The Anatomy of Terrorism - 2004
Preface
Preface
The destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001 has changed the geopolitical dynamics of the world more dramatically than any single event since the end of World War II. Terms have since taken on new meaning beyond their earlier connotations, and the impact of this changed climate is felt far and wide, from the shores of the US, previously insulated from turmoil, to the usual hot spots of the Middle East and Central Asia, and on to the nuclearised South Asian subcontinent and points further east.
Since that fateful day, the term 'terrorism' has taken on even more menacing significance, threatening world peace and security more so than ever before. The Bush administration has steadfastly refused to look into, and address, the root causes of terrorism. It has failed to introspect and establish connections between terrorist attacks against the US, and its policies and actions that have created the brooding sense of injustice and hatred against the US in much of the Muslim world, and disillusionment and resentment in the rest of the world.
Instead, the Bush administration has chosen to attribute the anti-US sentiment in the Muslim world to over-simplistic causes such as 'they hate our freedoms'. It has resorted to the use of words with theological overtones such as 'good' versus 'evil', and the 'axis of evil' in describing this anti-US fervour. In the process, the US has ended up dangerously destabilising world security and losing support in the rest of the world as well.
The neoconservative lobbies that control the Bush administration have used September 11 as a pretext to pursue with greater vigour, their long-held goals of empire and hegemony in a post-Soviet, unipolar world. In the name of combating 'terrorism', the neoconservatives have unleashed an unending series of wars in the guise of fighting 'terrorism' and promoting 'democracy'.
In line with this war frenzy, there has been a dramatic increase in the negative stereotyping and demonising of Islam and Muslims, and in the characterising of most, if not all, Muslims as 'fundamentalists' and 'terrorists'. This alarming increase in Islamophobia has been nurtured by much of the mainstream US media.
The rise of Hindutva ideology in India, as evidenced by the gruesome events of post-Godhra anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat, have exposed Indian Muslims to greater insecurity and fear than ever before seen in the post-Independence history of the pluralistic, secular Indian state. The continued crisis in Kashmir, with cross-border terrorism encouraged by Pakistan, and the lack of adequate measures by India to address the root causes of Kashmiri insurgency, had, not long ago, brought the two new nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, to the edge of the precipice, almost to the brink of war and nuclear devastation.
It was these dangerous trends in world politics, of the last two years, that made me decide to compile this book, on the heels of my third book that I published two years ago. In this book, I have brought together different articles which I have written over the past several decades, that shed some light on these events and their underlying causes, and which propose possible solutions to these complex and thorny issues, especially as they affect India.
In this fourth book of mine, I have included eighteen essays. The first three chapters deal with 'Terrorism - in the International Context'. Chapters 4 to 9 deal with 'Politics and Governance: In Chapters 10 to 13, I delve into my expertise as a criminologist and provide some theoretical insight into the concepts of delinquency and criminal justice. In Chapters 14 to 18, the intractable issue of Kashmir is addressed and solutions proposed that could save the South Asian subcontinent from a nuclear holocaust that would result, should, God forbid, war break out between the two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan.
I have included the dates of first publication of articles at the end of each chapter. This was intended to put the text in the right perspective of the time and circumstance of its original authorship. I do believe, however, that the selections are, by and large, particularly relevant to today’s circumstances. I fervently hope they will serve to promote greater awareness of the underlying causes of various world conflict situations, and suggest creative ways to peacefully resolve those conflicts.
Mahmood bin Muhammad
"Palm Grove"
117 Shantinagar
Hyderabad 500028
Andhra Pradesh
India.
The destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001 has changed the geopolitical dynamics of the world more dramatically than any single event since the end of World War II. Terms have since taken on new meaning beyond their earlier connotations, and the impact of this changed climate is felt far and wide, from the shores of the US, previously insulated from turmoil, to the usual hot spots of the Middle East and Central Asia, and on to the nuclearised South Asian subcontinent and points further east.
Since that fateful day, the term 'terrorism' has taken on even more menacing significance, threatening world peace and security more so than ever before. The Bush administration has steadfastly refused to look into, and address, the root causes of terrorism. It has failed to introspect and establish connections between terrorist attacks against the US, and its policies and actions that have created the brooding sense of injustice and hatred against the US in much of the Muslim world, and disillusionment and resentment in the rest of the world.
Instead, the Bush administration has chosen to attribute the anti-US sentiment in the Muslim world to over-simplistic causes such as 'they hate our freedoms'. It has resorted to the use of words with theological overtones such as 'good' versus 'evil', and the 'axis of evil' in describing this anti-US fervour. In the process, the US has ended up dangerously destabilising world security and losing support in the rest of the world as well.
The neoconservative lobbies that control the Bush administration have used September 11 as a pretext to pursue with greater vigour, their long-held goals of empire and hegemony in a post-Soviet, unipolar world. In the name of combating 'terrorism', the neoconservatives have unleashed an unending series of wars in the guise of fighting 'terrorism' and promoting 'democracy'.
In line with this war frenzy, there has been a dramatic increase in the negative stereotyping and demonising of Islam and Muslims, and in the characterising of most, if not all, Muslims as 'fundamentalists' and 'terrorists'. This alarming increase in Islamophobia has been nurtured by much of the mainstream US media.
The rise of Hindutva ideology in India, as evidenced by the gruesome events of post-Godhra anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat, have exposed Indian Muslims to greater insecurity and fear than ever before seen in the post-Independence history of the pluralistic, secular Indian state. The continued crisis in Kashmir, with cross-border terrorism encouraged by Pakistan, and the lack of adequate measures by India to address the root causes of Kashmiri insurgency, had, not long ago, brought the two new nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, to the edge of the precipice, almost to the brink of war and nuclear devastation.
It was these dangerous trends in world politics, of the last two years, that made me decide to compile this book, on the heels of my third book that I published two years ago. In this book, I have brought together different articles which I have written over the past several decades, that shed some light on these events and their underlying causes, and which propose possible solutions to these complex and thorny issues, especially as they affect India.
In this fourth book of mine, I have included eighteen essays. The first three chapters deal with 'Terrorism - in the International Context'. Chapters 4 to 9 deal with 'Politics and Governance: In Chapters 10 to 13, I delve into my expertise as a criminologist and provide some theoretical insight into the concepts of delinquency and criminal justice. In Chapters 14 to 18, the intractable issue of Kashmir is addressed and solutions proposed that could save the South Asian subcontinent from a nuclear holocaust that would result, should, God forbid, war break out between the two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan.
I have included the dates of first publication of articles at the end of each chapter. This was intended to put the text in the right perspective of the time and circumstance of its original authorship. I do believe, however, that the selections are, by and large, particularly relevant to today’s circumstances. I fervently hope they will serve to promote greater awareness of the underlying causes of various world conflict situations, and suggest creative ways to peacefully resolve those conflicts.
Mahmood bin Muhammad
"Palm Grove"
117 Shantinagar
Hyderabad 500028
Andhra Pradesh
India.