(noun)
the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political or religious aims.
Easter Sunday, 21st April, At least 360 people dead and hundreds more injured due to mass bombings that took place in various churches around Sri Lanka.
Terrorist planned to bomb UK’s largest mosque as a retaliation to the Manchester attack.
Neo-nazi “death cults” are taking in children of just thirteen years of as as well.
Peshawar attack: massacre of innocent children.
These headlines truly pain any rational individual but to raise a discussion regarding terrorism, one has to understand terrorism.
It is a common right-wing belief that terrorism is a product of Islam which, according to them, is an inherently supremacist, hate-ridden cultural belief. This is, of course, untrue as fundamentalism is what causes a small sect people from this as well as all other religions to consider themselves superior to and in control of the lives of all other individuals. One forgets that the attack in New Zealand was an attack on Muslims. Islam does not propagate hate. It is wrongly interpreted by certain Islamic terrorists of in an attempt to use the beautiful religion to justify their gory and macabre crimes.
With respect to the Peshawar attack, no religion condones the killing of innocent children. Not one. It is the fundamentalist, far-right believers that propagate such hateful, toxic ‘nationalism’ of kinds.
Extremism or fundamentalism in any religion will indefinitely breed hatred. This is a fact that right-wing and the traditional, strict religious believers of our country amongst others fail to understand. There is an underlying moral code to every religion that, if interpreted incorrectly, may cause an immense amount of harm to people.
Terrorism may even be politically backed and now, most mass shooters or wishful ‘leaders’ back their agendas using terrorism. The need to be recognised and the power that comes with recognition makes them seek such measure.
Hate-speech, toxic nationalism and mob mentality are three important factors of any terrorist ideologies. Political agendas may be pushed in the form of riots, violent protests or mass shootings.
One needs to consider the origin of terrorism itself to truly understand its meaning and correct their beliefs regarding it. Modern day terrorism truly originated sometime after the World War 2. Conflicts in the Middle East and the attempts of USA to become more powerful in world politics (which can be recognised as the ultimate reason for them to attempt to solve such conflicts also) made for a terrible combination that lead to many disasters, including the formation of ISIS.
The 9/11 attack truly woke America up to terrorism and security concerns etc, making them work to eradicate any threats that they faced in a “war against terrorism”. This was can be considered to be a reason for elongated multi-national conflict in the Middle Eastern and South East regions of Asia as well.
Such attacks may have a religious backing, political one or even one fuelled by bigotry (like the Orlando Attack against gay individuals in a nightclub) and are a huge threat to humanity itself. They have been going on for years and are only getting worse and more frequent which is what begs for strict action to be taken urgently.
Conflicts between states or two religious ideologies can prove to be detrimental to the vision of peace.
Terrorism finds no place in religion in its truest sense. It cannot flourish alongside proper, unbiased education. It is hateful, violent and a result of brainwashing. A single religion cannot be blamed for it. It is the cumulative fault of society.
Nothing good can ever arise from an inherently violent and ugly practice.
Often times it is such that the most common or popular opinions are the factually incorrect or ‘uneducated’ ones. therefore, it is important to educate oneself and make sure they are completely aware of what they choose to express and opinion about. Conferences and Model United Nations, much like DIMUN itself, are a key factor in trying to help the public educate itself on important and relative matters such as this one. It helps propagate truth and thought, both essential for a growth in people and society.
One can use their nationalism, beliefs or religion to impact people positively or negatively. They also have the choice to pollute their beliefs and let cruelty and evil infiltrate into a pure stream of thought.
Through such twisted, sickening and gruesome actions and opinions, a terrorist is born.
