Quick Background on Terrorism
Posted Under: Terrorism
The recent incidences of terrorism in Mumbai are not only criminal, but mystifying. A group of able young men kill or injure scores of people, only to end up killed or likely sentenced to death. As an input to our upcoming dialogue, here is a collection of interesting points.
The Likely Perpetrator in Mumbai
The likely culprits behind the Mumbai attacks are Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to Reuters India,
Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of the largest Islamic militant groups in South Asia, based in Pakistan and fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. Security analysts say it is a well-funded and highly organised group that sympathises with al Qaeda.
According to Wikipedia, “Lashkar-e-Taiba members have carried out major attacks against India and its objective is to introduce an Islamic state in South Asia and to ‘liberate’ Muslims residing in Indian administered Kashmir.” This group has been allegedly trained by Pakistan’s intelligence service, ISI, and may even be directed by ex-Pakistani military officers.
Stratfor suggests that the attack challenges the Indian government, perhaps to provoke a war with Pakistan.
PajamasMedia provides an estimate of the economic damage at $10 billion.
Resources on Terrorism
Terrorism is not necessarily caused by poverty or lack of education. Rather, Amy Zalman claims all terrorist acts are are motivated by two things:
- Social and political injustice: People choose terrorism when they are trying to right what they perceive to be a social or political or historical wrong—when they have been stripped of their land or rights, or denied these.
- The belief that violence or its threat will be effective, and usher in change. Another way of saying this is: the belief that violent means justify the ends. Many terrorists in history said sincerely that they chose violence after long deliberation, because they felt they had no choice.
Here is a collection of articles on terrorism by the Federation of American Scientists.
The Center for Defense Information provides a great background of religious terrorism in two parts, as follows:
Finally, here is an interesting article on the psychological traits of terrorists.
