Call it “suicide” or “martyrdom” bombing, the end result would remain the same. Moreover, the conditions in which such operations are carried out are different from one another, and this has made the matter more complex. Taking any extreme position, therefore, would lead us to no solution. In fact, the issue being extremely complex requires a far more serious and wider attention and it should not be left to the care of political establishments the world over, for in many cases the inept or oppressive ruling classes are the reasons behind the violent acts.
The issue at hand is not only complex but delicate as well. When lives are lost on both sides, none of the two allows reason to prevail over passion. In such a circumstance saner elements usually keep quiet, for they fear reprisal from either of the two or both the sides. If they take a neutral stand, the ruling elites condemns them as anti-national and the groups fighting against political establishments criticize them as being pro-government. Such a situation sometimes develops in our own Kashmir. When people criticize the army or the police for excesses, the Government or the elements of the Government condemn and shout them down. The militants, too, pull out their swords when criticized for killing innocent people.
But Kashmir is perhaps not as complex an issue as the Palestine problem. The reason is that the Palestine problem is not just confined to Palestine and Israel; it is a wider problem that involves the entire Arab world, and in cases it includes at least parts of the Western world. Moreover, Israel, unlike the Indian Government, believes in and has adopted counter-violence as a policy. Tel Aviv also takes violent “preventive” measures by killing Palestinian leaders and demolishing the houses of parents, brothers or sisters of the “suicide” or “martyr” bombers.
The West, or the US and its allies, comes into picture in two ways: first it gives unconditional and unqualified support to Israel and usually condones its violent and oppressive acts against the Palestinians; second, it has never acted as honest broker whenever it has tried to solve the problem that it created in the beginning of the twentieth century that ultimately led to the creation of the illegitimate state of Israel.
Until now the “Jihadi elements” seemed to be targeting Israel and its Western supporters. The recent bombings in some Muslim countries, however, indicate a shift or departure from the previous policy. The militants now seem to have decided to also strike against governments that maintain friendly relations with the West, specially the US. This shift in policy is destined to unleash more violence in the Middle East.
Governments, when hit by violence, like, even demand, the intellectual fraternity to condemn what they call the mindless “suicide” bombings. But perhaps a better course would be to do some soul searching and find out what went wrong. The identity of those who carried out recent bombings in some Muslim countries has yet not been disclosed. However, fifteen of the 19 hijackers who attacked the World Trade Towers in New York are said to be Saudi nationals. This demands a deeper analysis.
The course for training pilots is a costly business in USA; only the rich or those supported by a government can afford it. The men belonging to these high strata of society are usually careerist and want to lead a comfortable life. Why then such people allowed themselves to be recruited by Al-Qaeda is the million-dollar question that must be probed and answered.
One might say that the attackers were not recruited instantly but were the hardcore Al-Qaeda members who took the costly flying lessons in order to attack America. If so, we must probe what motivates people—and also maintains a high level of motivation for such a long period—, to kiss death in order to kill or hit the enemy?
In fact, the issue is much more complex than it is supposed to be. The men who carry out “suicide” or “martyr” bombings are either mad or highly motivated people. The mad, however, can not be credited with such a high level of planning which we have seen in these operations. In fact, there is a growing “realization” right or wrong, among a section of the young educated Muslims that the West, powerful as it is, understands only the language of strength. They have, therefore, decided to hit where it hurts the most. It is a mindset, but the West and its allies are tackling it as a question of violence even as law and order problem. It is like operating the leg for curing the headache. A section of the Muslim youth thinks that all through the last three centuries Islam has been at the receiving end of Western violence. They also think that the Western success has blinded it and, therefore, it is incapable of seeing reason. Then the only option that remains is to talk to the West in the language it understands.
[May, 2003]
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