On the Question of Terrorism

Debasish Paul

One murder makes a killer, thousand murders make a hero, - this is the famous statement of Charles Chaplin in his film Monsieur Verdoux. Now a days, everyday all news channels print or electronic are reporting terrorism, the term specially used since the western industrialised countrymen are victims of shadow war, despite the fact that they are responsible for initiating two declared world wars in which they spread worldwide terror. It caused loss of life of billions of men in their greed for wealth. Still their Nuclear terror on Japan which could never be colonized by any external power bears evidence of severest killing of human being by western powers.

It is a matter of vast research how man is a self-contradictory animal who is a social animal and at the same time killer of other men. While we still know little about life of creatures living under water while three fourth of earth’s surface is filled by water, so we know almost very little about their community bahaviour vs a vs their annihilating attitude among same species.

It is already an established fact that man is the most violent animal among land living creatures. Man has coined a sublime word ‘humanity’ which is most often violated by human being. In same coin, the word of terrorism attributed as brutal is a misplaced word.

In terms of animal instinct, any animal which can annihilate another animal, considers itself superior over the later. Since Tiger and Lion can kill most of animals of forest, they are called alternatively king of forest. Man can kill most animals in Sky, land and water, by arsenals though not by physical power, man considers itself most superior animal on earth. In between human communities, which is more advanced in science of pin pointed or mass destruction of other communities, considers itself superpower over the rest. In fact, major portion of national expense on scientific invention of most countries are devoted to invention of more and more powerful weapons of military use.

Sex is the prime instinct of any animal in need of procreation to keep its Gene alive beyond the inevitability of death. Formation of family by marriage has its own merits like disciplining the sexual behavior of man, family units become the brick of forming a civil society. But if right of owning private property comes, can question of inheritance of property be far behind? Marriage eased the process of inheritance of property. But abuse of marriage is far too many. Alike charity begins at home, violence on women by men also begins at home. While the monogamy was supposed to protect women from unwilling /undesirable sexual assault, in the same token the price of this apparent  monogamy became free option of male partner to forced sex now called marital rape causing loss of women health by unplanned pregnancy and scores of Gynecological complications and worse than this is loss of dignity of women having  the  mute psychological  agony of feeling as slave. Hence marriage is also criticized as legal institution of rape. The terror of marriage is physically sustained in society by custom of wedding younger women by age than her husband. Wedding in a wealthier family is considered as a good luck of a bride but in the same token upon torture after marriage by husband and his other family members makes women vulnerable as by superior power of more money and wealth, the tormentors can get easy escape. Here we get the high incidence gender terrorism. So as women are becoming self-reliant by education to earn a respectable living, sanctity of marriage is losing its aura in every country.

     From viewpoint of Psychology, man is very possessive/greedy and jealous as two sides of the same coin. He is not happy only having a good life for himself but at the same like to be superior over well-known other men. So, he is interested to acquire power/authority by use of a tool which is called politics.

Man is proud of its progress but the so called history of civilization is nothing but a time series record of human blood stained politics of mass killing of man by man inventing day by day stone, metal made primitive to more lethal weapons over and above   only those to kill other animals for need of food as well to save itself in counter attack for security from ferocious animals who vied with each other i.e. men  over space in forest and essential water bodies.

After the period of Primitive Communism in which community owned all kinds of property, as soon right to own private property emerged, might is right became the new axiom at private ownership level by use of brute force/violence and political power grows out of the barrel of gun at state level. Every state started to develop two cadres of armed staff, first Police force apparently to keep law and order but equally to enforce the dominance of the ruling class over the subjects. Also, to keep a vigilance on any rebellious element in society in order to arrest them, to produce them to judiciary with charge framed of criminal conspiracy against the ruling class. Judiciary as a wing of state power punishes them in institution of physical and mental torture called Jail. Some rebellious elements are given capital punishment i.e. death by hanging, electric shock or poisoning. Secondly each state develops a military power apparently to guard sovereignty but in practice to utilize in exploitation of less powerful states for grabbing their natural and human resources when directly done called colonialism and when indirectly done called neo-colonialism.

