Excelsior Special Correspondent
Jaipur, Mar 22: India has made a powerful move to give lead to international community for forging united comprehensive strategy to counter terrorism in different parts of the world. In his inaugural address, Indian National Security Chief underlined vicious designs of religion-based terror surfacing in different parts of the world particularly in our neighbourhood. He said that ISIS was the ugliest face of terror which is now in ascendency. Close to our borders, such developments cannot be taken low lying by our country. But there are other countries also that have become the target of terrorism. Therefore a common strategy among all countries who want this globe to be a safe place for a peace loving humanity needs to be forged.
As chief guest at the conference, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that India has been facing terrorism for more than two and half decades in the past and as long as the west did not feel the brunt, it did not take our warning seriously. 9/11 was a turning point in the history of the world when the world’s mightiest power was challenged by religious extremists. He said that the jihadis had now converged on the concept of Caliphate and were trying to formulate it at the cost of freedom, liberalism and democratic arrangement of other countries. He said that the message of ISIS had no takers among Indian Muslims because India was dealing the people of all shades of faith with equality and justice.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundra Raje, who presided over the inaugural session of the conference, said that she was happy that a conference of this importance and attended by the top world scholars and experts on the subject was held in her State and she was proud to have hosed the historic meet.
The four-day high level conference titled Integrated Approach to Counter-Terrorism, jointly organized by Sardar Patel University of Police Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur and prestigious India Foundation was concluded on March 21 with Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home delivering the valedictory address to a galaxy of distinguished audience.
Those who attended the conference included some of the distinguished former Generals of Indian Army, Police Chiefs, Super sleuths of Research & Analysis Wing, eminent scholars and experts from within the country and abroad and distinguished media persons of known repute. Among the panellists were outstanding personalities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Canada, Indonesia, European countries and the US. Most of these scholars are known for their reputed research publications on terrorism and related areas.
Never before has a conference on such an important and crucial theme been held in our country that was attended by a galaxy of select scholars and political thinkers of international fame. Some among them were Amrullah Saleh former Director of National Directorate of Security Afghanistan, James Loy, Senior Counsellor Cohen Group USA, Ms Cristina Albertin, Representative UN DOG, Jean-Francois Deguzan Deputy Director Foundation for Strategic Research, France , Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad of Dhaka University, Bangladesh, Dr. Daniel Pipes of Middle East Forum USA, Shuja Nawaz, Fellow Atlantic Council USA, Tariq Karim former Ambassador of Bangladesh, Ayesha Siddiqui, Journalist Pakistan, and Tarik Fatah the well – known scholar from Canada. Among the distinguished Indian participants was Gen. Afsir Khan, Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha. G.K. Pillai, former Home Secretary, P.S. Gill former DGP Punjab, Shakti Sinha, Director of South Asian Institute for Strategic Studies, M.J. Akbar and others.
Presentations made in the conference were unprecedented mixture of practical experience, scholarship and deep understanding of the subject. Speakers gave deep insight into facets of terrorism, various causes of its origin and ramification, its reach and the infrastructure created by terrorist organizations with subtle links and connectivity that helps them in concerted action of different nature and different environments.
Some of the presentations were simply brilliant the like of which one would hardly come across in any intellectual gathering. For example presentation of Afghan delegate Amrullah Saleh opened new vision on Afghan war and the role of stakeholders in it especially of Pakistan. It exploded many myths and in a rare and lucid manner explained the nature and contours of Indo-Afghan relationship in the context of Pakistan’s manoeuvring of destabilising Afghan peace. He forcefully opposed any negotiations with the Taliban, who he said were Pakistan’s proxy in Afghanistan. He raised the question that with 9/11 US asked us if we were on her side or not. We said we were and now after 14 years US wants us to talk to those against whom it was fighting. This was contradiction in terms.
Discussion on Pakistan’s policy towards terrorist organizations occupied one full session of the conference and Kashmir also emerged as a related region of terrorist activity. Speakers, one and all, connected Kashmir militancy to the induction of religion-oriented jihadis in Pakistan’s security perception as the frontline of offence against India. Of course there were some new and almost outlandish ideas floated in the course of discussion. A number of speakers concentrated on domestic situation of Pakistan characterising it as chaotic. Many even went to the length of saying that since a state created in the name of religion cannot sustain itself, therefore Pakistan’s existential threat was not from outside but from inside. It was a house divided against it.
Of course jihadism and Islamist religious extremism came under focus in connection with the rise of ISIS, Boko Haram and various terrorist outfits in Pakistan. At the same time references were made to terror of LTTE, Chechnya Islamists, Uzbek and Uighur. Retired General Sanath Fonseka, the famous Sri Lankan General who decimated the LTTE made a mind boggling presentation stating how LTTE was uprooted lock, stock and barrel.
But the most important outcome of the deliberations was that speakers were unanimous in thinking that the time had come when all democratic and humanistic states in the world should develop common strategy of countering terrorism because it was threatening the freedom of human beings. Speakers also agreed that religion- based terror sprang from deep and long ideological conflict in which liberal and democratic segments of Muslim society were pitted against conservative and the radical sections. It was a conflict that originated from the very beginning and had now appeared in its present day avatar.
Since the conference took place in a historic city of India, the Rajasthan Government was fully geared to make the great event a success. Various cultural and Sound-n-Light programmes performed by Rajasthan tourism department enthralled the delegates and they had a peep into the great and colourful Rajasthani culture.
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