A SURGE OF WHOLESALE TERRORISM : MASS HOMICIDE

Wherever you have weakening states and turmoil, you will have a fertile petri dish for
terrorism - Robert D Kaplan.

INTRODUCTION

The history of mankind is replete with tales of horror of some power-wielding humans going
mad, whileothers have been the victims of their unimaginable brutalities. The perpetrators have
ranged fromindividuals to armed groups to states. The systematic use of terror as a means to
attain politicalobjectives exists all over the world.

U.S. State Department defines terrorism as the use of violence or the threat to harm or
intimidate civilians for political purposes. Terrorism can be defined as the illegitimate use of
violence or threats to intimidate people in order to achieve political, religious and ideological
agenda1. The use of such force as a means is not acceptable in a civilized world. Terrorists also
known as lone psychopaths or enemies of peace, present themselves as a victim of some
historical wrong.

If they are friendly to us, we call them freedom fighters. And if not, they are hailed as
saboteurs. There is a famous saying that:"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom
fighter." In 1980, American Government dubbed Osama bin Laden and his comrades as freedom
fighters at a time when politicians like Dick Cheney considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist.
Terrorism is a global menace that has not spared India by any long shot.

MAIN PART

MIT linguist and prominent political philosopher Noam Chomsky has categorized terrorism into
retail terrorism small scale threats or violence to achieve goal and wholesale terrorism
which includes massive, indiscriminate death of innocent people. For example, hijacking an

1
Fortna, Virginia Page (20 May 2015). "Do Terrorists Win? Rebels' Use of Terrorism and Civil War
Outcomes". International Organization.
airplane is retail terrorism, but intentionally crashing it causing death of many people is
wholesale terrorism. He, further said that Obama's 5 month drone assassination campaign in
Afghanistan was not only the biggest source of recruits for islamic extremism worldwide, but
that drone campaign itself was "the most extensive global terrorism campaign the world has
ever seen. It caused the deaths of unintended targets nearly nine out of ten times, killing more
than 200 people. This makes US a perpetrator of wholesale terrorism. Noam Chomsky in 1990
said If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have
been hanged.2

Terrorism has grown to a great extent in the last two decade. The era of Wholesale
Terrorism started during French revolution. The dispute between the Girondins and the
Jacobins has resulted in mass executions including the death of 16,594 people under the
guillotine. This was also the first time when the word terrorism was used.

The kind of horrific crimes terrorists perpetrate: September 11, 2001 was the deadliest day in the
history of human civilization. The assault launched by Al-Queda in which two out of four plane
hit to the twin towers influenced the nations remote and vote based guidelines and strategies.
This catastrophic event led to extensive death and devastation. More than 3000 people were
killed. Terrorists were allegedly acting in retaliation for Americas support of Israel, its
involvement in Persian Gulf War and its continued military presence in Military East.

It was a question before America as to how to fight with terrorism without compromising with
basic human rights? The US Patriot Act was passed by the Congress which revised dozens of
existing American laws like Section 412 which deals with Immigration and Nationality Act. It
gave power to arrest suspected foreign nationals. More than 100 countries passed
Counterterrorism laws after 9/11. And perhaps the most immediate and obvious changes after the
attacks took place in U.S. was passing the Aviation and Transportation Security Act.

2
If the Nuremberg Laws were Applied... by Noam Chomsky, speech delivered from 1990
Baghdad Bombing on 18 April,2007 involed 5 car bombs which exploded across Baghdad,
killing nearly 200 people. It was targeted mainly towards the Shia Community and is
recognized as one of the most daunting act of terrorism.

Several Bombing in Baghdad took place on july 3, 2016, killing over 300 and wounded 225
people. The attack was the deadliest in Iraq since March 2003 Invasion of Iraq. It was targeted
to Shia district of Karrada, busy with late night shoppers for Ramadan. ISIS took the
responsibility of the attack.

The most daunting attack in Mumbai which intimidated people for long was 26/11 Mumbai
Attacks when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting
and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai, killing 164 people and wounding at least
308. The Union government once remarked that the challenge faced by India today was from
terrorist organisations that were not only equipped with the latest technologies and have
immense access to funds, but were having active backing of various external agencies.

On july 12 , 2016, a gunman Omar Mateen opens fire on a night club popular with the LGBT
community in Orlando, killing 49 and wounding 53 before being shot down by the law
enforcement officials. The attack is the deadliest in US since 9/11. FBI Director James Comey
said investigators were "highly confident"

Nowadays, the internet has videos of beheaded civilians. Even, Mateen's electronic devices
showed searches for jihadist propaganda, including videos of ISIS beheadings and of Anwar al-
Awlaki, an influential American-born imam who worked as a spokesman for al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula and was killed in 2011and this is how people are drawn into terrorism.

There is a present trend of attacking soft targets. The Ultimate goal of terrorists is to create
fear, confusion and submission among people in order to fulfill their political agendas. Terrorist
groups mainly focus on the lightly-defended targets. This means targeting schools, markets and
airlines.

On 16 December 2014, seven gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban attacked Army Public
School in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan killing 141 people, including 132 schoolchildren,
ranging between eight and eighteen years of age.

This was the deadliest terrorist attack ever to occur in Pakistan, surpassing the 2007 Karsaz
attack.3

Pakistan responded to the attacks by lifting its moratorium on the death penalty, intensifying
the War in North-West Pakistan and authorizing military courts to try civilians through
a constitutional amendment. Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, quoted that I have
decided to proceed to Peshwar and I will supervise the operation myself. These are my children
and it is my loss.4

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said in a statement: "I am heartbroken by this
senseless and cold-blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us"5.

The popular perception of people is that some vulnerable persons are brainwashed by terrorist
leaders through propaganda to join terrorism. But the reality is different. They consciously
decided to become terrorists and were not victims of propaganda really. No one sleepwalks into
terrorism. Many are educated and come from middle class families

The attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015 by gunmen and suicide bombers hit a concert
hall, a major stadium, restaurants and bars, killing 130 people. President Francois Hollande
described the attacks as an "act of war" organised by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

3
"At least 126, mostly children, slaughtered as Taliban storm Pakistan school". CNN. 16 December 2014.
Retrieved 16 December 2014
4
"Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif: 'These Are My Children And It Is My Loss'". Headlines & Global News.
5
"Heartbroken by senseless and cold blooded act of terror: Malala Yousafzai". India Today. Retrieved16
December 2014
On 14 July 2016, while celebrating Bastille Day, a 19 tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven
into crowds in Nice, France, resulting in the death of 86 people and injuring 434.

Up in the skies and beyond the range of enemy radars, 30 Indian commandos armed with
Kalashnikovs, Tavors, rocket-propelled guns and thermobaric weapons deploy parachutes on a
dark, cold moonless night for a rare military insertion to ambush terror assets on the rugged
Himalayan terrain of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The provocation behind the army operation
was the terrorists attack in uri camp on September 18.