Reasons for Domestic Terrorism - Research Paper Example

 Reasons for Domestic Terrorism Introduction Terrorism in any form is dangerous to the integrity of a nation. In the modern scenario there is not a single nation that is free from the evils of internal or external extremism. All these problems were mainly attributed to the Muslim fundamentalists who believed in fighting the holy war against the Jews and their allies. But now-a-days the mushrooming internal extremists also pose potential threat to the security of many nations. America and India are the two nations that suffer mostly from domestic terrorism. The recent incidents indicate that internal extremist groups are gaining popularity among the locals. This paper will analyze some domestic extremist groups and their activities with some relevant examples from the present day world. While discussing the terrorism in the US, no terror attack was as devastating as the World Trade Center attack. However, the perpetrators who were arrested had malicious plans and intentions. They were not from any particular class or religion. To constitute these domestic terrorists there were some racial supremacists, anarchists, members of eco-terrorist groups, and people who had a strong disgust for huge corporations. After the enactment of the Patriotic Act in 2001, the American government started including internal extremism also within the definition of terrorism. The activities of the domestic terrorists were not felt until the bombing of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in which 168 innocent people lost their life. The Federal Bureau of Investigation categorizes the domestic terrorists into left wing, right wing, single issue groups and homegrown Islamic according to their mode of operation and the fundamentals they are focused on. Now no distinction is made between domestic and external threats. Terrorism is treated same way irrespective of its size or nature. The left extremist groups generally believe in a revolutionary socialist doctrine and consider themselves as the protectors of the common people against the “dehumanizing effects” of capitalism and imperialism. However, this left extremist groups declined as all the socialist countries started following capitalist principles. The activities of the right extremists began to be noticed in the late 80s. According to the reports of FBI (cited in Masters, 2011), these groups overtook the left wing extremist groups and are in the form of domestic terrorists and conservative special interest groups. Anti Abortionists and Eco Terrorists At times, the activities of the anti-abortion groups and eco-terrorists may seem to be justifiable for some who believe in ‘protecting the environment’ for future. But an important point to be considered is that no one is supposed to misinterpret the provisions of law to their advantage and act accordingly. Motivated by the concern for animals and environment they engage in acts of violence such as damaging properties of corporations in order to inflict economic loss once they think such corporations endanger the environment and animals. The members of these groups are generally college students or persons belonging to that age category who work individually or in small groups. According to the report of FBI, the damages caused by these internal terrorists exceed 110 million dollars since 1976. However, no cases have been registered as to some persons have been killed or injured in the attack by these extremists. Irrespective of the facts that they do not aim at killing people or they are struggling for a noble cause, their activities are condemned on the ground that everything they do is unlawful and punishable in the eyes of the law. So, they must be strongly disapproved. As per the reports (Ecoterrorism, 2005), in recent past a number of fast food restaurants were set on fire and car dealerships and housing developments were burned on behalf of environmental protections and animal rights. It is the Animal Liberation Front that is counted to be the extreme among various forums for animals in America. The ALF is opposed to any form of animal experimentation and the deemed mistreatment. The main aim of ALF is to rescue animals from the place of abuse and to inflict economic damage to those who indulge in harassing animals and profiting from the exploitation of animals. Apart from inflicting economic loss, ALF is even ready to claim responsibility for these actions. The first such operation of the ALF is reported to be in 1979 when some unidentified persons broke into the New York University Medical School and released five animals. There are 313 incidents of break-in; arsons and theft committed by this group have been reported by investigators from the time 1979 to 1993 (Ecoterrorism, 2005). Narco Terrorism Narco-terrorism is one type of terrorism which is spreading worldwide. In countries like America and India this phenomenon is more evident as compared to other countries. This new type of terrorism is not terrorism as such the name indicates. Since their intentions are vicious and they try to covertly attack the society, this group also is categorized under terrorists. The tactics of the terrorists are extensively used here to smuggle drugs to the northern part of America. The terrorist groups in collaboration with the Mexican drug gangs spread their business among the common people of America. As for India, it is the underground goons who with the support of the Mavoist extremist spread drugs and fake currencies to collapse Indian economy. Though they have external links, they are