The dawn of the 21st century has witnessed the rise of a most serious crisis in the form of global terrorism. Irrespective of their position, power, influence and progress, all nations across the globe have experienced the disastrous impact of terrorism.

India has been a particular victim of this form of warfare for at least the last four decades. In the backdrop of the growing and altering non-conventional and conventional threat perception and the metamorphosis of the world into a global village coupled with easier access to technology, today terrorism is one of the most challenging internal security threats that India is dealing with. 

The term ‘terrorism’ is exceedingly difficult to explain. A Chinese philosopher describes it as, “to kill one and frighten a thousand”. In simple words, “terrorism is the indiscriminate use of force to achieve a political aim”.

It involves committing outrageous acts in order to precipitate political change. Terrorism is also distinguished by its non-state charter even when terrorists receive military, political, economical and other means of support from states.

 The object of a terrorist act is to deliberately target the innocent with surprise use of violence. 

Terrorism in India has had a long and violent history going back several decades. But, in the recent past it has witnessed a series of strikes in many parts of the country.

The last decade has witnessed lethal strikes on the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001, synchronized series of attacks in the economic hub of India, Mumbai on 26 November 2008, and the bomb blast in the technology, educational and real estate hub of India, Pune on 13 February 2010.

Concept of Violence and Concept of Terrorism

Violence is as old as the history of mankind. In mythologies and legends it is presented as something linked to the beginning of history and always looked as deed of heroes. Historically, violence is considered as a “human phenomenon”.

Violence, as defined in the Dictionary of philosophy is “the illegitimate or (at all events) illegal exertion of force. Violence can also be defined as “the exercise of physical force so as to inflict injury on or cause damage to persons or property; action or conduct characterized by this, treatment or usage tending to cause bodily injury or forcibly interfering with personal freedom.” Violence poses a challenge for Law enforcement and also threatens the internal security of the country.

The Causes Of Violence Include:

• The frustration anger theory feels that the anger produced by frustration causes violence.
• Relative deprivation theory (Gurr, 1970) points out that deprivation are a spur to action.
• It is believed that a revolutionary outbreak of violence occurs when frustration due to lack of achievement manifests itself. They are often fueled by generated expectations that have failed.
• Some scholars talk about systemic frustration. This is experienced by societies as a whole. These frustrations lead to social change.
• Other scholars feel that lack of viable political institutions does not allow for control of violence particularly when there is social change. Traditional and modern societies are less prone to violence than transitional ones. Revolutions and insurrections are common in transitional societies.

All these theories are based on the postulate of stable political systems. They also root for stability rather than change. Moreover they do not deal with decolonization which is very important in the present context.

Though violence has existed within society from time immemorial, yet in recent years the emergence of the problem of terrorism has become a burning issue.

During the last three decades the problem of terrorism has increased manifold. Terrorism has been defined in several ways. In United States it is defined as “Those acts of violence or threat, aimed at a state of organization with the intention to damage its interests or obtain concessions from it.” Another definition is that ‘Terrorism is that threat of violence, individual acts of violence or campaign of violence designed primarily to instill fear to terrorize.”

Terrorism is an ancient practice. The terrorists using fear as the key have often been successful in manipulating and intimidating large numbers. The effects of violence are not usually predictable. Terrorists have various motives. They say their fight is against inequitable distribution of income. However most of them are little more than bandits and are in it for the spoils. It is also a way out of personal frustration. Some terrorists are also pathological cases deriving pleasure from killing innocent people like K030 Okamoto, the surviving terrorist of the Lydda Airport Massacre.

Terrorists use shocking and outrageous methods. One wonders what would happen if they get hold of nuclear weapons.

From the foregoing discussion it may be possible to term certain activities as terrorist activities. These are:

• use of threat or violence to commit murders, arson, hijacking, sabotage etc.;
• political motives behind an operation or act;
• to terrorize and coerce the government to achieve certain goals;
• select important targets, and
• They have no limits for their activities.

