Security Issues: Counter-terrorism Strategy
UPSC General Studies: Paper III
Question: Research
finds that many foreign fighters joining ISIS originate from countries with
high levels of economic development, low income inequality, and highly
developed political institutions. How do these findings affect the commonplace understanding
of causes of terrorism? What policy measures would you suggest to stem the
breeding of violent extremists?
Backgrounder: (This
is just for the sake of putting things in a perspective and not for the actual
answer)
It is generally believed that
terrorists are from economically backward and educationally poor backgrounds. A
growing body of economic research disputes this hypothesis.
Evidence in favor of above assertion:
Perpetrators of the Dhaka terror attack were from well-off families and
received good education.
Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey
and Jordan are the top five countries by number of foreign fighters.
However, an interesting picture
emerges if one looks at the percentage share of foreign fighters in the total
Muslim population of these countries. Four West European countries, Finland;
Belgium; Ireland and Sweden are among the top five countries.
(India is at the bottom of the chart
in terms of number of fighters as well as their share in total Muslim
population.)
Pointers
that will help tackle the above question:
Other
causes of terrorism
Ideology
and assimilation: Flow of foreign fighters to ISIS could be driven “not
by economic or political conditions but rather by ideology and the difficulty
of assimilation into homogeneous Western countries.”
Bloated
sense of self-worth: the elite in a poor country might
turn to terrorism while seeking to improve the condition of their society. Altruism
and an exaggerated sense of importance plays an important role in driving terrorists
including suicide attackers. The attackers often believe that their acts would
force repressive forces to reverse their policies and hence improve the quality
of life of the population whose cause the terrorist group claims to be
fighting.
Socio-Economic
roots of terrorism: Dependence on superficially benign
organizations (often religious) for services/company/support, which eventually
exposes the beneficiary to ideas of Jihad etc. If the member refuses to
partake, he/she maybe threatened with exclusion from organization.
Policy
Responses
Has
to be multi-faceted.
Security
policies should be but one component. There has to be others.
Policies
need to be targeted at filling in the voids left by weak states and shifting
incentive structures within societies away from the use of violence.
Associated Information
Specific
Steps taken by India
Legislation: Amongst
the specific steps, at the legal level, the Unlawful Activities Prevention
Act (UAPA) was strengthened, reinforced and equipped to handle terrorism in
all its manifestations.
Logistics: The
limitation of inadequate security forces were addressed by opening NSG hubs
at places other than Manesar in order to ensure faster and more effective
reaction to crisis situations.
Intelligence: Intelligence
gathering, sharing and dissemination became a priority and the NATGRID was
established, which is in the process of formalization.
A
Multi Agency Centre was established which is likely to
evolve into the NCTC, thereby honing the inter-agency capability to
fight terrorism.
Diplomacy: At
the diplomatic level as well, India has pushed for international recognition
of terrorism in all its forms and a number of UN Resolutions have been
passed to provide a cohesive effort against terrorism.
Finance: Yet
another initiative has been the targeting of terrorism finance, which has
received an impetus with both the UAPA and Anti Money Laundering
legislations becoming more effective.
Socially: A
long-term step has also been to address the alienation of certain sections of
the population through better integration, concessions, and targeting of
hardline propaganda machinery, both from within and outside the country.
Further Reading
