Are we really helpless?

The Paris massacre is not the first incident of horror in recent times. The Peshawar school massacre in Pakistan, the September 11 attacks in the US, the Mumbai blast and so many other terrorist attacks around the world have created a grave crisis, which the world is not able to handle.

It has become a routine that after every one of such massacres, leaders of various countries condemn the terrorist act in strong terms and take a pledge to wipe out terrorism at any cost. The repeated incidents of such terrorist acts only highlights the fact that such condemnations do not really lead to any better conditions.

Now, the question is why does the world feel so helpless in putting an end to such terrorist acts?

The main problem is the fact that many governments around the world have themselves indulged in promoting divisive forces in different regions at various times to serve their political and economic interests. The present turmoil in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and several other areas of strife such as Kashmir in India have been largely due to the support and encouragement given by different countries to divisive forces.

While the rich and powerful nations, who have now also become vulnerable to terrorist attacks can strengthen their defences, what about the developing countries who grapple with such problems, too? When the strong and rich nations readily condemn terrorist acts when it happens on their soil, they are often hesitant or reluctant to condemn such acts when it takes place in developing countries.

An example is Sri Lanka, which suffered enormously due to terrorist acts and somehow managed to contain it. However, when Sri Lanka took strong action and fought successfully against militants, several Western countries condemned Sri Lanka as violating human rights and passed a resolution in the United Nations (UN), criticising Sri Lanka.

We have the United Nations and the Security Council under it, who can potentially play an effective role in combating the conditions that create terrorism. But, UN itself depends on several countries for it’s own survival and some of these countries have themselves indulged in acts of aggression to protect their interests, thus paving the way for terrorist outfits in different regions.

— The reader is an Indian founder trustee of an NGO based in Chennai, India.