Congrats To French Authorities For Gunning Down Abdelhamid Abaaoud

Hearty congrats to French police and security personnel for their success in finding out and then gunning down Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the blood sucking vampire who reportedly played the main role in orchestrating the terror attack in Paris.

While the trauma suffered by the families of Paris attack victims is irreparable, this development will undoubtedly offer some relief for their pain.

Now it is time for all of us, irrespective of our religious/ethnic/national backgrounds, to join hands and offer all sorts of moral support to all the entities and powers which are fighting day in and day out to wipe out the devils of ISIS and Al Qaeda from their areas of stronghold, through various means like air strikes. It is not the right time to evaluate the US led air strikes on the ISIS and Al Qaeda strongholds of Middle East in the context of ethics, principle and values. We will get enough time to have those intellectual discussions if the civilized world survives the threat it faces from these radical Muslim organizations. First we should focus on this survival.

Now let the world unite and offer devastating blow to all those scoundrels who are inflicting injuries to the human society (including people from the same religion that these terrorists claim to champion), thus bringing extreme embarrassment for the innocent followers of one of the oldest religions of the world.

The wolves of ISIS and Al Qaeda are so obsessed with bloodshed. OK, let’s not disappoint them. For long they have bathed in the blood of human beings. Now let them bath in the blood of wolves, i.e. the blood of their own. 

Let There Be “Shoot-At-Sight” Orders Against IM And LeT Operatives

I know it is very difficult for the Indian government to implement, as there are issues like communal sentiment, etc.

However, if the government has to enhance its anti-terror operation, then I feel it should immediately issue “shoot-at-sight” orders against the members of Indian Mujahideen (IM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (a.k.a. Jamaat-ud-Dawa). And I hope technically it will not be very difficult, as both the organizations are now banned by the Indian government.

I understand that the proposal seems to be somewhat harsh, and also appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to the recent Mumbai blasts. However, I will very confidently say that there is no other way. Whenever police arrests one member of any of these banned organizations, it has to waste a lot of time and energy to gather evidence and prepare a chargesheet against him. Until and unless a proper chargesheet is not filed, the person cannot be prosecuted. And he keeps enjoying a happy life in the custody.

More importantly, both IM and LeT have a huge membership. If police takes so much time to tackle one member, then how can it tackle the entire organization?

Prosecuting an arrested terrorist through legal process is a lengthy procedure, which delays his punishment to a huge extent (just recall the examples of Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab). Terrorism is now like an ever expanding tumour for India, and we have to wipe out as much chunk of the problem as possible by spending as little time as possible. We have to be fast and swift, ruthlessly cutting down each and every branch and fruit of the two venomous trees – IM and LeT. And in that case there seems to be only one way out – instantly gunning down an LeT or IM operative the moment police can have a hand on him.

The idea might not appeal to so-called intellectuals who are obsessed with catchy words like “Human Rights”, “ethics”, “morality”, etc. Well, I have due respect for the philosophy of “Human Rights”. But I am sorry to say that I do not feel it to be more valuable than the lives of my fellow Indian citizens.

ULFA Peace Talks – A Significant Step Towards Stability In Assam

The Indian government’s peace talks with the leaders (of the Arabinda Rajkhow faction) of ULFA (United Liberation Front Of Asom), to be held on 10th February 2011, is going to be a key step forward towards restoring peace and stability in the picturesque north-east India in general and Assam in particular.

ULFA has been a frontline outfit in the terrorist and insurgent activities in Assam, and one of the most dreaded outfits in the north-east as a whole. And it is undoubtedly a significant, if not historic, development that today it is going to have unconditional peace talks with the Indian government. That the outfit is genuinely sincere about the dialogue that can be understood from the fact that it has dropped its sovereignty demand as a pre-condition for any talks. In fact, when ULFA dropped this pre-requisite for talks, that was a highly notable development in itself.

