Rameshwar Singh Jamwal
The recent massacre of more than a thousand innocents by Hamas in Israel and the subsequent ongoing offensive by Israel, leading to death of hundreds of other civilians, and the possibility of the conflagration flaring up further with involvement of more Islamic countries and possible involvement of US in the war portends ominous signals not only for the residents of the region but will affect millions all across globe. India, which has high stakes in stability in the region and having good relations with all stake holders has to walk the tight rope with caution, where there will be litmus test for the diplomacy of Indian government. Can India, offer its good offices to prevent further damage to human and other losses and also succeed in convincing the world about the immediate need to tackle terrorism and help in bringing smiles to millions from both sides, and prevent such disasters from occurring in future will further enhance India’s reputation as a serious global player. It will also help in tackling the monster of terrorism in the sub continent but will require concerted efforts from the mandarins from different ministries and the direct involvement and super vision of Indian Prime Minister, who while speaking in Parliaments Speakers Summit (P-20) had highlighted the issue of differences in perception of many countries, about terrorism and the need to have a uniform definition and uniform means to tackle it. It may be highlighted that The United Nations Security Council in its resolution 1566(2004), had stated that:
“Criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act, which constitute offences within the scope of and as defined in the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical ,ideological ,racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature, and called upon all states to prevent such acts and if not prevented, to ensure that such acts are punished by penalties consistent with their grave nature”.
Similarly Security Council Resolution 1373(2001) had noted a close connection between international Terrorism and Transnational organized crime, trafficking in illicit drugs, money laundering, illegal arms trafficking and illegal movement of nuclear, chemical and biological and other potentially deadly materials. It had also noted that terrorist groups have established operational, logistical and financial links with other criminal groups and support each other.
But we failed to recognize the importance of these resolutions and the immense benefits which would have accrued if the same had been adopted by all member states. I remember that in 2005, when I got the opportunity to speak in Bangkok in the Plenary session of 11th United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime conference, where world leaders from more than 163 countries were listening, I had spoken about the need to tackle the menace at war footing and had brought to the knowledge of world leaders that incidents of terrorism had brought two nuclear powered nations, India and Pakistan to the brink of war several times and the same can happen in other countries, but the Western world had not realized the gravity of the issue and then 9/11 occurred and the perceptions and needs changed. But the Islamic world is still living in an illusion that it will not be affected by the scourge which is meant to devour only the others and they seem to be living in a make believe world. For the last few decades, tentatively more than a million Muslims have been killed in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebnon and many other Muslim countries, due to acts of terrorism. It has also caused huge financial loss to the economies of those countries due to the problem of terrorism with Syria alone losing more than fifty percent of its GDP and the rest of countries affected by it losing more than 10% of their GDP. This translates into Billions which money could have been used for alleviating poverty in Pakistan or many African countries, where Islam is the main religion. But they have not learnt any lessons from it and many still continue to tread this path of death and destruction.
In these trying situations, we should not be caught napping. Besides acting diplomatically and helping the return of peace, we must also brace up for the possible impacts of the problem on our country. There will be impact on our relations with many countries in the region, and on our economy if, oil prices shoot up. The India- Middle East- Europe Economic (IMEC) corridor will get delayed, all possible outcomes of G-20 meets and UN Sustainable Goals will become difficult to be achieved in the time frames set up for them, compounding the problems of those nations which would have benefitted from these and there will be realignment of international forces and many unimagined consequences at different levels, which require to be foreseen and strategies need to be devised for such eventualities.
We need not remind the perpetrators and their sponsors that acts of Terrorism cause more loss of life, destruction and damage in the areas, where they operate. The human cost of terrorism is very high and it threatens human security and has a devastating effect on development of the regions where ever its foot prints are strong. The lethality of terrorist acts is on the rise and terrorist threat creates unprecedented dangers. The international community understands the grave dangers of terrorism and has been trying to match the response by different means yet the regimes and the sponsors of such inhuman acts need to understand that the collateral damage of response is much more painful and devastating than the sadistic satisfaction of seeing your perceived enemies in agony after such incidents. If such countries need some technical assistance, face difficulty in devising mechanisms, training officials, funding or other means, there are international bodies to assist but the change of heart, thinking mechanisms and will power to change cannot be brought by outsiders, this has to come from within and for that Indian Philosophy can be the game changer and all that we need to do at the moment is to let the world understand that our slogan of ‘Vasudev Kutumbkam’ (World is one family) is not an empty rhetoric but our sincere commitment to bring positive change in the destiny of nations and the sufferings of billions.
(The author is practicing Advocate of
J&K High Court).