O J's Corner : Reflections

Muslims must take the initiative
To root out terrorism

Mumbai blasts on Tuesday, which killed nearly 200 people and injured about 600 others, have been condemned by every human being except terrorists.

Terrorism alone has a one-world domain now. Not even the super-power, with all sophisticated arms and ammunitions everywhere, can effectively control terrorism, which has no face, no emotions and no image. They just kill for so-called religious and political ideology.

They unleash acts of terrorism on innocent people, who are helpless. Terrorists have no compassion. Their brains are formatted for killings.

Precision strikes are their brand. Some of them get killed, but others of their ilk take over with more vigour.

Their bosses sit in carefully-carved hide-outs, which could be in the caves of Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Waziristan in Pakistan or in New York and London disguised as technocrat, doctor or management honcho.

Take the case of attacks in Mumbai, Delhi, Srinagar, Varanasi and Bangalore in India, and New York, London, Iraq, Madrid, or Beslan, the acts of terrorism were precise, and co-ordinated in full, with no failure quotient.

The mystery about how terrorists could brain-wash young people educated in good disciplines such as engineering, medicine, science, management and the like remains unsolved.

The painful fact is that a majority of the recruits belong to Islamic faith. Osama bin Laden may be hiding in places where even the bunker-buster ballistic devices could not smoke him out. But he manages to communicate with the underworld of terrorism effectively. Experts believe that once in a while when he releases videotapes there are hidden signs embedded in the video clippings meant for his followers.Signs are not confined to Monalisa painting alone. Whatever it may be, bin Laden manages to survive, only to kill innocent people.

Faith is needed, but violent faith should be anathema to one and all. Ordinary mortals among Muslims the world over shun violence and do not take part in terrorism. But there are more violent types in Islamic faith than in any other faiths. They may not agree, saying Jews are more violent than them. An overall view should catch up with ordinary Muslims to see the writing on the wall that no sane person in the world can differ. The reality is that terrorist elements are cajoling, cornering and sometimes forcing the moderate elements to take up arms or collude with them in the nefarious activities.

The world should be a livable place, not only for the present generation, but also for posterity.

Islamic terrorists might be under the impression that President George Bush of the United States may not resort to direct action during the second term of his Presidency which lasts till 2008. It is yet to be seen how he reacts to present explosive situations.

Close on the heels of Mumbai blasts, particular vigil is being clamped in New York, Washington, London etc. One may not know where the devil is lurking.

Mumbai, where six million commuters depend on local trains daily and people wriggle about like worms, is a soft target for terrorists. No one can ensure safety at every nook and corner of the metropolis.

But there should have been an alert on the day when four buildings belonging to Dawood Ibrahim in Mumbai were being demolished on Tuesday.

Authorities everywhere, act tough before the world rips apart by the volleys of terrorists.