These Muslim invasions were not undertaken merely out of lust for loot or conquest. There was another object behind them. The expedition against Sind by Mahommad bin Qasim was of a punitive character and was undertaken to punish Raja Dahir of Sind who had refused to make restitution for the seizure of an Arab ship at Debul, one of the sea-port towns of Sind. But, there is no doubt that striking a blow at the idolatry and polytheism of Hindus and establishing Islam in India was also one of the aims of this expeditions”
– Dr B R Ambedkar, PAKISTAN OR THE PARTITION OF INDIA, P. 35
W hen Bharat is finding its own ways to fight the state-sponsored terrorism from across the border and trying its best to build a consensus on defining and tackling terrorists, a new debate has shaped up globally. In the month of March, Christchurch in New Zealand had seen a ghastly attack on a mosque killing at least 50 people, largely Muslim refugees. Within a month, a deadlier attack is witnessed in Sri Lanka, targeting luxury hotels and churches, that also on the Easter Sunday, killing more than 400 individuals.
Though the Islamic State has claimed the responsibility of the attack, a local group called the National Thowheed Jamath is considered as the main executors. This is believed as the revenge attack in response to the Christchurch terror strike by a few white supremacists. Sri Lanka has earned the peace after a long civil war and is capable enough to tackle with the situation. Bharat as a nation has always stood by the neighbours in such a difficult situation and will continue to do so. What is important is the way the debate about the contrasting responses to two different terror attacks are discussed, we need to openly discuss the deliberate on the ‘Jamaat-E-Terrorists’ and different layers of the ecosystem that nurtures this Jamaat.
Firstly, we have to accept that this Jamaat does not consist of a senseless, directionless, poverty-stricken, uneducated youth. They are well educated and well to do individuals, inspired by a fundamentalist religious thinking that essentially believes in converting the entire world in the same faith. There is a clear politico-religious ideology and modus operandi to this. The training and execution have sophisticated patterns that allow to reinvent them with the changing times and technology. Sadly, we refuse to identify them and therefore, we see a different kind of responses to various terrorist attacks. When a demographic Jihadism is considered as a threat by some whites, then it is termed as Islamophobia, but at the same time, the Kafirophobia that inspires so many radical organisations is not even named.
Then there is a second payer to this Jamaat that works unconsciously to support these radical elements. In the name of charity or religious brotherhood, these people always remain in ghettos of insecurity. They do not participate or support violence but indirectly find the fundamentalist basis of terrorism justified.
Remember, this Jammat is not isolated, and the third layer is perhaps the most dangerous. Dilution in the anti-terror laws or demeaning/demoralising armed forces that are fighting against the terrorists is a part of the same Jamaat. They will use legal instrument and intellectual might to either protect terrorists or project them as poor, exploited human beings. Distorting history and discarding evidence to glorify blatant acts of terrorism has been a common practice of these intellectual elements of the Jamaat. They will shed crocodile tears, manage media, and even justify branding someone as terrorist or fascist without an iota of evidence to save the real terrorists.
All these layers have been working together all over the world. Entire South Asia and especially Bharat are the classic working grounds for the same. Though visionaries like Dr Ambedkar clearly identified the inventions of such thinking with authentic documents and cautioned about it, we neglected that. Unless we accept that the idea of Caliphate or Christiandom is at the root of all kinds of violence, we will not be able to address the roots of terrorism. Now with New Zealand and Sri Lanka blasts have provided us with another opportunity to discuss the roots of this Jamaat-E-Terrorist who believe in denying even right to exist to who do not believe in their faith. Cautioning the unconscious supporters and exposing intellectual perpetrators is equally important to ensure peace.
@PrafullaKetkar
