Chapter 2 DEFINITION AND DIMENSIONS OF TERRORISM Continues...


The earliest terror tactics in modern India were deployed in Bengal in 1946, by extremist Muslim leaders, Suhrawady and Jinnah, to terrorize Hindus to give in on the demand for Pakistan. The Congress Party, claiming to represent the Hindus [who were then 75 per cent of the population of undivided India], capitulated and handed 25 per cent of the territory of India on a platter to Mohammed Ali Jinnah soon thereafter. This was how Pakistan was born in 1947. That terrorism was also the embryonic form of the monster of terrorism in India today. Things have not improved much since then.
According to Union Home Ministry’s 2004-05 Annual Report to Parliament, of the 35 States of today’s India, 29 are afflicted by terrorism! There are about 25 terrorist attacks per month in the

country sourced to elements and bases in Pakistan. According to credible international reviews, India experiences more terrorist incidents annually (3,500) and terrorist-related deaths (3,100) per year than any country other than Iraq! India is thus today a seriously terrorist challenged nation which has profound national security implications. Combating terrorism has, however, become extremely complicated and multidimensional, hence we need to understand it’s nature and scope clearly before an effective strategy to deter terrorism can be formulated.

TERRORISM TODAY.

Although terrorism is certainly not a phenomenon observed in the twentieth century, there has been a paradigm change in its character since 1968, caused by three specific innovations of the 20th century. First, the invention of television with instant satellite relay which has suddenly given small unknown groups the possibility of a worldwide publicity campaign. Internet has raised that publicity potential manifold. The fact, that most terrorist incidents have taken place in the democratic states may in part be due to the availability of this instant publicity. Under an authoritarian regime, such as China, terrorists can be cut off from their media audience in the target country, thereby losing all the expected impact of their actions.

To be continued...