A gruesome terror strike was executed in the heart of Paris on 13th, this November. The strike claimed 129 lives and left as many as 400 injured. The chilling incident brought back the memories of the Charlie Hebdo incident which claimed 12 lives leaving 11 injured and also the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks.
It was a Friday night. People were in a mood to enjoy the evening and try to rejuvenate after working for the week like every other Friday night in Paris. Lesser they knew what the future had in store for them. In a very well coordinated manner, eight fidayeens opened fire and carried out explosions at six different places. It was the second violent attack in Paris within a year; this incident causing greater damage.
Stade de France where a football match was being played between France and Germany and the French President being one of the spectators, two jihadis heavily equipped with a Kalashinokov and other weapons alongwith grenades started firing at both the exits before both of them were neutralized by the security forces. Three were reported to have succumbed to injuries there.
In Bataclan Concert Hall, a play was being portrayed and people were enjoying the art before everything changed and maximum casualties were reported here, numbers reaching 89. Le Carillon restaurant and Le Belle Equipe restaurant were also hit where the terrorists opened fire and gunned down 12 and 19 people respectively. The Boulevard de Voltaire and Rue fontain au Roi claimed one life each.
The attacks were carried out in that part of Paris which is very active during the weekends and at nights. Sports, plays, concerts and night life of Paris seems to be the main target of this attack. The French have taken this incident as an attack on their culture and values.
This attack was indeed an attack on the idea of humanity, liberty and spontaneity of the modern world. French President Francois Hollande promised to strike back at ISIS with new vigour to avenge the deaths. ISIS has claimed the responsibility of this attack and has condemned the steps taken by the US-led forces in their way of establishment of the Caliphate.
All the countries have shown solidarity with Paris. Prime Minister Modi expressed grief and said that India stands with the people of France in dealing with this tragedy. President Obama also showed solidarity and said Liberté, égalité, fraternité were the French values US shared with them. Russian President Vlamidir Putin urged the international community to unite to fight against this evil effectively.
The whole incident called for the condemnation of these terrorist activities in this modern world. ISIS warned of more such attacks throughout the world. France is to hold a global convention on climate change on 30th November this year and it also has to host the UEFA League within six months. These warnings pose serious threats for France.
The attack by ISIS was called a war against France and the French President vowed to strike back with full energy. He said that even if France was wounded, she would rise. This represents the never losing attitude of France.
The security was beefed up in Delhi, Mumbai and other metropolis of the world in the wake of this strike. More security personnels were deployed in Ankara and Antalya in Turkey which is hosting the G-20 Summit this year. The ISIS sponsored global terrorism is said to be on the main agenda of the summit in the wake of the Paris attack.
The Northern countries have been fighting the radicals for the last twenty years. Sometimes these groups are neutralized but many new groups rise from their ashes. These attacks will never end until and unless we consider the roots of the problem. It doesn’t matter how much lives we lose or how much money we spend to counter these terrorists.
We neutralized Taliban from which Al Qaida rose and from Al Qaida the onus has moved on to the ISIS. Boko Haram is posing dangers in Africa. Uyghers are fighting another proxy war in China. India is self sustained in this department even though Pakistan sponsored groups also have made inroads in India. The west is continuously disturbed by the jihadis. Lone wolves have been prying throughout the globe.
Each and every country is spending millions and billions to counter these, but none has succeeded. The main reason for this failure is not entertaining the actual problem. It is a matter of common sense that if you have pain in the legs, then it doesn’t matter how much ointment you apply on your hands, your pain will only subside if you apply this ointment on your legs.
This war against terrorism would not stop until and unless the main concerns are addressed. You kill one, two more will rise. The main reason behind these attacks is the ideology these groups follow. It increases my apprehension that these groups commit these attacks in the name of religion. The jihadis who carried out the massacre in Paris cried out Allahu Akbar before and during their act.
We have already faced the brunt once in the Second World War started by Hitler in the name of race. A lot of destruction was heaved upon the Humanity. We cannot afford another war. We have far more dangerous issues of Global Warming, climatic changes and the detoriating health of the Earth to focus on.
But groups like ISIS, Al Qaida, Taliban, Boko Haram and more of its types have inflicted a war on the rest of us. This is a war for survival. Either we will survive or they will.
ISIS wants to setup its own Caliphate and has already declared Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi as its Caliph. As a result, they are killing all the men in Iraq and Syria and enslaving the females as sex slaves. They have carried out genocide on Kurds, the biggest after the genocide of Kashmiri Pundits. They are killing shias and ahmedis alike and have shown no respite.
As long as their radical ideology remains, the terrorism won’t end. We will obviously face some other sorts of terrorism even after that but the nature of that will be local and not as global as it is now.
Even though it is very difficult to follow this path of sanitization, it is the requirement of the hour to do so. The things that have caused more problems than the solutions should be addressed before the problems destroy each and everything.
It calls for the unity of all like and sane nations together to counter and regulate the effect these agents of terror are imposing on us. Countries should come out in open against these real life monsters and sanctions be imposed on them. Economic boycott would break their spine. Yes, this would lead to some human rights issues in areas captured by ISIS, but if not done, there will be no humans left to consider this issue.
In Bhagwad Geeta, it is written that to save the whole innocent community if some innocents have to pay the price, it is justified. It will be gross on their part but majority will be saved. It is also well said verse that to get something you have to lose something. To get peace for the whole world, some innocents in Iraq and Syria would have to pay the price. The countries should unite and lead a fully fledged war against these groups.
I do acknowledge the fact that all Muslims are not terrorists and it was also well propagated by Mr. Khan when he said, “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist.” But if we do not condemn these groups or have any support in the corner of our heart for them, then yes, we are terrorists even if we have not done something yet. It is time for all of us to unite and disengage with the terrorists and show solidarity with all the civilized mass and help in making our planet a peaceful and a better place to live in.
