Author: S. Rajagopalan
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: May 22, 2002
India tops the table of "significant
terrorist incidents" during 2001. While the September 11 attacks on the
United States constitute the worst ever in terms of death and devastation,
India has had the most number of incidents, major or minor, catalogued
by the State Department. Its report, 'Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001',
carries a chronology of 123 "significant terrorist incidents" across the
world. Of these, as many as 38 pertain to India, followed by Colombia (9),
Burundi (8) and the Philippines (6).
There were eight incidents in the
Middle East (four in Israel, three in West Bank and one in Gaza).
The report, released today, heaps
praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for his "unprecedented cooperation"
in the US-led war against terrorism, but at the same time casts doubts
on the durability of his crackdown on terror outfits.
As the report puts it: "Pakistani
support for Kashmiri militant groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organisations
waned after September 11. Questions remain, however, whether Musharraf's
'get tough' policy with local militants and his stated pledge to oppose
terrorism anywhere will be fully implemented or sustained."
The 38 attacks on India that have
been chronicled include the most striking one on Parliament on December
13 and the car bomb attack in front of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in
Srinagar on October 1.
"The incidents listed have met the
US Government's Incident Review Panel criteria. An international terrorist
incident is judged significant if it results in loss of life or serious
injury to persons, abduction or kidnapping of persons, major property damage,
and/or is an act or attempted act that could reasonably be expected to
create the conditions noted," explains the report.
Secretary of State Colin Powell,
in his preface, comments: "In 2001, terrorism cast its lethal shadow across
the globe - yet the world's resolve to defeat it has never been greater."
Significantly, Powell emphasises
that the campaign against international terrorism is not only about Afghanistan
and bringing the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks to account. The
terrorist threat is global in scope, so the world's response must be equally
comprehensive. "No country has the luxury of remaining on the sidelines.
There are no sidelines."
