Today, one of the major problems that we are facing is that of terrorism. When we talk about terrorism, we need to understand that it is not the problem of a few but involving many. It is a worldwide problem. As we talk about India, we have been victim to many terrorist attacks. Hundreds of lives have been washed away with the blood of innocents by some people who consider this killing as their ‘religion’. Terrorism is a critical issue in the modern world and needs special attention to be tackled effectively and eficiently.
When I asked a 12 year old boy that what comes to his mind when he come across the word “police constable”, the answer was ‘hope and safety’. Isn’t this ironical, the people who are entrusted with the duty of safeguarding us are themselves the victim of terrorism. As I am writing this down I feel disappointed that the 14.9 percentage of total budget that is been allocated to the national security and for the safety of the individuals has come to sheer wastage.
Looking into the attack and incident of the Gurdaspur Attack, where 4 militants crossed the border passing the Ravi River and after planting the bomb on railway line, moved towards the police station and started firing on the population, the main target of the militants was the police station of Gurdaspur. The attack killed 7 individuals including the SP of the Punjab Police. This is one such incident which was aimed directly towards attacking the security officials. The Gurdaspur police station was the Taj of 26/11. Gurdaspur, a small city which could not hold such public attention for long, does not have any prevocational ability which Delhi, Mumbai, and many other metropolitan cities enjoy. The issue which then rises is that why militants chose this location and made an attack in Gurdaspur. If one ponders upon this, it can be realized that Gurdaspur is significant because it hearked back the old Sikh militancy to which Pakistan supported. It can be assumed that terrorists are now trying to spread their wings outside their ever favorite Jammu and Kashmir, so as to ensure that the militants can stop fighting and attacking Pakistan and can move their focus to India and Afghanistan.
A similar incident happened in the Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, where the attack had a similar eerie of Gurdaspur. Two heavily armed terrorists attacked the convoy of Border Security Forces (BSF) on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway at Udhampur thereby killing 2 army personnel and injuring 11 others. One militant was later caught and while interrogating him, it was found out that he originated from Pakistan. He also said that ‘he came to kill Hindus and it’s fun to do the killing’ which clearly depicts the mentality of militants. Attacking continuously on security officials and their camp sends a clear message an thereby must be taken as direct challenge that the militants want to prove that they are better than us or want to take us down at any cost.
These attacks pose a serious question that after investing a large percentage of the budget in the national security since independence, are we still not capable enough to stop these continuously penetrating cross border terrorism activities? With the dawn of 21st century, India has witnessed one of the most terrible terrorist attacks that shook the entire nation.
Let us leave aside the question of budgetary allocation and ponder the fact that why India is constantly being made a victim of such terrorist attacks time and again? We are shocked by a new attack till time we recover from an older one. Each attack that India has suffered has ended with causalities, and as a consequence, losing the nation’s blood. Still, effective measures to tackle this critical problem is still a far-fetched dream. When the 9/11 took place in USA, the security was increased to such a level such that no other 9/11 dared to see the light of the day in the States. They learnt from their mistakes but sadly, we didn’t and there is a long road that needs to be covered to reach the horizon.
When we talk about our borders, we have witnessed many attacks at the borders in which our protectors, that is our jawans, are the unfortunate victims. When it comes to the after-measures, our Government has most of times disappointed our martyrs, by not giving proper compensation or by learning from these incidents and ensuring proper and enhanced security measures. Our borders are so porous that they are breached time and again and we just carry on with our merry lives filled with tolerance without taking a proper stand. These attacks put forward a question to the Government of India, which has the responsibility of the nation’s well being, inefficient in protecting its citizen? When the protectors of our relam are not safe, how can we find peace in our sleep?
Now the question is about the measures that India needs to take to curb this problem. In order to curb something in our society, law is a crucial tool. So to tackle this problem, we need proper, tougher, anti-terrorism laws and policies with a proper implementation. With the technological developments, terrorists are gaining access to a plenty of modern weapons and machinery. But the protectors, our forces still struggle with the limited armories and are not equipped with such developed technology to tackle the terrorism efficiently.
India needs to respond to every militant attack seriously. India needs to take stringent actions for these attacks. Agonizing memories of the 26/11 Mumbai Blasts or the 1993 Mumbai train blasts, are still afresh in the minds and hearts of many who have outlived the incidents. India should take concrete steps in this matter and ensure to take this to the international platform where everyone should aid in the making of a strong constructive anti-terrorist law, especially for cross border terrorism activities so that no one can face another meeting with death. India showed a strong anti-terrorist policy while recently destroying the militant’s camps in Myanmar. This significantly shows when there is a need of strong action, India would be ready to take that with cooperation and trust of the relevant country. Working together in the fight against terrorism is not an easy path and India needs the support of her neighbouring friends and beyond, so that she can send a strong message to the terrorist groups across the borders that if they act against the nation, they will receive a befitting reply and face serious consequences for the same.