Religion is contributory factor in fanatic terrorism as religious fundamentalism. Religion has always been closely related with political power, sometimes positively sometimes negatively. Emperor Ashoka while got involved in war which is nothing but directly state sponsored large-scale terrorism involving mass murder of men primarily of soldiers and secondarily civilians of opponent states. At the shock of watching bloodshed Ashok turned to Buddhism which is against all kinds of violence against men and other animals. Reformer of Hinduism, Ramakrishnadev made his unique universal approach to all kinds of religions in his famous saying that all religions take us to god in different routes. Proponent of Muslim religion Hajrat Mohammad advised that there is no question of violence to believers of other religions. Satyajit Ray has said religion divides men and institutional religion essentially does it. The question of religion essentially relates to concept of god. Famous Bengali litterateur Shibram Chakravorty an atheist had a critical approach to belief in god. He said the sons of Zamindars composing eulogy of god as benefactor in song, literature and art would realize the truth about god if they go down from palaces to footpath to stay there a few days and nights.

In fact, these zamindars brutally exploited the rural working class to collect ground rent in order to amass wealth to build palaces and indulge in conspicuous consumption. Their torture often involved murder of ryot unable to meet unjust demand of agents of zamindars called Nayeb. Raghu Dakat is a historical figure who became a rebellious Dacoit to reckon with who plundered Zamindars’ money in water front and distributed the collection among the poor ryots in retaliation of murder of his father by Nayeb and strongmen of Zamindars in course of brutal exploitation for unjust rent.

Violence is so much ingrained in human psyche that the two classical epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are based on royal conflict. First is a depiction sublimating Aryan war against an aboriginal affluent state of Sri Lanka of which Ravana was a popular king whom even Rama stated as man of vast wisdom but only after terminally hurting him. But before waging war against him, he and his people were named as Raksasa. Male chauvinism was shown by Rama who told his wife born orphan Sita that he did not conquer Sri Lanka to rescue her since abducted by Ravana. In Aryan terms aboriginal Indians were called Monkey and Raksasa implying them as inferior people. Sugrib one king of such aboriginals joined with his large battalion of soldiers mentioned as Banar Sena, the team of Rama who killed another Monkey king Bally to pave way to Sugrib becoming king.

Mahabharata had shown Durjodhan as a vicious man declaring, I will not without battle give land even as little as what pinpoint of a needle holds.The bone of contention was that Durjodhan’s father Dhritarastra being blind was deprived of kingship even though he was the eldest brother. But in next generation Durjodhan is eldest among cousin brothers of same royal family. So now as he had grown up, he claimed the royal seat of king. Lord Krishna advised war against Durjodhan the kourava taking side of Pandava whose father Pandu became king by default. So Mahabharata is based on  a conflict of claim to throne among two Aryan families over possession of property leading to great war in Kurukhsetra while several kings as supporters joined the war on both sides. Hence since time immemorial, property right has become cause of bloody conflict at individual and state level.

Even the self proclaimed Communists of India, which is supposed to consider right to private property as bane, once it came to power, already much predominated by middleclass opportunists, amassed family property as a boon. Party offices became Dane of real estate promoters who found deal in property as easiest way to become overnight billionaires, so involved in such and all other types of gainful vicious activities that the entire people of West Bengal had thrown out them from 34 years of continuous parliamentary lordship of the state. NANO small car project of TATA, conceived in bad economics and bad politics, put last nails on their coffin, accursed by poor peasantry, once their backbone for coming and sustaining to power in first phase being en masse tortured conversely by perverted Left Front in last phase of state power.

