Terror spares none. United Nations must not drag its feet on defining terrorism
The Manchester attack that claimed the lives of more than 20 people and injured over 50, was one of the deadliest in the history of Britain ever since the 7/7 london bombings in 2005. It was an act that was most brutal, barbaric and horrifying. One can find numerous abbreviations to condemn the attack. One may also offer condolence, flowers etc in memory of the lost lives. Various investigations too will be carried out. And the ultimate truth may be out. And we will soon return to a state of normalcy only to wake up when terror strikes again. But the harsh reality will remain: That we are living in an age of terror. Perhaps, it has become mandatory or even customary for people and leaders to offer condolences. But truly, nothing extraordinary has yet been said or done to sincerely propel leaders of the world to act to curb the growing menace of terrorism. It is also a fact that an attack on a nation-state is an attack on other nations too who have been a victim to similar threats. Terrorism is no longer nation-specific or region-specific. Every act of terrorism in any part of the world is an act of cruelty — the pain of which is felt across the world. More so, an act of terrorism — either by the Islamic State (IS) or the Taliban or the Haqqani Network or the Al Qaeda or the laskhar-eTayeeba — has a common binding factor. All such organisations have one goal: To instill shock and fear in their minds of the people. The attack is not personal. It is but an attack on a nation, on humanity and its values.
In Manchester itself, the fact that the bomber chose a pop concert, packed with children, teenagers and women, is in itself symptomatic of the motive of the attacker. Following the attack, the level of threat in the UK has been raised from “severe” to “critical”. More soldiers have been deployed in view of another attack that looks imminent. Authorities have also traced the links of the slain terrorist. But Britain cannot run away from the fact that terrorism is slowly but gradually spreading its tentacles there. It was only recently that a Parliament attack was averted. The audacity of the 22-year-old man who hit hard at the heart of Manchester cannot be missed. Making a bomb work is no easy game. It requires training and the requisite skills. In this case, there could be two possibilities. First, as investigators have suspected, the attack was very much an IS kind of act. But there has been no concrete evidence that the teenager had links with the IS, though the IS has claimed responsibility. Second, it may also be the case that the teenager may have been influenced by the radical thought of the IS but had on his own carried out this attack. Whatever, only further investigations will bring more clarity to this. There would be no point blaming the agencies for lack of security measures. What is important here is to understand the real motive and the motivation behind such attacks and to come out with a solution to address the problem at the root level. For years, India has been asking the United Nations to reach a definitive narrative on terror. But unfortunately, there has been no agreement on it yet. Hopefully, the Manchester attack will propel UN members to act.