It is more-or-less obvious that the Paresh Baruah faction of ULFA will try to create problems for the talks. ULFA’s Central Executive Committee has threatened to take disciplinary action against him if he defies the outfit’s decision to hold talks with the Indian government. But honestly speaking that does not seem to deter him if he wants to create problems. However, even if he tries to create problems, hopefully that will fail to get the talks derailed as a whole. After all, the majority of ULFA cadres have realized the futility of walking the road of violence and bloodshed. By walking that path throughout the life, today they find that they have achieved only one thing – keeping themselves deprived of a normal life. So now they also desperately want to come back to a normal life. And therefore they will undoubtedly work hard for making the peace talks a success.

A bagful of good wishes to both the parties (The Indian government and ULFA) from each and every Indian citizen.

Necessity of “Categorization” Of Terrorism

Many people find it utterly unacceptable to make any “categorization” of terrorism. They say that terrorism can not and should not be categorized on the basis of religion, community, ethnicity, etc. This is because a terrorist is never a representative of any community, religion, ethnicity, or any other such entity.

It is very common to come across objections from the liberal minded Muslim ladies and gentlemen on the use of terms like “Islamic terrorism”, “Islamic terrorists”, etc. I have also come across people who object to the use of terms like “Kashmiri terrorists” and “Tamil terrorists” (i.e. the LTTE people). And now India’s enterprising Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram is being criticized across the political circle for his “Saffron Terror” remark.

Well, I have due respect for people who dislike such religious or communal or ethnic categorization of terrorism. But I think such categorization is necessary? Why? Well, let me explain my view.

We must remember that when a government (or a group of governments or an international body like UNSC) fights against a group of terrorists, it broadly pursues two agenda.

The first agenda is purely based on guns and bullets, aimed at countering the disruptive acts of the terrorists and reducing their manpower as much as possible, thus reducing their power to create mayhem.

The other agenda is based on identifying the “root cause” that is behind the birth of that particular group of terrorists, and addressing that issue through political and ideological means, which entails strategic use of negotiations and dialogues.

This identification and addressing of the “root cause” of terrorism is very crucial. If the government simply focuses on the killing of the terrorists, then the problem will never be solved. The “root cause” will keep giving births to terrorists, with the movement never getting short of manpower no matter how regularly the government guns down the terrorists. On the other hand if the government successfully identifies the “root cause” (poverty, feeling communal or ethnic alienation, etc., then it will be able to address the very source of the problem.

And this identification of the root cause is not possible if we do not make appropriate categorization of terrorism and terrorists. If we perceive all acts of terrorism in the same colour, thus generalizing all terrorist groups as bunches of misguided people involved in heinous activities, then it will be a “Himalayan” blunder. Every terrorist group works with a certain objective that is unique to it, and in that way one terrorist group is different from another one in the same way chalk is different from cheese. Yes, sometimes the objective of one terrorist group is found to be similar to that of another terrorist group. For example, the Bodo, Khalistani and Kashmiri terrorists have the same objective - the “liberation” of a certain region from India. But even then there is an element of dissimilarity. While the Bodo movement is purely based on ethnic sentiment, the Khalistan movement has a mixture of both ethnic and religious sentiment. And the Kashmiri movement is purely a religious issue, sometimes unsuccessfully projected by its supporters as a fight to establish ethnic self-identity of Kashmiri people. Therefore, the government can not handle the Kashmiri separatists in the same way it has handled Khalistan separatists, though the character of both the movements is apparently the same. At the same time, while the ways to handle the Khalistani separatists and Bodo separatists can probably be almost the same, there will nevertheless be some elements of difference in the approach.

Again, while both Kashmiri and Al-Qaeda terrorists are “Islamic” terrorists, there is a difference between their objectives. The Kashmiri terrorists want “liberation” of a certain region from India, not out of any ethnic pride, but simply out of religious consciousness. The Al-Qaeda terrorists are also working out of misplaced religious consciousness and pride, but their objective is not confined to liberating one “Muslim” area from the so-called domination of a “non-Muslim” area. They are rather determined to spread Islam across the world, making it the only ruling religion of the planet. So while we have to handle the issue of misplaced religious sentiment while countering both the groups of terrorists, the ways to handle them will certainly differ given the difference in the “quantum” of their objectives.

