Terrorism is a global concern in the world today. People fear going out of their homes and fear attacks from terrorists. No place is considered a safe zone today.
Especially after the attack on the world trade center on 11th September 2001, the entire world woke up to a global menace, which was quite under the wraps till then.
The word ‘terrorism’ haunted the world and has been growing ever since then. Before we know, there are many terrorist prone areas, sensitive regions that are constantly hit by terrorist attacks.
The fight against terrorism began long ago when the world realized it had to step up from its comfortable shoes and work towards a global approach in tackling this menace.
It had to be attacked from the grassroots level and required expertise in planning, operational strategies, combat killings, security issues, etc.
The world saw a big win when the US attacked the hiding region of Osama Bin Laden and wiped out all his hideouts and sanitized the area from his operations.
Though it was a big win against terrorism, much needs to be done in this regard to take care of the loopholes that exist in our system. It is these loopholes that the terrorists find on their planning and take advantage of them.
To begin with, let’s focus on some important factors that may help in our fight against terrorism. As for the government, these factors are necessary to combat terrorism.
- Strict enactment of laws against terrorism.
- Tightened security measures at heritage sites and places of importance.
- Increased security cover at airports, bus stands and railway stations.
- Capital punishment for those involved in any form of terrorism.
- Use of technology in the form of sensors and detectors to identify terrorists.
These factors help the government at the primary level. Meeting the required target is possible only when political parties stop fighting amongst themselves.
They should serve the nation by making living conditions better for its citizens.
A nation where people live in constant fear of being attacked or gunned down by terrorists or terrorist activities shows a weakly performing government.
Top bureaucracies need to strengthen their measures and foreign policies should be adaptable to present day needs.
Taking on the above points one by one, let us see how the government can actually work towards curbing acts of terrorism.
First, a strict law system where stringent acts are passed against terrorism and terrorist activities need to be formulated.
The POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) of 2002 was passed by the parliament of India in the year 2002 citing various terrorist activities that were on an upsurge at that moment.
People who were involved in acts of terrorism where booked under the POTA act. Special provisions were made to identify those acts that amounted to terrorism and rules were made to act against those incidents.
When the act was passed in the year 2002, it created fear in the minds of terrorists. Before the act was passed, any act of terrorism was also considered equivalent to normal crimes.
So when a separate legislation came by solely for terrorism alone, is stood as a question mark for many.
If we visit a very famous temple in our country, we are bound to go through many security check-ups and security personnel deployed at important places are also quite large.
These are measures sought by the government and implemented at high-risk zones to avert any incident of possible terrorism.
The government was first involved in identifying high risk zones and later provided security arrangements accordingly.
Increased security cover plus intelligence works most of the time in averting possible incidents of terrorism.
Places where people are crowded include markets, malls, complexes, railway stations, bus stands and airports. These are places where the population is usually floating in nature.
Most of them walk in to the place for a brief period of time and walk out when they are done with their jobs. So, most often they are crowded spots and people tend to be busy in their own worlds.
This offers a convenient platform for terrorists to carry out their operations. Hence, heightened security cover and modern implementations of technology are useful and essential.
What drives people from going against crimes is a society where strict punishment is awarded.
For heinous crimes and barbaric acts, fast track courts ought to set capital punishment for terrorists and people aiding any acts of terrorism.
The highest level of punishment, in the form of capital punishment blows off the hat from any anti-social person, be it a terrorist or a trespasser or any form of offender.
A crime is a crime, whether it is small or big. A terrorist act that usually takes away lives of so many innocent people cannot be pardoned and shouldn’t be tolerated in any form of society.
Such people should be isolated from the society and should be taken away from the mainstream.
Technology is what drives and provides immunity to the society to face external threats and survive against them. In the modern era, science and technology have done wonders and excelled in every field possible.
With modern software technologies, nothing is impossible to achieve. Use of nanotechnology and the latest inventions in the field of genetic engineering, it is very easy to track down terrorists and nab them.
Sensor based detectors are common sight at every big place we visit today and they definitely add to our fight against terrorism.
Apart from the above mentioned factors, citizens are equally responsible to join hands with the authorities and the law makers in bringing the culprits to the confines of law.
If we happen to spot an unattended suitcase anywhere in public places, we shouldn’t just turn a blind eye against it. It’s our duty to inform concerned authorities/police and hand it over to them.
Likewise, by being a little more aware and proactive towards our society, we can help the government in nabbing terrorists and prevent them from going scot-free.
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