UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

Context

China has blocked a move by India and the US to list Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader Abdul Rauf Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN Security Council.
This is the second time Beijing has resorted to such a step in less than two months.

Global facets of Terrorism

Terrorism is the calculated use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political or social objective.
It has been practiced by political organizations with both rightist and leftist objectives, by nationalistic and religious groups, by revolutionaries, and even by state institutions such as armies, intelligence services, and police.
Various attempts have been made to distinguish among types of terrorist activities. In general, there are three basic facets of terrorism – international terrorism, domestic terrorism and transnational terrorism.

We need to be familiar with these five types of terrorism:

State-Sponsored terrorism, which consists of terrorist acts on a state or government by a state or government.
Dissent terrorism, which are terrorist groups which have rebelled against their government.
Terrorists and the Left and Right, which are groups rooted in political ideology.
Religious terrorism, which are terrorist groups which are extremely religiously motivated and
Criminal Terrorism, which are terrorists acts used to aid in crime and criminal profit.

Terror tactics these days are more modernizing through new technologies such as:

Bio-terrorism: It is the intentional release of biological agents to cause illness or death in humans, animals, or plants. These agents may be bacteria, fungi, toxins, or viruses. They may be naturally occurring or human-modified.
Cyber-terrorism: It is the convergence of cyberspace and terrorism. It refers to unlawful attacks and threats of attacks against computers, networks, and the information stored therein when done to intimidate or coerce a government or its people in furtherance of political or social objectives.

Why do people resort to terrorism?

Individuals and groups choose terrorism as a tactic because it can:

Act as a form of asymmetric warfare in order to directly force a government to agree to demands
Get attention and thus political support for a cause
Directly inspire more people to the cause (such as revolutionary acts) – propaganda of the religion/separatism
Indirectly inspire more people to the cause by provoking a hostile response or over-reaction from enemies to the cause

Somewhere in the roots of domestic terrorism, socio-cultural deprivation remains the prime mover.

Terrorism in India

Following are the types of terrorism which threaten India’s security and internal peace and tranquility.

Ethnic terrorism
Religious terrorism
Ideological terrorism

Ethnic Terrorism: Terrorism based on an identity crisis, resource crisis, and cultural imperialism among various ethnic groups is called ethnic terrorism. It is spread in the northeast region of India.

Religious terrorism: The systematic violence propagated based on religion is called religious terrorism. The feeling of religious superiority is at the root of this terrorism. Religious terrorism in modern times is considered terrorism.

Ideological terrorism: If the purpose of planned violence is motivated by communist elements, it is called Left Terrorism or Naxalism/Maoism.

The UN and its handling of Terrorism

The UN’s counter-terrorism work in recent years can be organized under three headings:

First, a norm-setting role that includes-

the development and promotion of a Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and efforts to counter violent extremism,
a set of international conventions, and
far-reaching UNSC resolutions imposing counter-terrorism obligations on member states;

Second, capacity-building activities to help countries meet some obligations (through FATF and all) and

Third, Security Council-mandated sanctions, in the 1990s, against state sponsors of terrorism, and since 9/11 against hundreds of individuals and entities affiliated with Al Qaida.

The UN has accumulated ample experience and a proven record of success in its efforts to end civil wars over the past two and a half decades.

However, serious questions arise regarding the preparedness of the UN’s conflict management tools, in particular its peace operations, to deliver mandates in countries affected by terrorist insurgencies, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Lebanon.

Limitations to the UN

The U.N. is too political, too uncoordinated, too focused on process rather than outcomes and follow-up, and too far removed from the people who actually deal with the problems of terrorism.

Invocation of a “war on terrorism” and adoption of reflexive security measures renders very serious pressure on any organization such as the UN.
As an intergovernmental organization catering to the needs and driven by the interests of national governments, the UN is constitutionally ill-equipped to implement counter-terror measures.
The UN’s comparative advantage may thus lie in supporting and mobilizing funding for networks that would allow for the sharing of best practices among such local actors.

Why need global action?

Radicalism is the new political capital: The growing presence of religious terrorist groups in many of today’s civil war environments complicates the UN’s peace-making.
Mercenary armies on rise: This is because many of these groups pursue maximalist demands that are very difficult to meet or to incorporate into political settlements based on human rights and democratic governance.
Diplomatic tool to pursue interest: Even where such groups may be motivated primarily by local, legitimate, and reversible grievances, key powers tend to discourage negotiations with them.

India’s action: Leading from the front

India has been fighting insurgency and terrorism since its days of independence.

India has been at the forefront for a call of global action against terrorism which is increasingly becoming a global phenomenon.
India has been calling for the passing of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the UN. CCIT calls for a common definition of terror and the criminalization of international terrorism.
A decade of relentless efforts by India to get Pakistan-based terror master Masood Azhar listed as a global terrorist by the UNSC finally came to fruition in 2019.
India has been successful in drawing attention to its problem of terrorism by casting Pakistan as a breeder and supporter of terrorist organizations. To this testimony, India’s role play at the FATF against Pakistan is globally visible.

This signifies India’s leadership in global counter-terrorism efforts.

Way Forward

Indeed, around the world many governments continued to rely primarily on military and law enforcement tools in their counter-terrorism efforts often to the detriment of human rights and with insufficient attention paid to underlying drivers of extremism.
The world needs to shift its focus primarily from military and law enforcement tools towards a holistic approach.
This is because counter-terrorism efforts often tend to detriment human rights and the least attention is paid to underlying drivers of extremism.

Endorsing the Christchurch Call

Christchurch’s call of action is an initiative named after the New Zealand city where 51 people were killed in an attack on mosques.
The attack highlighted the urgent need for action and enhanced cooperation among the wide range of actors with influence over this issue, including governments, civil society, and online service providers, such as social media companies, to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online.