Terrorism

Ram Prasad Bismil said:

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai,Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mein hai.

Waqt aane par bata denge tujhe ae aasmaan,Hum abhi se kya bataayen kya hamaare dil mein hai.

Kheench kar laayi hai sab ko qatl hone ki umeed,Aashiqon ka aaj jamghat koocha-e-qaatil mein hai.

Ae shaheed-e-mulk-o-millat main tere upar nisaar,Ab teri himmat ka charcha gair ki mehfil mein hai.

Ab na agle walwale hain aur na armaanon ki bheed,Sirf mit jaane ki hasrat ab dil-e-Bismil mein hai.

Rang De Basanti said:

To The Mahal Of The Taj

To The Minar Of Qutub

To The Kumari Of Kanya

Say Hoi Oh Hoi

To The Panjim Of Goa

Say Hoi Oh Hoi

To The Kaancheepuram

Zindabad Zindagood

All Have Something To Say

Say Hoi Oh Hoi

They All Have Something To Say

They All Have Something To Say

So, what is terrorism?

While the French reign of terror is known to be the very first instance of terrorism, there are examples from 1^st century AD. The Sicarii. During the Jewish-Roman war, the Sicarii were known to kill those Jews who conspired with the Romans.

They did not attack directly but with stealth. They draw this name because they carried a weapon called the Sica. Now, Rome had forcibly occupied Judea, so, were they terrorists or were they revolutionaries?

Bhagat Singh and co. were also deemed terrorists by the British, but were they?

Now, what was the French reign of terror? The French reign of terror was a period of state violence by the revolutionary Govt. Yes, we used terror and revolution in the same sentence. So, who is terrorizing whom and who is revolting against whom?

However, today, terrorism no longer seems to be grey, it wears a different garb. I have had personal close brushes with terrorism in the form of family and friends. I was born in 1989 but couldn’t have been. Death dangled at my dad’s door in 1984. Durin the anti-Sikh riots post the assassination of Indira Gandhi, my father was hiding in the bank with his friends who were all Sikhs. One of his friends had gotten engaged and was unable to procure sweets. Since my dad wasn’t a Sikh, he volunteered to buy sweets. He brought them, they distributed it and he left the vicinity.

News spread that my dad had distributed sweets to celebrate Indira Gandhi’s death. People were looking for him. Post the weekend, when he came back, a well-wisher told him not to go home because people were looking for him. He hid at a friend’s place.

During the 7/11 train blasts, he was in the same compartment where the bomb was planted. When the ATS came to our house, they were surprised that he had survived such proximity to the bomb. He had fainted because a current passed through his body and when he woke up, he slid from the gap from the train’s side wall that had blasted open.

We were amidst chaos. He didn’t have a fan and we had just shifted so we didn’t even have cable. We were calling from the neighbor’s phone to different hospitals to see if my dad was there. It was chaos.

He was scrambling for an auto or a taxi home but nobody was willing to take him. One guy told him his face was bloodied and full of shrapnel and that he should visit a hospital before trying to get home. He went to Bhabha hospital and got himself treated and came back home. Honestly, me and my sister were too shocked to even hug him.

During 26/11, my college, located in South Bombay was closed. My teacher saw the terrorist moving around right from her window. How scary must that have been?

So, yes, these instances are clearly an act of terrorism. Militants. Anti-state elements. However, is terrorism related to Islam? Isn’t it more nuanced than that? Bhagat Singh was fighting for his country. Sicarii were fighting for Judea. The French revolutionaries were fighting for France. And the Islamists are fighting for Islam. So, when do lines between Nationalism, Religion and Identity blur and acts of terror are termed as revolution or vice-versa.

The 10^th Standard CBSE text book starts with the following lines –

As you have seen, modern nationalism in Europe came to be associated with the formation of nation-states

What does this mean? It means that people stopped looking at themselves as belonged to a certain kingdom and started belonging to a nation. For instance, they now looked at themselves as French, Italian, German etc. rather than belonging to a certain King’s rule.

Yet, what does European Nationalism have to do with India? Why is it in the 10^th CBSE textbook? While the idea behind it is to unite and fight against the British rule, is it not a hint towards fragmentation of regional identity towards building Nation states? Just like the Europeans became French, German and Italian; the Indians will become Gujarati, Maharashtrian, Marwari etc.

