The Hindu Business Line : <I>Will the world ever be terror-free? </I>

If a world survey were to be held on the one fear that is uppermost in people's mind everywhere, the answer will be instant and unanimous: Terrorism.

A time there was within living memory when, all over the globe, not only ordinary human beings, but heads of state and governments, went about their daily business without a thought of any danger lurking round the corner.

The former Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, mingled freely with the people and travelled and attended functions without any kind of a security cordon thrown round him. One could wander at will the corridors of the US Capitol or the Whitehall without being subjected to security hassles.

Yes, there were assassinations of prominent figures, but more out of an individual grudge, or as an act of madness. Mafias and their gang wars were also limited to settling their scores, and it was rarely that the general run of population was made their omnibus targets. The common person had no occasion to worry about his safety or security.

Gone are those days. If a world survey were to be held on the one fear that is uppermost in people's mind everywhere, the answer will be instant and unanimous: Terrorism. Men, women and children live under its shadow every day of their lives. Terror seems to be stalking every place and every activity of humankind: Home, workplace, place of worship, bus, train, plane, you name it. No longer does it kill in twos or threes, it decimates hundreds and thousands at one strike, as in the case of Kanishka or 9/11. In its latest version of jehadi or suicide terrorism, it is posing the most dreaded challenge to organised attempts to combat it.

Cyclical pattern

Security is the one obsession of Governments and societies, and enormous expense and efforts are going into the setting up, updating and expanding security infrastructure, thereby, draining resources away from development and social welfare. Terrorist outfits have no identifiable structure or habitation, and are freewheeling and elusive lethal squads or groups held together by an emotional or ideological bond, and exploiting the facilities of the communications revolution. Also, the fact that they can strike when and where they choose, show great ingenuity in deciding their means and keep changing their modalities is what makes one wonder whether the war on terror can ever be fought to the finish.

We have an answer in the course history has taken. Arnold Toynbee propounded a thesis that events and developments in the world followed a cyclical pattern. For instance, there was no country that was eternally prosperous or advanced: There were always rise and fall of empires such as the Roman or the Austrian. Great achievements followed epochs of decadence and decay in individual countries' histories as well.

At one time, the torture chambers of the Inquisition, the bloody massacres characterising the feuds between Protestants and Catholics, and the Hundred Years' War looked like going on forever. They are now ancient history.

In our own life-time, we have witnessed changes that seemed unthinkable barely decades ago: The Sun set on the British Empire, the impregnable-looking Berlin Wall was pulled down right before our eyes, East and West Germany that one thought would stay sundered eternally were united, the Irish Revolutionary Army laid down its arms and took to the path of reconciliation and peace, there is no longer apartheid in South Africa, the bitter stand-off between the US and China came to an end, the mighty Soviet Union vanished without trace and Cold War became a thing of the past.

Who knows? With greater enlightenment, terrorism too will go the way of all such morbid, rabid monstrosities of history, ringing in an era of peace, brotherhood and harmony.

More Stories on : Terrorism | Offhand | Politics

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Problems of scalability

Holland in full bloom, always

China follows Singapore model

How to bridge funding gap for infrastructure?

Will the world ever be terror-free?

Fear not the fall of the Sensex

UK Ports Mission sets course for Indian partnerships

Cricket R.I.P.

Neutral CAs