by
Naxal movements. Under this scheme huge
sums of money have been provided to the
state governments by the central government
to modernize their equipment and tactical
gear including latest communication, vehicles
and infrastructure facility.
Central Para Military Forces have been
deployed on a long term basis by the
government to help the state governments to
fight against the Naxals.
Special information sharing cells have been
established.
Use of unmanned air vehicles are also in
considerations.
14.
States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal will share information and
coordinate with one another in adjoining border areas (to stop the Naxals from escaping
across the borders after launching attacks).
The Jharkhand government is setting up a state industrial security force on the lines of the
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to protect industries as the Naxalites (who operate
in 18 of the 24 districts in the state) often destroy equipment of business establishments if
they are not given extortion money.
The Orissa State government will be getting 10000 extra personnel for fighting the Naxals
– long term deployment of two battalions of CRPF in Orissa and an additional five India
Reserve Battalions.
In Tamil Nadu, a 10-day guerilla warfare training programme has begun for 320 cops in the
seven districts falling under the Central Zone. The commandos of the elite STF will provide
specialised training such as (1) sophisticated arms training (2) combing operations in
reserve forests (3) setting up of temporary tents and bunkers to the 320 cops.
Kerala is now surveying labourers from other states as the Maoists are using the state as a
hide-out.
The Maharashtra government and the state police is setting up with a special force.
While the Centre has ruled out deployment of the Army as the forces’ hands are already
full, the government has the following plans:
The central government will be investing Rs 500-crore to fight
the Naxals. This money will be used to provide (1) critical mobility to the police (2) secure
camping grounds and helipads at strategic locations, (3) build basic roads for the forces so
they have mobility in otherwise inaccessible areas.
India’s Interior Ministry has set up an anti-rebel cell to ensure periodic review and close
monitoring of rebel activities.
15.
16.
Modern, counter terrorism equipment and technology should
be provided to our security personals.
Modernise state Police and Para Military Forces in training
and ethos.
Modernise and enlarge intelligence networks
Arrested culprits should be immediately brought to justice
through special courts and investigation agency.
17.
Bring in very strict anti terror laws.
Anti terror cases should be dealt with efficiency
and utmost urgency.
Hate speeches should be banned.
Any sort of Politics over terrorism should be
banned and adequate legislation should be
brought in for it.
Should do away with any sort of political
appeasement.
Adopt proactive policies to confront the terrorists
militarily, and at the roots of terrorist ideology –
fundamentalists, social evils and sources of
terrorism e.g. narcotics / drug trade.
18.
Freeze accounts of all groups and organization
which support terrorism directly or by indirect
involvement to choke them out of finances.
Look out for strategies which involves overall
development of the country and special
emphasis should be given to backward regions.
Locate some of the Public Sector Units in the
remote areas even if they are non-profit
making.
Reduce Poverty & Unemployment.
19.
International terrorism cannot effectively be
fought alone, as has been our experience so far
Should make treaties with other countries for
information exchange regarding terrorism.
Pakistan sponsored ‘proxy’ war must be
exposed and international pressure applied.
We must highlight more aggressively, the
justness of our cause and the support to
terrorism by Pakistan, both through state and
non-state players, as well as strive to isolate
Pakistan in the international community.
20.
Promote moderate and secular polity by media,
intelligentsia and religious institutions.
We should thrive for all round integrated development.
Reduce demographic displacement resulting in social /
ethnic tension such as in Assam and Tripura, through the
joint development of sensitive border belts along Nepal,
Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Policies which aim to increase national integration and
bringing in of the marginalized sections into the main
stream should be undertaken with greater efficiency.
There should be realistic psychological and information
warfare so that the will of the anti-national elements is
suffocated and the hearts of the populace are won.
Improve Education on moral/social values.
21.
We have to keep in mind, that until we cure the reason behind the
fever, which is just a symptom, the condition might only be
controlled for a short while and it might escalate again. A longterm strategy is required to counter terrorism. We have to
understand the reasons behind the terrorism, and cure it from its
roots. Because terrorism cannot be generally won over by
violence, and if it is done there will be unprecedented bloodshed.
We will never want that to happen, because after all, most of the
terrorists in India are our own citizens who have taken arms
because of brain washing and fanatic propagandas.
Ultimately, the roots of terrorism have to be removed through
good governance. Political corruption and lack of good
governance is a basic contributor to frustration setting in into a
society, which is then exploited by unfriendly nations. Needless to
say, this has to be addressed immediately by striving to achieve
economic well-being, social justice and political aspirations of the
populace.
22.
23. The government has proposed a three-pronged strategy to combat
Naxalism:
Gain confidence of local people by taking up more welfare
related activities.
Build up infrastructure in naxal-affected areas and generate
employment.
Launch joint security operations with neighboring states to
eliminate left wing extremists.
24.
First of all we should have the political will to
eradicate it from its roots.
One obvious but less discussed reason for ever
increasing impact of naxals, is that the people
sitting in power lack political will to act against
them for their opportunist political gains.
Political dialogue should be initiated with the
naxals.
25.
Government must treat this problem as National
Problem. Planning and monitoring should be
made at central level but implementation should
be made at state level. Of course, in some cases, it
should be handed over to Border Road
Organisation and other paramilitary forces.
Provide good health facilities for the tribal living in
these area.
Improve education facility for children belonging
to the naxal affected areas.
Improve land reforms in these areas.
Government should give more financial support to
these areas.
26.
Ensure the safety of the civilians by stopping
campaigns like the Salwa Judum campaign and
ensuring that no counter insurgency measures are
taken by risking the lives of the civilians.
Checking instances of human rights violation by the
security forces and the Salwa Judum.
Registering the crimes perpetrated by the security
forces, Salwa Judum and the Maoists and bringing
them to justice.
Banning of Bal Mandal (The child division of
Naxalites) with immediate effect.
Ensuring safety of those who surrendered and those
who lived in camps or were related with Salwa Judum
activities
27.
28.
Employment and Self-employment : Keeping in mind the
local tradition and culture, small scale industries should be
developed. Active naxalite leaders may be encouraged to
start industries.
Huge gap between the rich and the poor should be dealt with
in an efficient manner. This is a strong subject they use in
their training to compare the lives of the rich and the poor.
Responsible Media: Media can play big role in creating
awareness regarding schemes and good work done by local
public and honest officials
29. Using force against the tribal to deter them from joining
the Naxals has and will backfire against the
government. The government should ensure peace in
these areas so that these people don't suffer more than
they already have and this can be done only if the
government takes proactive measures so as to ensure
social justice and inclusive growth for the benefit of the
marginalized sections.
30.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam believes a solution to
the Naxalite problem may lie in land reform and expeditious
implementation of sustainable development in these tribal
areas through the system called PURA -- Providing Urban
Amenities in Rural Areas.
31.
War against terrorism cannot be won by armed
resistance only.
We have to understand it’s root cause and try
to solve the problems.
Dialogues should be initiated and correct
political approach is must.
However, whatever comes our way, we should
never undermine and compromise our national
pride, integrity and territory.
