'We've To Win Over The People'

The nationalist form of terrorism is based on emotions. It is much more difficult to eradicate. Emotions can centre around religion or language or ethnic identity. In India, we have experienced mainly the nationalist form of terrorism, first in Punjab and more recently in Kashmir.

When emotions are aroused the population does not pause to weigh the rights and wrongs of the acts of their co-religionists. There is natural sympathy of the community for those who purport to fight for their cause. The state is then hardpressed to restore sanity as the population sympathises with the terrorists. The state immediately inducts troops to fight this low-cost war in which the terrorists strike at soft targets. When terrorist strikes increase, the government is pressured to pour in even more men and equipment to restore the confidence of the targeted groups. This process can go on endlessly as we have experienced in Ireland and in Punjab.

The only method of succeeding against this form of terrorism is to get the people on your side. When we refer to "people" we are talking about the community to which the terrorists belong. In Punjab, for instance, we had to convince the Sikh Jat farmers that the government meant well for them. It was only when the Jat Sikhs in the countryside lost all sympathy for the terrorists that the situation in Punjab changed dramatically. This happened due to many reasons, the most important being that the terrorists committed atrocities on members of their own community. When criminals join the ranks of terrorists, commitment takes a backseat. When this is combined with the prolonged hardships faced by the people, the stage is set for a reversal of fortunes.

The same situation now prevails in the Kashmir valley. With the accompanying loss of livelihood, prolonged confrontation has brought about a general fatigue which has translated into loss of sympathy for the terrorists. The valley is much quieter than it was earlier. Tourists have returned.

The scene of terrorist activity has shifted to Doda in Jammu where there is a mixed population of Muslims and Hindus. The security forces will need to be very restrained while dealing with villagers. It is heartening that the number of complaints against the securitymen has reduced to a trickle in the past year. The Army, in particular, has gone out of its way to befriend the local population. Such initiatives were possible because of the comparative lull in hostilities. But as terrorists become more active in Doda, complaints of human rights abuses are bound to escalate. But unless the mass of the population feels that the forces are targeting only terrorists and not their co-religionists, the war against terrorism cannot be won.