The nation expects to government to assess the enormity of the menace that terrorism today is. We do not expect the government to plead technicalities to shrug off any responsibilities. Pretexts are not a substitute for action. There are several fundamental changes which have taken place in the nature of terrorism in India and the approach of the Indian society towards terror.

First, those involved in acts of terror are no longer the socially oppressed and victims of injustice where frustration has misled them into crimes of terror. They are educated young men from comparatively affluent backgrounds. The involvement of medical professionals, technology-savvy and educated, is a cause of concern.

Second, we are no longer in the age where terrorism in India is exclusively prompted by cross-border forces. A large number of terrorists are homegrown, indoctrinated by religion into acts of terror.

Third, an attempt by a section of the media — particularly television channels — to find faults with the investigation create a halo of martyrdom about those who commit these crimes against the society. The day the Gujarat police picked up Abu Bashir from Azamgarh, media reports indicated an ‘aura of martyrdom’. After the Delhi blasts, Azamgarh became the ‘nerve centre of terror’.

Fourth, every terrorist organisation carries with it its own edition of a human rights organisation. Human rights have a valuable place in a Republican constitution. Even in times of terrorism, human rights have their place. But a section of these organisations have become the over-ground face of the under-ground, bringing a bad name to the human rights. Some of these are admittedly funded from outside the country and are donor-driven.

... contd.