I happened to start this write-up with the mention of Rang De Basanti because that is what patriotism looked like back then. It wasn’t about a Hindu Rashtra or ass-licking of the Government. It was about starting a revolution that questioned the system as a whole. Today, films like Dhurandar, Kerala Stories, Kashmir Files are called patriotic. They are following the formula of Muslims are bad, Hindus are good. It would take a whole other write-up to clarify the discrepancies in Dhurandar, so, I will just reference this one -

https://frontline.thehindu.com/columns/durandhar-strongman-cinema-and-indian-political-mythmaking/article70619817.ece

The Kerala Stories movie shows facts at the end which are egregiously incorrect. While I was unable to locate the exact number, only 100-200 women have joined ISIS from Kerala; not that it is correct and they should join, the movie ought to be made and ideological brainwashing does need stopping. However, exaggerating the story to show how Muslims are bad and trying to convert the whole country whilst Hindus are right and innocent. Hinting towards how secularism itself is wrong.

I would also like to point out that while watching the movie, my mother said Muslims live in Muslim areas so that they can easily carry out illegal activities. Actually, an incredibly large number of people do not let Muslims live in their societies. So, unless a Muslim has a ridiculous amount of money, they are forced into those Muslim areas. Does this give them ease of carrying out illegal activities? A loaded question that needs its own research.

It would not be right to not point out the unfairness towards Sindhis. 1.4 million Sindhis had to flee, yes flee, their homeland and become stateless in 1947. 1,50, 000 Kashmiri Pandits fled from their own homeland. Both stories of refugees. One is told with a passion towards Hinduism, the other, ignored. What is the agenda here?

Rang De Basanti clarifies how terrorists can often be revolutionaries. So, does the story of Bhagat Singh. However, these movies seem to be a movement towards slowly recruiting Hindu terrorists. Yes, one could argue it was gaining the Hindu vote bank or creating an Indian version of Nazi Germany, but are the two different?

While terrorism comes across as an act of violence, and it is, the violence is acted upon in order to protect community, nation, religion as an identity. The terrorist does not look at it as an act of violence but as a noble cause of martyrdom towards his people. Now, how has this feeling been invoked within him?

Isn’t cinema a good starting point? Is terrorism solely practiced by Muslims? The Samjhauta Express Bombing and the Ajmer Sharif Dargah Bombing in 2007 say otherwise. The Lords Resistance Army and the 2011 Norway Attacks by Anders Behring Breivik also suggest otherwise. The Christian organization, Army of God, is identified globally as a terrorist organization. Even, a religion as pure as Sikhi is not free of Militancy. Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) are designated as terrorist organizations by several countries, including Canada, the UK, and the US and one may debate this but one cannot look away from the Bombing of the Air India flight in 1985 that killed 329 people.

Now, neither the mosques, nor the temples, nor the churches or fire temples or Gurudwaras actively teach terrorism. In fact, a madrasa is an Islamic educational institution that primarily teaches Arabic language, the Quran, Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad), and Sharia (Islamic law). While they focus on theological studies, many also include general secular subjects like mathematics, history, and science. So, as popularly believed that Madrasas are breeding grounds for terrorists and also represented in many movies, is not true. Yes, some of them may be indeed breeding grounds for brainwashing young people into militant camps; but the question here is, how does one truly differentiate between the two?

A lot of liberals argue that the RSS is a terrorist organization but they conduct various activities for its volunteers such as physical fitness through yoga, exercises, and games, and activities that encourage civic awareness, social service, community living, and patriotism. However, nobody as of now recognizes RSS as a terrorist organization, not even the UN. However, are they preparators of violence; they are. Moreover, nobody recognizes a Madrassa as a terrorist organization either.

Do they teach terrorism practically in extremist churches? Also, no. However, militant camps are known to breed terrorists, nobody is questioning it. A simple Google search will tell you,

Militant and terrorist training camps teach a blend of physical, ideological, and tactical skills designed to transform recruits into combatants. Recruits undergo rigorous psychological conditioning. This includes intense religious or political education, memorization of texts, and lectures designed to demonize enemies and justify violence, including suicide missions. Trainees learn guerrilla warfare tactics, including how to operate in small units, ambush military convoys, plant mines, and survive in harsh terrain. They are given weapons training on small arms (such as AK-47s), machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Advanced recruits receive training in specialized areas like bomb-making, handling explosives and poisons, secure communication, target reconnaissance, and urban combat.

Now, while the Militant camps are obvious, do the other religious organizations not teach us vs them? Muslims good, the rest are not people of God. Hindus good, everyone else bad. Christians favored by God and hence, special. I am not answering, I am asking. Is this not it?

I will leave you with the definition of Propaganda –

Terrorist propaganda is the strategic use of violence, media, and digital messaging by extremist groups to instill fear, manipulate public opinion, and recruit followers. It treats acts of terrorism as "propaganda of the deed," where the horrific nature of the act itself is designed to amplify the group's political message.