So we can find that terrorist groups differ from one another in terms of their objectives, even when the characters of the objectives appear to be the same. Some thrive out of ethnic sentiment, some out of religious consciousness, while some have other “causes”. And, significantly, it is not that the “root causes” of terrorist groups are always unacceptable. And when a terrorist group has a genuine grievance, then that group and its demands must be handled in a different way.

So, at the end of the day, probably we must accept that categorization of terrorists is important. We have to remember that when the government or other such entities pronounce terms like “Islamic terrorism”, “Saffron terrorism”, “Tamil terrorism” or “Red terrorism”, they actually refer to the basic characteristic of a particular group of terrorists, without any objective to generalize the members of a particular religious/ethnic community or supporters of a certain political ideology.

Former ISI Chief In The Kashmiri Separatists’ Meet

The blatant shamelessness of the Pakistan government is really shocking to the core. The extent of the government’s unscrupulousness again came to light when the other day the Kashmiri separatist groups held an open meeting at Muzaffarabad, the capital town of Pak-Occupied Kashmir or POK (i.e. Azad Kashmir or “Independent Kashmir” in Pakistan’s language). The meet was attended by all the top leaders of “Kashmiri Freedom Movement”, including Sayeed Salahudeen of Hizbul Mujahideen. In the meet these separatist leaders openly discussed their plans to further enhance their activities (i.e. disruptive activities), expressed their faith in “Zihaad” (which is nothing but meaningless bloodshed) as the “only solution for the Kashmir problem”, and also sent this message to “their brothers” on the other part of LoC (Line of Control) that they are always with them (they have taken it for granted that they enjoy unanimous support from the Kashmiri youths).

Everybody knows that POK is virtually a part of Pakistan. And still these blood-thirsty maniacs managed to hold such an open meeting just under the nose of the Pakistan government, with the latter simply turning a blind eye to it. In the meet the separatist leaders not only discussed their future plans, but also issued open threatening to the Indian government. How did they dare to come up with such audacious activities, on a piece of land where Pakistan calls the shots?

However, what is more shocking is the presence of former ISI chief Hamid Gul in that meeting. A known India-baiter, Hamid Gul is known for having played very “constructive” role in “strengthening” the so-called “Kashmiri Freedom Movement”, during his stint as the ISI chief. Therefore it is not surprising to see him participate in any event or programme that champions the “cause of Kashmiri freedom movement”. But this event was different in the sense that it was the meeting of the dreaded separatist leaders who are trying to achieve their objective not through dialogue or mass movement or any other peaceful tools, but through the blood-soaked tool of terrorism. And in fact they used this meeting as a platform to chalk out plans for their future disruptive activities. By participating in this meet Hamid Gul has virtually brought himself down from the level of an ideologue to that of a petty terrorist.

The Indian government should immediately exert pressure on its Pakistani counterpart to come up with a proper explanation on how those bloodthirsty savages were able to organize such a meeting in Muzaffarabad. The Pakistan government should also send for Hamid Gul, and ask him to explain exactly what he was doing in that meeting. If Mr. Gul has provided those terrorists with some strategic guidance or advice, then he must be arrested immediately.

The Indian government should also draw international attention to the event, so that the world can be made more conscious about the naked double-standard that the rogue state of Pakistan has been playing not only with India, but the entire world.

Mumbai Terror Attack – The positive and negative awakenings

The devastating terror attack in Mumbai resulted in both positive and negative awakenings.


First, the positive awakenings –

This attack gave us an opportunity to know about the excellence and skills of our security personnel, especially the marine commandos and the commandos of the famed NSG (National Security Guards). The adeptness with which they have handled the situation has boosted our confidence and faith on them to no extent. We now know for sure that our commandos are among the best in the world.

