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Tuesday, 28 October 2008 |
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Princeton university defines terrorism as “the calculated use of
violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to
attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature;
this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.”
Terrorism, however, does not achieve such objectives. Whether fueled by
political passion or by using religion as its scape-goat, the
principles of terrorism are blatantly common. A ‘threat’ to their
fundamentals has to first exist and in order to protect their ideology
from the ‘threat’, they must act.
The solutions any terrorist ideology comes up with are brewed up with
the same ingredients – violence, disruption and attacking civilians to
gain attention.
It is this ideology that flows through the veins of Al-Qaeda, the
Zionist state of Israel, the Hindutva ideology of BJP in India, and
other terror groups worldwide. Al-Qaeda sees the west and its influence
on Muslim lands a threat to Islam. Israel was believed to be formed due
to the ‘threat’ it perceived against Jews.
Proponents of the Hindutva see secular India – Indian Muslims and
Christians – as a ‘threat’ to Hinduism and ‘their homeland’. Bush
administration, used the ‘Al-Qaeda threat’ and the ‘WMD threat’ to
justify America’s attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq.
The ‘threat’ they talk about is sometimes real and sometimes created
for political objectives. Even if a possible threat to one’s ideology
or religion is perceived, violence and killing innocent civilians will
never give the solution.
The fundamental error such ideologues make is in the violent methods
they adopt. Only dialogue and a civilized approach will communicate
ideas, not violence. Terrorize a society, and it will never deliver
your objectives.
Religions, including Islam, do not advocate terrorist violence no matter what Al-Qaeda claims to the contrary.
The Saudi trials of terrorist suspects up ahead offer an opportunity to
debunk extremist interpretations and reaffirm Islam’s primary objective
of peace for all. An Editorial of the Saudi Gazette
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