Addressing the rising terrorism
Thursday, 5 March 2009
THE attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team by terrorists on Tuesday is a glaring proof that terrorism, today, poses a very great threat to normal life and living in varying degrees in many parts of the world. But the region, South Asia (SA), to which Bangladesh belongs, is uncomfortably acquiring distinction as the epicenter of international terrorism. Only months ago, one of India's major cities, Mumbai, was the target of large scale mindless killings, bombings and arson by terrorists. Not a day seems to pass in neighbouring Pakistan without some kind of terror incidents leading to loss of life and properties of innocent people. The stirring of the same malevolence has been noted in Bangladesh during the past few years. Only the results of investigations can establish whether the recent incidents of gruesome murders of army officers at the BDR's headquarters in Dhaka were also inspired or directed by a terrorist network or not.
Thus, the rise of terrorism as a common security threat in SA needs early and ample recognition by the peoples and the leaders of the region. Particularly, after the unprecedented and most unconscionable firing at Sri Lankan cricketers at Lahore, the issue should now become the unavoidable collective concern of governments in the region. The World Cup of cricket stands threatened as a result and the playing of World Cup matches in the South Asian countries, has been thrown into some sort of uncertainty after this unprecedented attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team.
Not only SA would be avoided for sports and games, internationally, as a repercussion of the rising terrorism but also the vital tourism industry, international trade and investments in the region could also nosedive as a result. Already, signs to that end are discernible. The same could become even more pronounced if the governments in the region fail to weld together programmes, individually and collectively, to face up to the terror networks. A proposal was made from the Bangladesh government sometime ago that SA should have some united institutions and capabilities to fight terrorism. It did not probably have so much of appreciation at the outset. For example, high level visitors to Bangladesh pointed out that some non-institutional mechanisms already exist for the SA countries to collaborate in this area. What was needed, in their view, was more willingness on the part of governments in the region to be truly resolved to take stern action against terrorists within their jurisdictions. This insight, no doubt, is not a flippant one. But one also may ask, in light of the current rising terrorism incidents in the region, whether a more formal platform on the issue shared by the region's governments should now be floated as a response.
The governments in the region can certainly deal better with terrorists on formally creating linkages between their security forces for the exchange of data or information on the existence or whereabouts of terrorists, considering collective coping strategies, etc. Cooperation in these matters now depend on the agreeableness of governments on requests carrying no obligation or compulsion. Perhaps it is time, therefore, to have a more formal arrangement in place that would require governments to cooperate more actively and purposefully on this issue to operate policies more effectively against the terrorists.
A regional response to the terror is needed because the terror organisations, their men and materials, do tend to move across the region's political boundaries seeking relatively safer shelters depending on circumstances. Without an effective collective framework of the region's governments, controlling such migration activities of the terrorists and their operations would become difficult. But such an action in the collective interests of the South Asian countries assumes now a great deal of importance to deal firmly with terrorists, leading to their suppression.
Thus, the rise of terrorism as a common security threat in SA needs early and ample recognition by the peoples and the leaders of the region. Particularly, after the unprecedented and most unconscionable firing at Sri Lankan cricketers at Lahore, the issue should now become the unavoidable collective concern of governments in the region. The World Cup of cricket stands threatened as a result and the playing of World Cup matches in the South Asian countries, has been thrown into some sort of uncertainty after this unprecedented attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team.
Not only SA would be avoided for sports and games, internationally, as a repercussion of the rising terrorism but also the vital tourism industry, international trade and investments in the region could also nosedive as a result. Already, signs to that end are discernible. The same could become even more pronounced if the governments in the region fail to weld together programmes, individually and collectively, to face up to the terror networks. A proposal was made from the Bangladesh government sometime ago that SA should have some united institutions and capabilities to fight terrorism. It did not probably have so much of appreciation at the outset. For example, high level visitors to Bangladesh pointed out that some non-institutional mechanisms already exist for the SA countries to collaborate in this area. What was needed, in their view, was more willingness on the part of governments in the region to be truly resolved to take stern action against terrorists within their jurisdictions. This insight, no doubt, is not a flippant one. But one also may ask, in light of the current rising terrorism incidents in the region, whether a more formal platform on the issue shared by the region's governments should now be floated as a response.
The governments in the region can certainly deal better with terrorists on formally creating linkages between their security forces for the exchange of data or information on the existence or whereabouts of terrorists, considering collective coping strategies, etc. Cooperation in these matters now depend on the agreeableness of governments on requests carrying no obligation or compulsion. Perhaps it is time, therefore, to have a more formal arrangement in place that would require governments to cooperate more actively and purposefully on this issue to operate policies more effectively against the terrorists.
A regional response to the terror is needed because the terror organisations, their men and materials, do tend to move across the region's political boundaries seeking relatively safer shelters depending on circumstances. Without an effective collective framework of the region's governments, controlling such migration activities of the terrorists and their operations would become difficult. But such an action in the collective interests of the South Asian countries assumes now a great deal of importance to deal firmly with terrorists, leading to their suppression.