Fight Root Causes of Terrorism

Credibility of War Against Terrorism ?

 

 What happened on 9/11 to World Trade Center and Pentagon in the United States was a crime against humanity, an act of horrendous violence against all races and creeds. The international community must be united and determined in their efforts to bring those responsible to justice. But all such crimes, irrespective of the fact, who the perpetrators and the victims are, the place of occurrence etc, should be dealt the same way. If it is done on selective basis, just because the 'most powerful country on earth' is inflicted, it only sends wrong signals regarding the credibility of the intentions and encouraging more terrorism.

 

War not Against Individuals

 

 If nineteen well trained individuals were motivated to sacrifice their lives, for the cause or faith they believed, in the Boeing crashing of 9/11 and many more are lined up for similar acts, there is much more than involvement of a few individuals behind this activity. Therefore war against terrorism does not mean getting one or two individuals captured 'dead or alive', but it will have to be the fight against the root causes of terrorism, and the forces that create them.

 

 The Naxal extremist activities in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh could not be eliminated with the killings of Vempatapu Satyam and a few other leaders, Mainly because it all started based on an ideology they believed and against the exploitation of the highest order, then prevalent in the tribal and backward areas. When the people were deprived of their livelihood and exploited by the influential landlords & the middlemen, the administration was indifferent to their problems and nowhere to go, the sense of hopelessness & desperation crept into them.

 

Growing Inequalities

 

The growing inequality between the developed and the developing countries, the rich and the poor, stands out in the sharpest relief. In 1960, the richest 20% of the world's people absorbed 70% of global income and by 1989 the share of wealthy people had climbed to nearly 83%. The poorest 20%, meanwhile, saw their share of global income drop from an already meager 2.3% to just 1.4%.

 

Disparities in food consumption are revealing as well. As many as 700 million people do not eat enough to live and work at their full potential. The average African, for instance, consumes only 87% of the calories needed for a healthy and productive life. Meanwhile, diets in many rich countries are so laden with animal fat ,as to cause increased rates of heart disease and cancer.

 

 Moreover the meat intensive diets of the wealthy usurp a disproportionately large share of earth's agricultural carrying capacity, depriving the poor of their share. Many countries suffer from insufficient renewable fresh water supplies to meet the basic needs of the growing populations.

 

Disparities drive to Desperation  

 

 When there is so much of glaring disparity between the rich and the poor and the people are denied access to clean air, adequate safe drinking water and soil, to meet their basic human needs, we see the rise of a sense of deprivation, hopelessness, intolerance and hatred. The desperate people can resort to desperate solutions. Intolerance also has its role. It can, in the name of religion or ideology, fan the flames of hate and ignite a belief that terrorism is the only solution to a community's or nation's ills. As a result they may care little about themselves and the people they hurt.

 

Fight Root Causes & Forces that Create them

 

 Mr. Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP) said that "It is the forces of poverty, environmental degradation and hatred that give birth to the intolerance that can lead to fundamentalism and terrorist acts" He also said that while fighting against terrorism, we must also expose the forces that create poverty, intolerance, hatred and environmental degradation that can lead to an unstable world.