Causes and Patterns of Violence and Terrorism

Terrorism and violence are destructive social phenomena. They are caused by various interrelated social factors.

Causes

Deprivation leads to discontent among people and this when coupled with politicization leads to discontent which is expressed in the form of violence. Deprivation may be in the form of lack of opportunity for education, training, employment or lack of ways to meet physical or social needs. For example, if legal means for attaining jobs are not available, people may resort to smuggling of arms, trafficking in drugs etc. It these illegal activities are not controlled, other problems will creep in. Deprivation will be felt at different levels and a feeling that the political system is incapable of meeting the situation will arise. Deprivation is likely to lead to discontent. Discontent may be in the form of strikes, bandhs, demonstrations, morchas etc. If these methods do not invite the attention of the state there is very likely that nonconventional methods would be adopted. At times there is politicization of these demands. When that happens the due process of the law may be bypassed.

In a unequal society (divided by tribal, caste, class, religious or other cleavages), maldevelopment means unequal opportunities in the competition for jobs, services, educational and social facilities. These factors also aggravate groups and class conflicts and accentuate individual frustration. The regulatory laws and the provisions in the Constitution to prevent exploitation and any kind of discrimination have not been of much avail. The terrorist activities in Punjab, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and the Naxalites problem in Andhra Pradesh, adjoining Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are examples or perceived maldevelopment and people taking to arms.

When there are differences between the different segments of society violence may occur. This happens when they feel insecure or that they are being exploited by the other group(s). The killing of persons belonging to one segment by another brings out very clearly the ethnic nature of violence.

Patterns

During last three decades violence and terrorism have became major issues. The word violence has been used differently in different phrases like

• ‘violent crimes’ (physical assault or threat thereof)
• violence in the streets (provocation, demonstration, police violence, partisan counter-violence, internal war),
• Violence to self (suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction etc.),
• violence at the wheel (killing by vehicular ancients),
• violence in the media (a syndrome: news or fiction of violence stimulating further violence)
• Social violence (repressive to toleration).

Politics and Terrorism

A totalitarian state makes use of violence as a system of government. But a democracy resorts to it only selectively during a period of crisis,

Terrorism demoralizes the population of a region or state. In some instances however it serves as an integrating factor. However terrorism itself always invokes problems of law and order. Yet is it not capable of disrupting the entire social system. Terrorism is not a revolutionary movement and so far terrorists have not succeeded in fulfilling their aims. Terrorist killings do not change the structure of politics. However this is not to say that they have no effect on the social and political fabric. They do loosen it somewhat. Mechanisms have to be created to prevent acts of terror.

Individuals and groups take to violence when their legitimate demands are not met through legitimate means. For example when there is

i)     Corruption

ii)    Malpractices

iii)   Exploitation

iv)   Failure on the part of state to protect law-abiding citizens.

There is a likelihood of people taking to violence to fulfill their demands. When the use of conventional methods such as protests, dharnas, demonstrations, strikes, etc. become ineffective, then alone do the nonconventional methods for example murder, arson, looting of banks, personal property, kidnapping etc. are resorted to. This apart, terrorizing people and assassination of important persons follows.

Measures toDeal withViolence

A spurt in international activities by terrorists led to various conventions to tackle the problem. These conventions are:

• The 1937 Convention for the prevention and punishment of terrorism
• The 1971 Convention to prevent and punish acts of terrorism, crimes against persons and related extortion that are of international significance.
• The 1973 Convention on the prevention and punishment of crime against internationally protected persons including diplomats.

In the same year there was a European Convention on: (i) suppression of terrorism; and (ii) the 1979 International Convention against the taking of hostages. This apart there were conventions on air hijacking. They are:

• The Tokyo Convention, 1969
• The Hague Convention
• The Montreal Convention to tackle the problem of commission of offense on board, seizure of aircraft and it also includes offenses in air or on ground and permits the State to take action for preventing the offenses.