Tackle Terrorism Rather Than Terrorists

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

The world otherwise peaceful has been infested with terrorists. We have national terrorists and transnational terrorists. National terrorists have been often locally deprived people often fighting for their rights and privileges denied by the authoritarian administration. National terrorists are confined to their nations. Transnational terrorists have been terrorizing people elsewhere in the world in the hope of prevailing their supremacy. Knowing all these facts, the world leaders have been fighting against terrorists in a piecemeal basis rather than destroying their breeding ground.

As recently as in the last week of November 2008, we have seen that transnational terrorists have managed to kill about 200 people of different nationalities in Mumbai, India. This was not the first such assault of the transnational terrorists on the Indian soil. Every time, India faced such a terrorists’ attack, its administration points its finger at the Pakistani administration for sending such terrorists. However, Indian authorities have never thought of cutting the roots of terrorism elsewhere in the world.

Until the September 11, 2001, USA did not seriously take the terrorists’ attacks on innocent people elsewhere in the world. In March 2001, the Taleban terrorists blew up two huge Buddha images carved in stone in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Many Buddhists begged the Taleban administration not to blast those images but they did not listen to the appeals of the Buddhists; they even refused to give the broken pieces of the images to the Buddhists. None of the international community did take it seriously and did feel it a serious threat to the peace in the world even when the Taleban administration knowing the Buddha the symbol of peace destroyed the images of Buddha. Then, the transnational terrorists attacked the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001 killing 3,000 innocent people of various nationalities and faiths. Suddenly, the US administration waked up and thought it necessary to do something to punish the perpetrators of the terrorism. It mobilized the world opinion in its favor forcibly saying, “you are with us or against us.”

The US administration went to Afghanistan and destroyed the Talebans as they refused to turn over the leaders of the transnational terrorists. As the US administration had cut off only the heads of some terrorists not the deep-seated roots of terrorism, the Talebans have been coming back and terrorizing the Afghans and the multi-national army working in Afghanistan.

Then the US administration went to Iraq and finished off the Iraqi government and hanged its president called Saddam Hussein. However, the US government did not attempt to demolish the breeding ground for terrorists. So, they have been coming back with a renewed force and vitality challenging the multi-national army working there.

The breeding ground for terrorists has been the religious schools. You find such schools everywhere in the South Asian countries including Nepal. They teach two main things: hatred for the people of other faiths, and heavenly life after death if you could kill the infidels. If you want to open and run such a school you will get as much funds as you need from the oil-rich Muslim countries. Indirectly, all the people of the world using the oil from those countries have also been funding those religious schools.

And the conflicts among the religious fundamentalists have also contributed to breeding terrorists. Some religious fanatics are also responsible for causing religious conflicts in the world. We have already said that the Taleban blew up two Buddha images but Buddhists by their nature of tolerance did not retaliate. However, people of other faiths were not so tolerant. For example, the Hindus demolished Babri Mosque in India; in retaliation Muslims in turn destroyed hundreds of Hindu temples in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Until and unless we convert those religious schools into regular schools that would teach love and friendship among all the people of different faiths, and people of different people tolerate the people of other faiths, the terrorists would be always there to kill innocent people and destroy our wealth and assets.

So, the leaders of the world-leading countries needed to work in tandem to destroy the roots of terrorism rather than simply destroying terrorists only. Destroying terrorists is only half done job; so it would never be completed if the breeding ground for terrorists were not made the ground for love and friendship. This could be done all the major nations influencing the oil-rich countries for stopping them from funding the schools that teach hatred for humanity.

Not only India did not attempt to destroy the terrorists’ breeding ground but even the mighty nation such as the USA did not do so. How could the people imagine the world without terrorists in this current situation?