Terror originates in the east and affects the west. Terror is funded and nourished by the north to keep the south unstable. Terrorists are drawn to a deranged ideology. Terrorists are funded to spread a certain vested school of thought. Terror can be controlled if terrorists are bombed away. Terrorists are supported by countries to fight proxy wars in enemy countries. And so on and so forth. These were the many conceptual framework deductions made in the last decade on why and how of terror cause and effect. It seems that over a period of time most of these findings or deductions seem to have become questionable.
Terrorism that was supposed to be centered around Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan is now almost unlocatable. Theories and research on its nerve center, target, reach, depth, width, influence, origination, culmination, financing, psychology, technology are all being blown away by the blasts that are thundering in the most unexpected places, timing and methodology. However it is always useful to see the roots of terror and why have those roots despite multiple counter terrorism strategies become more widespread. The tragic Sri Lankan blasts that killed over 300 people and injured over 500 in churches and hotels on Easter holidays is a sad reminder that a re-think on the hydra of terror should be a priority.
Sri Lankan tragedy has been a shock reminder. Sri Lanka was a model country that after decades of terrorism had achieved peace as in the last decade or so hardly a cracker had blasted in the country. The ferocious explosions in Sri Lanka are a reminder that terror has deep roots and without constant vigilance it will raise its ugly head. The roots unfortunately, as is the case with many South Asian countries, go back to colonial times. The civil war had its roots in the divide and rule policy of the British. The two factions in Sri Lanka were Tamils and Sinhalese. British were seen by the Sinhalese majority as favouring the Tamil minority. When British colonial rule ended in 1948, the Sinhalese majority disenfranchised Tamil plantation workers, made Sinhala the country's official language and made Buddhism the country's primary religion as majority of Sinhalese were Buddhist; while majority of Tamils were Hindus.
Inequality will sooner or later lead to reactivity. The Tamils feeling left out started a movement for independence. They found a leader in 1976, named Velupillai Prabhakaran who formed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the LTTE, or Tamil Tigers, dedicated to the fight for Tamil independence.
In 2002, Norway negotiated a ceasefire agreement between the government and LTTE. But both sides violated the cease-fire. In May 2009, Sri Lanka announced that the army had taken control of the entire island nation and had killed LTTE chief Prabhakaran. The war was finally declared over. Since then the country has been peaceful but due to the largely Buddhist majority, minorities have been feeling the same isolation as did the Tamils once. A Buddhist mob attacked a mosque in 2013, injuring 12; Christian services have occasionally been disrupted by Buddhist monks. Thus the religious element to violence that was creeping in over a period of time came in full force on Easter in Sri Lanka.
The region has had a spate of terror resurgence. In Pakistan, Balochistan was attacked twice. Gunmen, allegedly from Iran, murdered 14 people in Ormara. Earlier in April, a bombing attack thought to be carried out by the Islamic State - targeted Shia Hazaras in Quetta. Last week, there was an attack made on government institutions in Kabul. On Sunday, after the attacks in Sri Lanka, terrorist incidents were also reported in Mali, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, showing the global reach of extremist organizations, many of them linked to ISIS.
The lesson learned is that internal security or home security is just one part of the game of global terror network. Terrorism can be reduced through better counter terrorism and law enforcement but will be incomplete till the channels of terror transmission are not shut down wherever they are. What has happened in the past is no longer valid and effective. An incident takes place in any country in South Asia is normally blamed on conflict zone cross border. There are allegations and counter allegations amongst tough neighbours and some pacifying statements amongst not so tough neighbours.
The present round of terror resurgence all across the world is worrying and extra ordinary. 50 people were gunned down in New Zealand and over 300 in Sri Lanka. We need to start thinking on extraordinary measures to curb this terror spike. Some key initiatives that will be more impactful are:
1. A Multilateral Counter Terrorism Force- Gone are the days when two countries were involved in conflict and could sit on a table and sort it out. Terrorism is complex and intricate network of multiple partners who may have common enemies or objectives. Therefore what is required is a Regional stakeholder engagement covering all affected countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Iran, etc., to formulate Regional Counter terrorism strategies.
2. A Mediator Stakeholder Group-Another important area is the involvement of third party influencer countries as Mediators for the region. These countries, acceptable to all members, will intervene every time terrorism, conflict or violence take place in the region.
3. A Regional Peace Campaign-The Civil Society of all countries have to have a cross country campaign to spread the message of peace, of brotherhood, of neighbourhood through social media and on-ground activism.
Conventional hard power through counter operations and hybrid zone wars are not the answer. The answer is in a collective effort at the security, political and socio cultural level of the region to combat terror with synergized intelligence, awareness and non-conventional hybrid strategies.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])
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