When it comes to terrorists, there should not be any mercy shown to them. We should not have any different thought when it comes to terrorism. Any person bearing arms and waging a war against the country is a terrorist and should be eliminated then and there. A terror attack causes nothing but the death of innocent lives, said former Army chief General JJ Singh at an event on Saturday.
Addressing the rising incidence of terrorism in the world and its impact on nations especially India, the Global Counter Terrorism Council(GCTC), a civil society group formed by Executive Editor of CNN News 18 Bhupendra Choubey, who is the chairman of the council, convened its first meeting at the Indian Habitat Centre in the national Capital on Saturday.
The meeting was attended by former Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt, former vice chief of Army staff lieutenant General Phillip Campose and others, including media personalities, who spoke about the various incidents of terror attacks in India and the probable counter measures.
Talking about the failure to tackle terrorism in the nation, especially in Jammu & Kashmir, Bhupendra Choubey, who was also the moderator of the meeting, questioned whether India has an action plan to directly deal with terrorism.
Talking about the action plan of India to deal with terrorism, Singh said, “The idea is to have a plan which is all encompassing. We need an action plan keeping in mind the political, social, religious and ideological impacts it might have. We can also form an anti-ISI cell or counter terrorism cell which means we could attack terrorists in the way they think of attacking us.”
Meanwhile, former Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt said that terrorism can be stopped globally and nationally only if terror outfit ISIS can be properly dealt with.
“Our fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) can be compared to another world war. Terrorism has been promoted under the garb of religion. The constant tension in Kashmir is also due to this. The Kashmir problem can be only be solved if the propagandists of ISIS is properly dealt with,” said Dutt
It was interesting to note that when Choubey while addressing the Kashmir insurgency problem, asked the members of the council whether separatist Burhan Wani was a terrorist or not, everybody strongly called him a terrorist and condemned his act. Some speakers corroborating their statements, said that Burhan Wani had even spoken to Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.
Meanwhile, Phillip Campose, citing his experiences from the Kargil War, said, “The Indian Army has done a good job while tackling insurgency in Kashmir. A proper befitting reply should be given against terrorism from Pakistan. Dialogues and meeting between the Prime Ministers is not the only solution.”