TERRORISM: How Safe Are We From Terror Now?

:Prashant Pradhan

A year after the death of the most fearsome and gruesome terrorist mankind has ever seen a question arises 'OSAMA BIN LADEN is dead...but does it mean that terrorism is also dead? 'The past decade has seen an onslaught of terrorist attacks on the biggest and most important of destinations in the world. Most notably being the synchronized attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 in the USA. The event marked the declaration of the Global war against terrorism. Billions of dollars were spent on tracking these terrorists and killing them, now with the death of the most prized target and according to many the symbol of global terrorism Osama Bin laden, a thought lingers are we the citizens of the world safe now that Osama is dead. Not only Osama the world is free from the clutches of such tyrants like the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and also the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain but still are safe?

 

The answer to all these queries is a resounding no. We still don't feel safe to move about freely even after these so called masterminds of global terrorism are dead. There is still the fear of maybe there is a bomb somewhere when you are inside a train, you cannot guarantee whether you will return home safe when you move out in the morning for your daily jobs especially in big cities like Mumbai, New Delhi or even international metropolitans like London or New York. The fear of a terrorist attack is always lurking. With millions of dollars spent on killing the above mentioned terrorists there was a belief that terrorism would gradually slow down and as time passed even eradicated but that seems to be like a distant dream as of now.

The killing of Osama Bin Laden obviously had huge symbolic implications. It provided a moral boost for the US and other countries that supported it in their quest for retribution against Al Qaeda for the past decade and it delivers a psychological blow to the terrorist organization and its affiliates. But all of this maybe short lived as Al Qaeda has decentralized, it now has offshoots in different parts of the world like Yemen, North Africa and Somalia. We haven't witnessed a major terrorist attack in the past year but that doesn't mean that Al Qaeda has stopped functioning. The offshoots of Al Qaeda in all these countries are garnering strength and functioning at the grassroot level. These groups have been carrying out operations against local governments as well as western interests in their own regions. These affiliate organizations can be expected to continue with their terrorist agendas, they might also take it to the next level and do something drastic to garner attention to them. So this is one reason why we can say that terrorism is not dead. It is as strong if not stronger than what it was wen Osama was alive. Transnational attacks against the west will still be attempted. In the earlier years attacks were carried out mainly from Afghanistan and Pakistan like 9/11 against America, in 2001, 7/7 in London in 2007 etc. But in the past few years Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula based in Yemen has carried out many gruesome attacks against the West while groups in Somalia have tried to recruit Somali residents in America for terrorist acts. After Osama's death some groups may have become more determined to carry out these acts.

The last year in fact has seen terrorism in a different light altogether, the death of Osama almost coincided with the uprisings against dictatorial and monarchical governments in different parts of the world, most notably the Middle East. Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Libya and many other countries faced these uprisings. The ruling governments approach to subdue these uprisings has been nothing but brutal in all these countries. Innocent people have been killed and murdered, women have been raped, children have been abducted all in the name of subduing the protests and uprisings, if this isn't terrorism than what is.The most brutal of all of these uprisings has been the Libyan uprising. Muhammar Gaddafi has often been identified as one of the most influential figures in the world but his atrocities and terrorizing tactics came to the forefront in 2011 when his own countrymen came together to defeat him and free themselves from the Gaddafi dictatorship. Similar uprisings have also taken place in other Arab States which has resulted in bloodbaths allover.

The World as of today is at the same risk from terrorism that it was a year back. The potential dangers are all too many, many of which may never even have been identified.