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| Delink terrorism from religion | | | Investigations into Malegaon blasts, which of course are yet to be completed, have unfortunately triggered an unhealthy debate across the country. Worse still, this gory and murky debate has broken out at a time when country is right in the middle of elections –six states are facing assembly polls and the general Lok Sabha elections are just round the corner. Arrest of a Soldier, a Sadhvi and a Seer has given yet another name to terrorism. The politics of ‘Hindu Terrorism’ versus ‘Muslim Terrorism’ is being used by all parties to their full in swinging the balance of voters and in the process an irreparable loss is being caused secular foundations of country. Not only this, if politicians continue to look at terrorism from angle of religion the country may eventually loose the war against terror.
Jihadi terrorism in India and blowback in the form of alleged 'Hindu terrorism' must be comprehensively stamped out. Acts of terror, whether carried out through human suicide bombers or through improvised explosive devices, wreak large-scale havoc and as such should be condemned, no matter who is behind them. Innocent lives are snuffed out in seconds, hundreds are maimed and countless families are pushed into destitution. A bomb doesn't know any religion. It kills whoever is around. Therefore, it is meaningless to give terrorism communal colours, which is something that some political parties are presently trying to do. But at the same time we must call a spade a spade. There is no denying that most of the terrorist activities in India are carried out by jihadi groups that need to be severely dealt with. The recent spate of terror bombings in the country was carried out by homegrown jihadis. The so-called liberals in our society have been attributing the phenomenon of the rise of homegrown jihad-inspired terror to the all-round backwardness of the Indian Muslim community. Well, this is true to a certain degree and all efforts should be made to uplift the Muslim community, both socially and economically. However, at the same time it is also true that large segments of people belonging to other religions are equally poor. If all of them decide to take to violence because of poverty, soon there will be no India. Therefore, one is forced to disagree with the assumption that backwardness and alleged discrimination are the root causes of homegrown terrorism. The apologists for jihadis have been quick to describe the arrests of some Hindus by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad for their alleged involvement in the Malegaon bombing as 'Hindu terrorism'. I would like to reiterate that all violence is condemnable and if some misguided Hindus have indulged in acts of terror, then they must be punished according to the law of the land. But to attempt to dilute the severity of jihadi terrorism by drawing parallels with the alleged criminal acts of a few Hindus will be like comparing cancer to a skin disease. Let me end by saying that violence, from whichever quarter it arises, is reprehensible and has no place in a democratic society like ours. |
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