Detorquing Terror

New Delhi, April 27 -- "Terrorism should be seen

in the light of security and

not from the perspective of

caste, creed and religion."

- Oscar Fernandes

When bullets rain down on tourists, it is not an act of terror, but a shameless dance marking the death of collective conscience. It is a numbing reminder of humans turning into predators, fuelled by hate or warped beliefs. It is evidence of a rotting society sculpting dastardly dehumanization. It is proof that we have fallen so far into the depths of obloquy that we can't catch even a whiff of smoke before a deadly fire consumes an unfortunate few and stultifies the entire world.

On what was just another evening in Pahalgam, blood was spilled on grass that had hitherto only hosted picnics and echoed innocent laughter. Tourists from across a nation, on whom life had bestowed an escape from the daily grind, lost that very life to the unapologetic belch of bullets. Scores were injured. Many more were scarred for life. At last count, 26 people were reported to have lost their lives. Kashmir lost too; it was stripped of some more of its soul.

Was it war, a crossfire or an exchange of bullets? No, it wasn't so tame. It was premeditated terror; a targeted massacre that defied reason and ideology. Yet, somewhere in the twisted rationale of the attackers, it was indoctrinated as resistance, retaliation, revenge. Retaliation against whom? Unarmed tourists? What makes brainwashed and now-rotting minds label cowardice as rebellion?

Not Always In Jungles

The mere mention of 'terrorist' conjures up visions of unkempt men dressed in camo, brandishing weapons and grouping unashamedly in jungle training camps, faces grinning into the camera lens. The backdrop is typical - misty hills, specks of white in a bright blue sky and an ominous black flag fluttering with indecipherable writings proclaiming a crusade. Death, for enemies and themselves, is always part of the unuttered agenda, mirrored only in stony, hopped-up eyes.

In unison with this image is fabricated a judgment on their immediate motivation and ultimate goal, instinctively assumed to be political revolution or agenda. This is where the assumption gets specious. That's because terror isn't confined to surreptitious training in hidden camps that breed lethal offspring. Often, personal tragedy metamorphoses into evil. It is a psychological knot that will never be unravelled. All India can do is identify probable triggers and thwart recurrence.

"In today's world, terror is getting increasingly personal. Perpetrators are products of humiliation, loss or rejection. It is pain that finds purpose in extremism," Ajai Sahni at the Institute for Conflict Management explains. "Yes, some elements exploit this to push their own bigotry and bias. But while the manifestation may be stage-managed, the compulsions are pre-defined."

Teenagers Turned Killers

A caveat before I delve further - this is not a pardon or exoneration; that is impossible for such a reprehensible act. This is only an attempt to see what begets extreme immorality. Moving on.

The youth who pulled the trigger in Pahalgam were once schoolchildren. They probably played cricket, laughed with friends and perhaps even dreamed of a simple life, removed from conflict. Somewhere, something broke. A parent jailed or killed. A family shamed. A peer radicalized. At some point, a vulture descended into their life - one who offered to share or alleviate their grief, but ended up betraying it, apart from exploiting their naivete and green horns.

This pattern is not exclusive to Kashmir or India. In America, Europe, even Japan, youth are turning violent - they vent their pain on peers, parents and strangers. They carry assault rifles into schools, malls and subways. The trigger isn't always religion. Sometimes, it is relevance. Rage. A scream for attention. A cry for importance. Especially when target youth see the world rolling past them.

Psychiatrists and mental health experts feel that lack of education is a reason for the directionless existence that many find themselves in. "The youth are not inherently violent. But when they find no value in their life, they become easy targets for those who promise them an inner meaning," says sociologist Rukmini Banerji. The point is simple - society is judged not by its tallest buildings or fastest trains, but by how it treats that which is broken.

Deradicalization Checkbox

In Kashmir, deradicalization has become a checkbox. Within India's borders itself, the Valley has long been treated like a problem that needs iron-hand policing, not understanding and true awakening. This is evident when one looks at the media and social platforms. While a few segments of both report events in a balanced manner, a majority live up to their ambiguous reputation of being lop-sided. Rather than report true and proper, they add editorial flavour to spice things up - in the process, they create pockets within society on political, social and communal lines. Life is about optics, with no care for larger sentiment or fallout.

At the other end of the spectrum sit terrorists, toting guns. They don't want truce or negotiation, only eyeballs. Social media posts. Headlines. For them, dead bodies generate more Web searches than peace missions. Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retired), sums it up: "Terror replaces psychological warfare, with spreading twisted fear using feral action being the modus operandi."

If we talk of recent times, the attackers in Pahalgam, Pulwama, Anantnag, Galwan Valley or 26/11 didn't kill for a cause - they massacred for coverage. They wanted to be etched in memory, evoking fear. In their rush for one-upmanship and showmanship, terrorists chose to become macabre entertainers. As one regular face on TV debates said: "Terrorism is now routine. We have learned to compartmentalize grief. It is content, gripping for a while, till we move to the next crisis."

The Bigger Fire Is Closer

Innocent people alone weren't killed in Pahalgam. Trust was. Both tourists and locals were being taught to fear the hills and valleys that once gave them peace and tranquillity. They were also being taught to kill their conscience by normalizing horror.

Even those who disagree today will remember how the last few days turned out for Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist hanged for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Through his trial, Kasab kept smiling for the cameras. When the court ruled he should be hanged, he broke down and asked for his parents. Being led away to be hanged, all he did was sob and repeat: "Tell my Ammi."

As Shirin Abdi said: "When a person's rights are violated or when he doesn't have education, he gravitates toward terrorism." Deep as it sounds, Abdi's thoughts oversimplify a vicissitude. Life cannot be explained with emotional and mathematical formulae. Often, these sit atop hubris, exploited and emanating delinquency. Call it indoctrination, puppeteering or brainwashing; call it a rudimentary human firm-ware error or software glitch; call it corruption of a chip's kernel.

Life can be any or many of these, but it is never as destructive as a malevolent mind.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on [e-mail]. Views expressed are personal

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.