Fear reigns supreme

The world is at war with itself. So turbulent is the time that hardly anywhere people feel secure. Human civilizations have perished time and again not so much because of exogenous reasons but because of their inherent suicidal tendencies. To perpetuate their superiority, when powers create ruthless, irrational and inhuman outfits in order to seize initiatives from their rivals, they create a Frankenstein unaware.

The turbulence facing the world at large is a creation of some Western powers. From Paris to Dhaka to Mecca-Medina to Nice the onslaughts have defied all rational analysis. The unsuspecting victims are not even remotely responsible for making Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria what these countries have turned into today. But they have paid the ultimate price. The manner of their falling victim is so unexpected and undesirable that people around the world cannot rule out meeting with similar fate anywhere anytime.

This is most galling. People cannot be normal, at the back of their head they are haunted by something potentially dreadful. Increased security measures in cities have failed to protect people's lives. Fear takes over the system of thought processing. People live in a stifling environment. Living long in such an abnormal atmosphere gives them phobia. Such is the maelstrom that it takes heavy toll on human psyche as well as the prized virtues such as liberty, compassion and justice.

What a loss for the mankind! When free minds should have thought creatively, they are worried about their own and dear and near ones' security. However much the governments everywhere may have tightened security and put in place monitoring of the bands of attackers, they cannot be assured. It is all because such measures are outsmarted and proven futile time and again.

Even under the best possible security blanket, the diabolically incited members of the feared outfits are capable of striking because they are ready to sacrifice their lives for the cause -albeit a heinous one. Security has been beefed up not only in Bangladesh but also around the world as part of a global initiative. Yet it fails to assure people that they can go on with their normal way of life. Business delegates cancel their travel and meetings, sometimes venues of high level bilateral and multilateral summits and conferences are shifted, scheduled matches or itineraries of sports teams have to be postponed or even cancelled.

Indeed, violence is everywhere but it is the unpredictability of the sinister attacks that have proved too much for nerves of common people. France in particular has exposed its vulnerability to such attacks, although no nation including the United States of America is immune from those. Attacks on the 110-floor Twin Towers in New York and Pentagon in Virginia, believed to be conducted by Al-Quaeda, is a proof of the organising abilities of such terror outfits. Their malevolence too is beyond measure and they apply the same with ruthless single-mindedness.

They succeed mostly because they could not care less for their own lives. It is this carefree attitude that gives them an edge over the law enforcement agencies, the members of which have to take care of their own lives as well as those of the public. They bank on the element of surprise too. It is because of this, they want to catch vigilant teams off guard. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the patterns of their attacks are more or less same. But in countries not directly involved in war or beyond their territorial range, they send small groups on a mission of surprise attacks.

It is because of this, they are now ubiquitous without being so. They have been able to serve their main purpose -cause a fear psychosis in minds of the public. People are no longer free to go for shopping without a premonition. Participation or attendance at parties, cultural or other social functions too are not free from such premonitions. Such get-togethers could be arranged without any provision for security in the past but no longer. Fear grips people's minds whenever they come out of their homes in cities and towns.

This cannot be an ideal living style for people. If check points are everywhere, the arrangement may be welcome but it not only slows down the pace of life but also extinguishes the vitality of life.