The prominent kinds of terrorism in modern times by a state is on its own subjects who are civilians. This is done by colonial tradition in India by the state power using Police, Para-Military force like Central Reserve Force under the still in vogue act on sedition in order to suppress independence movement in British rule in several parts of India. Khudiram Bose aged only seventeen, Mangal Pandey, the leader of Sepoy Mutiny in Barrackpur were hanged for sedition as initial myrters of revolt against Brititish colonialist. While the rebel hermit Swami Vivekananda in Bengal inspired in armed struggle for Independence, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi of Gujarat educated in Law in Great Britain propounded idea of peaceful struggle. Cellular jail in Andaman is a standing memorial of state terrorism deporting armed freedom fighters to this British Concentration Camp akin to torture chamber of Adolf Hitler in Germany. State terrorism was at large used in the seventies in West Bengal in order to suppress the Spring Thunder, the youth movement inspired by China to idolize peasant movement as most deprived class among Indian population is farmers, unlike the Soviet Revolution in 1917 led by V. I. Lenin considering industrial workers as main protagonist of the classical Marxist concept that Proletariat had nothing to lose but chains while Russia had been industrialized under Capitalist Model at the material period under reference.

It is a most contradictory  history of Gujarat that M. K. Gandhi, an aboriginal son of that state propounded peaceful movement against all kinds of injustice either in riot or freedom movement, state terrorism of the worst kind on minority community has happened in recent times in nineties in  independent India, as a heinous state sponsored riot.

It is even the deployment of Military force in North Eastern India to unleash state terrorism under special act AFSPA prevailing for 15 years not yet lifted by long peaceful movement by the victims.

Abraham Lincoln said that in Democracy, government is of the people, by the people, for the people. India has the reputation to be called largest and longest uninterrupted Democracy (except days under Emergency promulgated by Mrs. Indira Gandhi in 1976) formed under British West Minister model. It has universal adult suffrage as a prime attribute. But what is happening in reality? Once a leader become an elected representative of Parliament at the apex level to Panchayet at the grassroot, he/she becomes enemy of the people. All institutions of Democracy have degenerated to become the brute power centre, in practice to become institutionalised centres of all kinds of oppression of the very people who have elected the leaders. Criminalisation of politics in India is almost complete so that most greedy elements of society are coming in politics in order to make a fortune of wealth in a sure fire method. So terrorism which is attributed to Autocracy, has become evil of Democracy. Everyday newspapers and audio-visual electronic media are reporting gross abuse of power by elected representative of people. All governments whether of left or right wing are torchering political opponents unleashing terror even on common people through extortion. The brutal treatment of under trial political prisoners reminds us of Concentration Camps of Adolf Hitler. People are at the receiving end of the state/political terrorism.

It appears though contradictory but essentially true that advancement of personal communication tools in mobile device segment has increased social alienation in man. Virtual reality is replacing the merits of   contact with actual reality. Too much of everything is bad is the case in point. The humanitarian aspect of our worldwide civilization has grown on the merit of intense social intimacy of human being .The standing evidence are the different global natural and social science societies which have although promoted international inventions and discoveries once promoted by royal sponsorship and subsequently by democratically elected governments. The talent of individuals has yielded better and faster results in institutions of likeminded men forming communities. The omnipresent Internet has destroyed the human contact which had been promoting checks and balances in promoting social commitment in human behavior. The growing social alienation promotes clouds in aggressive behavior amidst man being opposed to its instinct as a social animal. Men are puzzled by the dazzle of too fast technical progress and feeling more friendly to machines than men. So the advancement of artificial intelligence in Robotics in application of both manual and intellectual jobs is on its flipside reducing need of human contact to men. The eternal virtue of friendship is on the wane against time honoured tradition of friend in need is a friend in deed. The social fabric is crumbling under the subtle intention of the ruling class which always preferred models of divide and rule. Now modern device of technology is serving this purpose very effectively. Hence Stephen Hawking, the great British physicist has of late warned that too much advancement of artificial intelligence is calling doomsday of human being and is in effect most counterproductive. This is one contributory factor in promotion of terrorism in political degeneration of human society and its impact on human psyche. It is ironical but true that advancement in mass adored electronic instruments are more devastating in impact than much dreaded nuclear devices as the former is destroying human soul than later destroying human body.       

Back to Home Page

Jul 3, 2020