Weary Of The Horror
~ A blog for Anti-Terrorism Day by: Samidha Gupta
“We, the people of India, having abiding faith in our country’s tradition of non-violence and tolerance, hereby solemnly affirm to oppose with our strength, all forms of terrorism and violence. We pledge to uphold and promote peace, social harmony, and understanding among all fellow human beings and fight the forces of disruption threatening human lives and values.”
This anti — terrorism pledge is taken by every government office, public sector undertaking and public institutions on 21st may every year. This day is to alleviate terrorism, promote unity among all and to bring harmony. The objective behind observance of this day is to wean away the youth from terrorism and violence, to show them the suffering of common people and as to how it is prejudicial to the national interest.
It was on this day in 1991, our former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, a horrid act of terror which shook the entire nation. This act was carried out by a member of Liberation of Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE), a suicide bomber; who took lives of approximately 16 innocent civilians apart from the PM’s. His mother, Indira Gandhi, the first woman Prime Minister of India, Mahatma Gandhi, John F Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and many more were also similarly assassinated.
Since then India has still not seen relief from terror acts. A convoy of vehicles transporting Indian security personnel on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway were assaulted by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber near Lethapura in the Pulwama district of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on 14th February 2019. The attacker, Adil Ahmad Dar, a native Kashmiri youth from the Pulwama district, was murdered along with 40 Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)officers. The Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack. India blamed Pakistan for the incident, but Pakistan condemned it and denied any involvement. The incident shattered India-Pakistan ties, resulting in the 2019 military standoff between the two countries. Indian investigations found 19 people to be responsible. The primary accused, along with six others, had been killed by August 2021, and seven others had been detained.
More recently, during an anti-insurgency operation in the tribal-dominated central Indian state of Chhattisgarh on 3rd April 2021, security troops from the Central Reserve Police Force’s elite CoBRA unit, the District Reserve Guard, and the Special Task Force were ambushed. When Indian security forces raided a rebel hideaway in a highly forested area of Bijapur district based on military intelligence, fighting erupted. At least 22 Indian security officers were killed and 30 others were injured in a four-hour ambush by Maoist rebels in the border Sukma area, 540 kilometres south of the state capital Raipur. The militants, who had also incurred wounded, had taken the weapons of the fallen soldiers. Later, a search operation was conducted to locate one missing soldier.
Many incidents have been recorded for years but somehow everyone points in one direction i.e. religion, when it comes to terrorism. A group doesn’t work on religion but on an ideology, a strong faith or belief, which they feel is in danger and in need of protection. To make themselves feel protected, they tend to use violence (attacks and bombings) hurting everyone around. To gain a voice and a platform for the weak, these groups tend to take drastic steps which they feel are necessary and right.
In greed of food,shelter and/or money, many organisations gather children and put them to work. From a young age, the elders of such groups teach these children their beliefs, not giving them space to form their own thoughts of what’s wrong or right. Since they only have been taught their RIGHT TAKE on worldly issues, the voice inside those innocent children become so strong that radical steps are encouraged when they grow up. They volunteer and sacrifice their life in order to do what they think is correct.
A single act of terrorism can cause a massive impact on people, on the city itself, which makes it imperative to spread information and awareness on such cogent issues. Terrorism has no religion. It impacts every caste, sex, religion, no matter what or where you belong from, the trauma stays with the person forever.
This day signifies the need to avoid getting sucked into the vortex of terrorism. It is crucial for this day to promote brotherhood and practices of national integration. This day should be a reminder to every generation, a reminder to not deviate from the path of making their country proud and better for the future.
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