Defining Terrorism

SHARMILA BOSE
Phone – 9811915670
Email.: bosesharmila@rediffmail.com


9th December, 2008

The Prime Minister of India
New Delhi

Kind Attn. : Dr. Manmohan Singh

Sub : Defining ‘Terrorism’

Dear Sir,

This is in continuation to my various write-ups on different socio-political issues, as committed I am giving my thoughts on the said subject.

While explaining ‘Democracy’ I had analysed two major regimes of human society, i.e. regime of power and regime of law. Terrorism is a tool to impose power. Power signifies subjugation and it is realized by force or massacre. So, instead of explaining terrorism, I would like to classify terrorism.

1. Terrorism as religio-economical polity
2. Terrorism in domestic strategy
3. Terrorism in foreign policy

Terrorism is often linked with a religion in the present world. Islam holds the allegations as a religion related to massacre. But claiming this, which has some basis footing, needs to be understood historically. The history of Islam comes with the prosperous Meccan Trade in the Arabian region. Monopoly in the trade route and prosperous with the trade and the pilgrimage of Meccans ‘Ka’ba’, made other clan members of the said region to accommodate themselves with their religious bounding to have ‘smooth trading’. Meccan in return took toll tax towards usage of the route and submission to their belief against which they gave them the protection for safety. The said trading activates led to enhancement of free trade or laissez-faire.

The laissez-faire created economical differentiation. Many clans started perishing due to the heavy competition and those clans who were enriched became irresponsible, lavish and selfish towards their responsibilities. Prophet Mohammad was amongst those clans that deteriorated due to laissez-faire and free trade market. Realising the cause of deterioration, Prophet Mohammad declared himself as a messenger of the God Allah and tried to accumulate people under the umbrella of Allah to fight against rich and lavish traders of Mecca. The accumulated clans were termed as Muslim. Aallah became the source of law and the fabric that bound Muslim and Allah was given a brand ‘Islam’. Defeating the powerful and equipped clan of Mecca by a small group of Muslim under the leadership of Prophet Mohammad indicates that the mission of egalitarian society have been paved. The governance of Muslims became the law of Islam. Hence Islam was the community of Traders. Why Islam is egalitarian? Because, Muslim, the clan members were not cultivator but only trader. Where there is cultivation or production there is always a division of labour or structural hierarchy.

While analyzing the features of the traders I find that the community of traders are the closed community. It is similar, the way we have Baniya community in India. They are confined to themselves and they are not comfortable in associating with other communities but for the trading. If we analyse the two communities i.e. Muslims and Baniyas of India, we will find their social structure (conservation) are the same.

Traders are basically expansionist by nature, since their existence is through procurement and selling and finding new avenues. The rise of colonial expansion when the Arabs captured the trade route of Europe, the European countries looked and explored towards Asian markets.

Traders have a very strong community bond. This bond is not because of love and affection towards their clan members, rather it is because they are very unsecured by nature. Sense of instability push for violence and further crave for power. The security crises come in a community when they have nothing to cultivate, produce or create. In other words, those who cultivate, produce or create are progressive in nature and hence are liberals. Whereas, the community who are traders as market, brokers and speculators and are only focused on profits, are closed and communal. Their survival is only possible on the survival of their community. For example, the advocacy of Hindutva and the communal ideology is backed by the traders’ community. The Muslims who are non-traders are not communal. (My next paper will evaluate in ‘multiculturalism and identity crises’ that why the community called Muslims are the victims of the ‘generalisation in tune of terrorism’. This will also include why the Hinduism is known as caste hierarchy, and it will also discuss why the ‘reservation policy’ could not benefit to the segment it has addressed to.)

Hence I visualize terrorism is an intra-community conflict. The blasts in the retail markets like Sarojini Nagar Market, Karol Bagh and others in the eve of Diwali seconds my analysis of Intra-community violence. I preview it as conflicts between Markets and Malls where the community get victimized and terrorized, since the community is the ultimate buyer. Attack on World Trade Centre in USA signifies conflict in trade communities.

Historically, nomadic communities were the traders and hence they were conquerors. Either they plundered the wealth or the created their dynasty. Presently, the evolution of society made the nomadic community focused on trade monitoring. The terrorist groups such as LeT or SIMI in the domestic scenario are only the groups that are defacto military to capture, mobilize and control the market. This was done in a similar way when Portuguese, French or British traders approached South Asian countries for the search of market, they used military for the sustainability of their trade in the continent. The two World Wars were the consequence of the intra-traders conflict. Earlier Arabs (ancient and medieval period) had control on the market. The blocking of European trade route by Arabs let Europeans trades to invade the South Asian market. After the two Great Wars, the USA and USSR created market for the sale of weapons. That was termed as Cold War. After the Cold War and disintegration of USSR, USA became hegemony in the world trade.

The laissez-faire or liberalism-privatisation-globalization has paved the way of exploring new market in the post Cold War period. This is countered by the Arab societies and hence paved the way in the form of jihad in the World scenario in the name of Islam. Why it is jihad termed as massacre, because it is war against inequality of division of resources and economy. Where one segment of the world is progressing high and others are destitute and hunger. When ever there will be an unequal growth, there will be jihad is the philosophy of the Arabian society.

Chemical weapons, modern ammunitions, suicide attackers, high jacking are the technique, tools, strategies and patterns of trade control. Today trade is not selling or buying of goods or services (they are rather termed as ‘import-export’ and ‘outsourcing’ respectively), rather trade is termed as speculation, manipulation and appropriation of the Market and terrorism is a tool to realized and control the trade. Hence, I define terrorism is an ‘artificial calamity’ created by the ungoverned economy.

After defining terrorism as religo-economical polity, I get into the domestic strategy towards classifying the terrorism. The nomadic troops like SIMI, Indian Mujahuudin and so on are only tools of defacto regime. They are mainly used for the purpose of political conflicts amongst different political clans for the political benefits. They are the contractual military who are used for the political and economical gains. Bombs, firing and massacre are the strategy and tools of the battle. These nomadic groups are diversifying in other sectors as well.

The third classification of the terrorism is the foreign policy. India is surrounded by the countries that have weak economy. These neighbouring countries are often become tools of the major power towards the weakening the regional power. Hence India gets victimized either on fake currency or the human trafficking such as prostitution. The invasion in the family system by the prostitutes of neighbouring countries lead to break-up and shattering of the families that leads to weak society. Weak society leads to weak country. Fake currency circulation leads to economical disturbance. I term these as passive terrorism. There are two approaches towards it, one, to share your growth with yours neighbours or to have a separatist policy.

Why India is vulnerable to terrorism, because, India is not a country but a civilization. The said civilization stood united in diversity since ages. The society with numerous languages, culture, tradition, religions could survive only because it is not a country but a civilization. The enriched cultures of the civilization allow every sector to grow sustainable. That is why since the ancient time, India has been the home of all the culture and deepened their roots historically. Secular is not an ideology, but a way of existence in a civilized community. There is no space for communalism in the creative, intellectual and spiritual community like India. Such a rich civilization needs to be governed by the law not power. In such governance, Community should have direct access to the Authority, i.e. ‘direct democracy’. Whether, it is trade or indigenous governance or international relation only rule of law, i.e. dejure governance is the only solution towards combating terrorism.

With best regards,

Yours faithfully,



(SHARMILA BOSE)