Countering radicalisation wisely

RADICALISM CAN'T BE COUNTERED BY SUSPICION BUT THROUGH INCLUSION

- Dhurjati Mukherjee

A new wave of radicalization amongst people, mostly the young generation, frustrated and outraged by current trends in politics and society is raising its ugly head. India’s phase of counter terror strategy must shift from containment to prevention. According to political analysts, radicals must be treated as a strategic priority and their movements and operations watched carefully. The recent blast near the Red Fort in capital Delhi is a testimony.

The term ‘white-collar terrorism’ has suddenly burst into the national consciousness amid charges of a Kashmiri doctor’s involvement in the blast and the arrests of two of his peers in connection with an interstate and transnational terror module. Some have cautioned against a knee-jerk attribution of the trend to the holdall phenomenon of radicalisation and stressed the feeling of stage and subjugation many Kashmiris feel.

Delving into the aspect of terror, it may be mentioned that UAPA is India’s third terror statute. India enacted its first anti-terror law called the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act in 1987 to counter the Punjab insurgency.