Counting real or perceived terrorist attacks
Friday, 11 December 2009
THE gravest threats do not emanate from states. Real threats mostly come from religious, linguistic, racial and fanatics with frozen thoughts, who transform into terrorists. The alleged state excesses arise only in the processes of combating terrorist activities. In the tense and confused situations created by terrorists, it becomes difficult to adjudicate whether those excesses were due to a bona fide wrong assessment of the ground realities or deliberate misdeeds.
Our present democratic institutions are undoubtedly strong enough to keep the country power under control except in situations where the state needs to guard its citizens against real or perceived terrorist attacks. In the name of tackling terrorism, many innocent people have been tortured. That leads to a bottomless pit of violence. In this game, only God cares for human rights. Only one thing counts here: selfishness or power. The game may take the form of banning of minarets in Switzerland or harsh interrogation techniques in Guantanamo. Is the world going to witness another gladiatorial game where the weak die like animals before the powerful smiling spectators?
Gopal Sengupta
Canada
_gopalsengupta@aol.com_
Our present democratic institutions are undoubtedly strong enough to keep the country power under control except in situations where the state needs to guard its citizens against real or perceived terrorist attacks. In the name of tackling terrorism, many innocent people have been tortured. That leads to a bottomless pit of violence. In this game, only God cares for human rights. Only one thing counts here: selfishness or power. The game may take the form of banning of minarets in Switzerland or harsh interrogation techniques in Guantanamo. Is the world going to witness another gladiatorial game where the weak die like animals before the powerful smiling spectators?
Gopal Sengupta
Canada
_gopalsengupta@aol.com_