deemed to be domestic terrorists as their activities are confined within the territory of their home country. Reports (Indian Express Limited, Sep 2008 ) establish that 25% of the fund spent for terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir is generated by narcotic drugs trade. Though the master brain behind this is the spy agency of Pakistan, the activists are the frustrated Kashmiri Indian Muslim himself. So, this too is a kind of domestic terrorism with external support. It is not making money through drug traffic that matters but using this money for terrorism (‘ISI using ‘narco- money’ to fund terrorism in India’). Cyber Terrorism Another type of terrorism that is largely found in almost every nation is cyber terrorism. They carry out their operations not by using devastating weapons but by attacking the computer networks of their enemy country. Their aim is to infuse virus into the computers of agencies that have strategic importance and disable its functions or unauthorized retrieval of important data from the data bases of the agencies. Once the data have been retrieved they use it for their own advantage. If the computers of the large corporations are attacked this way, this may lead to economic depression in the country. The cyber attacks in Estonia, a small Baltic country, were typical examples for this. As Traynor (May, 2007) points out, the hackers’ main targets were the websites of Estonian presidency and its parliament, website of the government ministries, websites of the political parties and websites of big corporations and banks of the nation. Terrorists never want to stay idle. They keep trying to destroy whatever they can. The attempts of domestic terrorists are not often to cause damage to the people, but what they want is to channel public attention to what they are trying to profess. The recent New York Time Square car bomb attack and pipe bomb attack in Washington are example for their vengeance though both were futile. According to BBC (May 2010) report, the pipe bomb contained shrapnel to cause multiple injuries to the march that was supposed to be conducted in the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. These two improvised bombs which would have been fatal were defused successfully by police without any injury to a single person. If the opposite was happened hundreds would have lost their lives (“Car bomb found in New York’s Times Square”). Hindu Terrorism in India Hindu terrorism is one form of terrorism that is common in India. The Indian government and the intelligence agencies were bit dubious about their existence till recent times. The extremist groups were responsible for unleashing massive attacks on the Christians of the state Orissa in the year 2009-2010 in which 26 persons were killed and around 4500 houses and 147 churches were burned. Their attacks were even extended to the Hindus who had been sympathetic towards the sufferings of the Christians. The motive behind these attacks were some kind of religious supremacy and the fear of losing the majority position as the Christians missionaries were uplifting the downtrodden castes and classes of Orissa. According to Hazlett (2008), if such religious extremism is not tackled properly, the streets of India will witness religious riots for proving supremacy or nobility of a particular religion. As stated in the beginning, internal terrorism is one of the major impediments to the integration of a nation. Evidently, domestic terrorism is prevalent in the forms of regionalism, communalism, and linguism. Communalism Communal persons are those who practice politics through religion. These politicians are neither good Hindus nor good Muslims; rather they are those dangerous political scums. As f or them, God and religion are instruments for a luxurious life and attainment of political goals. The most vulgar forms of communalism are retaliatory, separatist, and secessionists. While separatists and secessionists demand a separate political identity and a separate state, the retaliatory communalists attempt to harm, injure, and hurt the members of other religious communities. In a disguised form such communalists exist even in America also. Regionalism and Racism Another form of domestic terrorism is regionalism and racism. It is the sense of affection and attachment for people who belonging to one’s own region and hatred for those who belonging to some other region. It led people to regard others from different places of the very same country as foreigners and aliens. There are arguments both for and against regionalism and creation of states. Some find nothing wrong in the division of geographical territory with definite boundaries, for, they believe it fulfills the democratic urges and facilitates political management and development of the nation as a whole. On the other end, others consider regionalism as a process of fragmentation and encouraging further fragmentation. Racism refers to the hatred towards the people belonging to other races. There are instances where people from other races were attacked by the people of a particular dominant race. Such extremism was visible in the US and South Africa a couple of years ago. Now a day, this is particular with Australians. For, there are many reports as to attacks against Indians in Australia. Number of Indians lost their lives on the assault of the mobs and hundreds were wounded. As per NDTV report (Sep, 2009), it is the students and taxi drivers who constitute the majority of the killed and the injured. Linguism Linguism is a problem that is common to countries having more than