This terror attack also gave us a chance to know that our country still has brave and courageous people like Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar, Major Unnikrishnan and Gajendra Singh, who can unhesitatingly lay down their lives for the sake of their motherland. Not that we ever had any doubt about the existence of such people in India. We have witnessed the selfless supreme sacrifices made by a host of young soldiers at the time of Kargil war. And even now, almost every other day we get the news of brave Indian soldiers laying down their lives in the border areas while fighting terrorist elements. However, the martyrdom of the security personnel handling Mumbai terror attack has inspired the Indian youth in a significant manner, encouraging them to play whatever roles they can play for the service of their great motherland.

Now, the negative awakenings –

The incident has highlighted serious lapses in the Indian intelligence network, apart from bringing into light flaws in the functioning of the Indian Coast Guard.

Hopefully the concerned agencies will undertake a thorough assessment of their infrastructure and functioning style, identify the loopholes and rooms for improvements, and address the same. Good luck to them.

The incident has also highlighted, for the umpteenth time, the extreme inefficiency of our honourable Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil. That nation is really cursed where the responsibility of internal security is in the hands of incompetent persons like Shivraj Patil and Prakash Jaiswal, who so perfectly exemplify the phrase “Good For Nothing”.

Photo Courtesy - media.ft.com

This Time They Strike At Assam

The terrorists are continuing with their disruptive activities in full swing. After a brief break they have struck again – this time at the beautiful state of Assam in the picturesque North East.

The postmortem of the situation has already started, with the usual constituents like blame gaming and scapegoating. And as usual the common people are not interested in all this, as it can neither undo what has happened nor apparently prevent the repetition of that. What they want the authorities to do is a meaningful analysis of the security and intelligence mechanism/infrastructure, identify the rooms for development and address the same. But will our great leaders do that? I am not sure whether I can be much hopeful about it.

After all what can we expect when we have an ultra-incompetent and unenterprising Home Minister like Mr. Shivraj Patil, who is in his position not because of any administrative acumen (which he does not have in the first place), but simply because of his unquestioned loyalty to “Madam”? With such a weak and inept person in charge of internal security, there is little wonder that the terrorists are having a field day.

Terrorism Makes India Bleed Again

The “Trust Vote” drama was just over, with the people of India convinced that it was going to be the only hot topic of discussion for some time now. And soon they were proved to be wrong. There arrived another hot topic of discussion, so hot that the Indian people would have been happy if it did not appear.

A bunch of “committed” and “dedicated” terrorists, “determined” to achieve objectives that only they can understand, came up with the “heroic” deed of carrying out blasts in the two cities located in two different parts of India, one being Bangalore in the southern India and the other being Ahmedabad in western India. The natural end result was the loss of several innocent lives, along with lots of injured people going through a traumatic experience in various hospitals and nursing homes.

As usual the government has suddenly become hyper active, with the police forces of different states, intelligence agencies, etc. working overtime to catch the culprits. Our honourable ministers from the Union Home Ministry are visiting the affected areas “to take stock of the situation” (does a person overnight become an expert after becoming a minister?), and then briefing the media about their “carefully structured” course and plan of action. The media has now concentrated its entire focus on this issue, with enthusiastic and hard working correspondents of various TV channels tracking all the relevant developments round-the-clock. The former heads of police, intelligence agencies, self-styled defence experts, etc are appearing in various TV shows to share their “rich experience” in fighting terrorism, with “valuable suggestions” about how the menace can be curbed. There are innumerable articles in various newspapers, offering “in-depth” discussion on the exact nature of the problem, highlighting various socio-economic-political factors behind it and ways to address the latter.


However, we all know that all these will go on only for few days. Very soon everything will be “back to normalcy”, with the unfortunate incidents completely out of people’s mind. We will get back to our callous and indifferent attitude towards terrorism and other disruptive activities, waiting to be shaken up by another repetition of such heinous acts.