‘Citizens must join hands to uproot terrorism in country’

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at R.N. Kulkarni’s book release

Mysuru:  “There are two types of terrorism in the country today — one is the Red Corridor and another Jihadi Terrorism. Both these types have taken deep roots here and if it has to be uprooted, then every citizen in the country must join hands with the Central Government,” said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

She was speaking after releasing the book titled “Facets of Terrorism in India” by R.N. Kulkarni, Retd. Intelligence Bureau (IB) Officer, Government of India, organised by Manthana (Intellectuals Forum), at Hotel Pai Vista in city yesterday and said red corridor terrorism which was in the East-West States, Jharkhand, is even reaching Karnataka now.

As a prelude to this, a few intellectuals are enticing a particular section of the youth and indoctrinating them. This type of atmosphere is being created even in Bengaluru and Mysuru, she cautioned.

The terror activity in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is very violent. The problem is with the Lone Wolf, who is indulging in terrorist activities and this becomes difficult to identify who the people are behind such dastardly acts. Hence, they are able to strike at will unlike the Army which has to plan everything systematically based on intelligence information. The misguided youth in J&K are being funded by a few terrorist organisations to throw stones at the Army. If the Government comes forward to take action against them, then the issue comes under Human Rights Act. Is it right to tie down the soldiers who protect the borders with our own laws? Hence, it becomes very important to analyse the role of the people who support such actions like the intellectuals, human rights activists, a few media representatives, she said.

Pakistan Army is training the youth in the name of Jihad with most sophisticated arms and ammunitions and providing them funds to spread terror activities in India. The Pulwama incident is a classic example for this which has resulted in spreading Islamic terrorism. But after the attack, India has understood the sinister designs of Pakistan and given a befitting reply, she said.

However, a few of our country’s politicians asked us, ten days after the attack why no action was taken. After taking action, they wanted proof on ‘air strike.’ How right is it to create an atmosphere of instability in the country and try to bring down the morale of the Army in the name of national security? However, the only consolation is the youth of the country are not lured by the terrorists’ design to destabilise the country, she said.

The terrorists sneak into the country and try to attack our Army. Even though it has been proved hundreds of times that there is Pakistan hand behind these attacks and it is criticised at the international-level, Pakistan is not ready to accept these charges, she pointed out.

“What is happening in J&K is something that is going on since the last 70 years when I was not even born. It started as a tribal attack and now they are using non-State actors by recruiting youth but not as part of the Army. Now the time has come to reply to them in their own coin,” she said.

Earlier, after releasing the book “Facets of Terrorism in India,” Nirmala Sitharaman said that she was very happy to be a part of the book release, as such books would definitely help the Government to understand terrorism better as it is written by a person who himself was involved in secret service and intelligence gathering.

However, she pointed out that terrorism is not confined to just India but to the whole world as many countries are fighting this scourge. She said that if one reads the book, which she intends to do, then one can understand the facets of terrorism better in the country.

Dr. Sudhendra Hanumanta Rao, Dean, Students Affairs and Professor of Information Systems, MYRA School of Business, who spoke about the book said, “Terrorism is a scourge on humanity in modern times. Defined variously as ‘…mindless violence aimed at causing death and fear on innocent masses in pursuit of religious or ideological goals…’ terrorism has been rationalised by a few thinkers as a weapon of the weak when confronted by an oppressive State. However, when terrorism is used by a State or on exclusivist ideology or both, it is no longer a tool of the weak but becomes an evil scourge. And as such must be fought at many levels. Primary among these is to defeat terrorism in the mind and it is towards this that R.N. Kulkarni’s book makes a major contribution.”