one language. In India, this problem is often found as each of its states has got its own language. The presence of many languages is not a defect in itself. But real problem starts when people begin fighting with each other on the basis of their language differences. When it becomes a pretest of tension between people speaking different languages, linguism becomes a grave matter. Reasons for Domestic Terrorism There are various reasons for the development and proliferation of domestic terrorism worldwide. The reason for the emergence of anti abortion groups were the profound increase in the rate of abortions in the US. So, naturally their threats were confined to those hospitals and doctors who conducted abortion. The reason behind the origin of eco terrorism was exceeding concern towards the environment and the creatures in it. They try to express their rage by inflicting loss to the cruelty doers. But other domestic extremisms like communalism, regionalism, and linguism have multifarious reasons for their development. Some of the important causes are; 1. Geographical causes The main cause of internal unrests is geographical. There are some essential differences in life style and culture between people living in one region and the other. The Maoists groups in India have emerged from the economic disparity caused by geographical differences. The poor have been marginalized to backward regions where nothing can be cultivated. The negligence of the political parties also adds fuel to the fire. 2. Psychological factors The psychological factors too have contributed towards the development of domestic terrorism. Some people want their region, class and religion to progress the most. This extra ordinary love for one’s own religion, class, and caste result in the hatred and disgust for other religion, class and castes. The attacks against Christians in India can be viewed in this regard. For, the fear of losing Hindu supremacy in the region was the main reason for such incidents. Social factors Some social factors also promote domestic extremism. Even today there are certain restrictions that hinder any profound relationships between various people. The factors like myths, legends, customs and traditions prevail in every society. As these factors are contradicting in each society there is a wide gap between the thinking patterns of the people of various societies. Since one society is not ready to assimilate with the culture and style of another, possibility for clash is frequent. Evidently, every person in a society is intolerant to the belief of others, only a few deviate from the normal course of social cohesion. Conclusion Terrorism in any form is not accepted by the modern nations. The government, judiciary, and the legislature are the supreme elements and everything must be within the control of the state. Every individual shall abide by the laws of his own land. It is a fallacy that radicalism or extremism would bring desired change. There must be more collaborated global strategy to counter terrorism committing more resources at all levels to meet the more sincere objective. The terrorists, except eco terrorists and anti abortion groups, who are in the disguise of humanity lovers are the most potential threat to the humanity. All the efforts of the extremists will lead only to the loss of manpower and resources. If the wasted resources of the terrorists are added up with that of the government it would contribute to the welfare of the whole nation. The two most suitable methodologies involve anti-terrorism and counter terrorism. Anti-terrorism aims at preventing terror acts from occurring while counter-terrorism focuses on scrutinizing and evaluating terrorist threats, as well as acts in response to terrorist attacks if they have been occurred. Government must carry out the resolutions beyond the conference table to make sure that freedom is granted to the citizens at political, religious, and at all spheres of life. To avoid social segregation and thereby domestic terrorism, government must also make sure that the country is secured with equality, stability, prosperity, tolerance, peace and unity. References “Attacks against Christians in Orissa lessening”. (Sept 2008). CNA: Catholic News Agency. Retrieved from http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/attacks_against_christians_in_orissa_lessening/ “Australia: 3 Indians attacked by mob of 80”. (Sept 2009). NDTV Convergence Limited. Retrieved from http://www.ndtv.com/news/diaspora/more_indians_attacked_in_australia.php “Car bomb found in New York’s times square”. (May 2010). BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8656651.stm “Ecoterrorism: Extremism in the animal rights and environmentalist movements”. (2005). Anti- Defamation League, Retrieved from http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/ecoterrorism.asp?learn_cat=extremism&learn_subcat=extremism_in_america&xpicked=4&item=eco> Hazlett, C. (Dec 2008). India’s ‘Other’ terrorism. Strategy Page. Retrieved from http://www.strategypage.com/militaryforums/72-21077.aspx “ISI using ‘narco- money’ to fund terrorism in India”. (Sept 2008). Indian Express Limited. Retrieved from http://www.indianexpress.com/news/isi-using-narcomoney-to-fund-terrorism-in/360540/ Masters, J. (Feb 2011). ‘Militant extremists in the United States’. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations/militant-extremists-united-states/p9236 Traynor, I. (May 2007). “Russia accused of unleashing cyber war to disable Estonia”. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/17/topstories3.russia Read More