Declaring zero tolerance towards terrorism and terrorists, the Ministry of Home Affairs has released a new policy document titled “PRAHAAR,” which lists as its key objectives cutting off funding, weapons supplies, and safe havens to terrorists and their supporters. The policy also emphasises the importance of preventing the emergence of terrorism both within the country and abroad, and of gradually addressing the conditions that push people towards extremist ideologies and terrorist violence. The document further states that India will not associate terrorism with any religion, race, nationality, or culture. It affirms the country’s firm stand in solidarity with victims of terrorism and underlines that there can be no justification for acts of violence anywhere in the world. While making specific reference to cross-border 'jihadi' terror attacks targeting India, the policy also indicates that sleeper cells of terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda exist within the country.
It is an undeniable fact that terrorist movements and armed groups, known by different names, have long targeted the world in general and certain countries in particular. India itself was, at one point, a direct target of attacks by the Khalistan militant movement. It even led to the martyrdom of one of the country’s prime ministers. Even today, Khalistani extremist groups, operating with bases in countries such as Canada and the United States, continue to pose persistent threats to India. Terror outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, operating from Pakistan, have been repeatedly reported to be systematically plotting to disrupt life in India and carrying out mass killings of innocents, especially from the border regions of Jammu and Kashmir. Our neighbouring country Sri Lanka is a nation that paid a heavy price for the violent campaign of the LTTE. Terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and ISIS continue to pose constant threats to peaceful life across the Middle East and beyond. If one asks why the world or even the United Nations has not been able to effectively confront and dismantle such terrorist groups, it is hard to deny that the reasons lie in the vested interests of nation-states and their biased approaches.
As long as countries, especially major powers, continue the practice of using, protecting, or tolerating terrorist groups when it suits their interests, terrorism is unlikely to be eliminated from the world. At the same time, there is a familiar ritual at international forums and summits where everyone condemns terrorism and proclaims their resolve to take strong action against it. However, so long as all nations, governments, political parties, and organisations do not show the collective will to categorically reject violence and the denial of democracy, no matter which “ism” it claims to represent, or whether it is justified in the name of religion or culture, terrorism will continue to threaten peace, wearing different disguises and operating under different names. It remains to be seen to what extent the newly announced ‘Prahaar’ policy will uphold, in practice, the just and humane position claimed by the Modi government—that terrorism will not be viewed through the prism of any religion, race, nationality, or culture. In the domestic sphere, it hardly needs detailed examples to show how unjustly the draconian anti-terror law, the UAPA, has been applied by both the Union and state governments. The Sangh Parivar-led government has been using this harsh law with impunity, primarily to target minorities in the country. Cases such as the Bengaluru blasts, in which Abdul Nasser Madani is an accused, are still awaiting even a preliminary verdict more than a decade later. Zakariya from Parappanangadi has been languishing in jail for years without even knowing what crime he is accused of committing. Countless lives continue to be spent day and night behind bars as victims of this draconian law. A large section of those affected is forced to believe that their only “crime” was being born into a minority community. As long as governance and instruments of power remain in the hands of those who view the very existence and citizenship of religious minorities as a threat to India’s peace, development, and progress, it is difficult to expect any meaningful change. That is precisely why there is an anxious question hanging over the newly announced ‘PRAHAR’ policy: whether the reference to “sleeping cells” carries within it the seeds of yet another, more frightening crackdown.