CHAPTER V
COMMUNALISM, FUNDAMENTALISM
AND TERRORISM
Jayaraj ,M K. “ A Study in the perspective of marxian philosophical and sociological
approach on ideological dominance of communalism fundamentalism and terrorism
in kerala since 1980’s”. Thesis, Department of Philosophy, University of Calicut,
2012.
CHAPTER V
COMMUNALISM, FUNDAMENTALISM
AND TERRORISM
The connecting thread of these three phenomena is said to be explicitly
the religion, but in enhancing the influences of these phenomena in a society,
more than all these mentioned phenomena, there should an existence of
ideology, which share or exchange some common interests. Marxist approach
always emphasizes to find out very basic reasons and also possess very
comprehensive outlook in studies. Still, for gather a total vision, each and
every issue has to be examined separately and come to a conclusion. So, in
this chapter, it is attempting to examine pros and cons and also the origin and
evolution of Communalism, Fundamentalism and Terrorism.
V.1 Communalism
Communalism is today the most serious threat to the mankind and its
different forms and nature continuously destructing the civilization of
humanity. Communalism is the consciousness which is prompted by one’s
belonging to a distinctive religious community. Communal roots or similar
events of communal conflicts are behavioural manifestation of that
consciousness. However such events, in turn, intensify the consciousness
itself, and act as strong inputs for crystallization of the consciousness into a
more organized value system or ideology.1 Communalism implies an identity
based on religious community, there can be one type communal identity alone
but there can be several secular identities.2
When engage in enquiry of social problem which is considered as the
consequence of recent economic reformation and globalization, the issue of
communalism cannot be identified exclusively from other associated issues
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like, ethnicity, regionalism, casteisms and other types of sub-national identity.
All these issues are one way or other, the ramification of the main thrust
contention of neo-liberal policies of the globalized world. Hence, it is
required to have a pre-requisite vision to consider the communalism in a
comprehensive perspective.
‘Community’ in India has used for defining religious communities, and
by usage territorial communities have been excluded from this definition.
Instead of going into the semantics of the problem, made use whatever is in
usage. There is no use revising the entire language of politics at this stage.
The revival of community identities in some respects, a universal
phenomenon in the sense that certain forces sharpens every type of ethnic or
religious identity. For modernization facilitates education, expansion of
media, politicization, economic and technological development which in turn
creates a sense of self-awareness among the people. 3 It is also observed that,
due to various forms of social conflicts stemmed from the world wide
economic reformation, lot of groups are marginalized from mainstream
society so to defend these problems psychologically people are more and
more resorted to identify defined groups themselves, like religion, caste,
region etc. This phenomenon creates various gulfs and trough in the social
fabric of the community in general.
It is also important to note, that religion is a social group with which
almost everyone is related through ceremonies, marriages and kinship. Even
those who are agnostics or atheists ultimately get within the fold of the
community by virtue of their kinship ties. Religious faith or religious dogmas
may decline but everybody who joins a community base organization and feel
the urge of community identity, need not be a religious person. Some of the
staunchly religious-minded people, on the other hand, might not be very firm
believe is in a separate identity. Social Science literature in the global context
126
attributes a positive meaning to the term communalism. But in India, this term
has been used to denote a negative phenomenon which has a disastrous
consequence. It is the contention that to avoid confusion and semantic
diversion and to comprehend the phenomenon with greater clarity, either a
new term may be coined or existing term, viz, communalism, be scientifically
defined in the specific historical, political context. 4 A communal situation is
characterized by tensions between culturally distinct but geographically
intermingled communities. Social scientists subscribing to this view further
went on to define religious, caste or other ascriptive groups as communities.
Defining communalism in relation to community is the result of an
understanding which has developed in social science literature in the global
context. In this the term communal has been defined in relation to the
community which means a common identity, accompanied by common
culture, history and interest, and further these characteristic features of the
community have been seen to have their basis in religion. 5 The term
communalism has both negative as well as positive characteristics. For
example, communalism reinforces the commonality of interest of one
religious, castiest or other ascriptive group and, at the same time, highlights
divergent and even and at the same time, highlights divergent and even
antagonist aspects vis-à-vis other religious, caste or ascriptive groups. In other
words, it reinforces the intra-group unity or commonality, but highlights the
inter-group differentiation and antagonisms. The new meaning which the term
communalism has required, particularly in the Indian context and its well
accepted meaning in social science literature, has been contradictory. This has
resulted in an erraneous understanding of the social phenomenon.
To understand communalism it no doubt necessary to recognize the
religious factors as an important component, but it will be hazardous to accept
the notion of Hindu interest, Muslim interest or Christian interest so on.
Communalism is an ideology which derives its existence and persistence from
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the specific Scio-economic conditions prevailing in a society. Communalism
operates through traditional and modern structures.6 The following are some
of the distinctive features of communalism.
The inherent notion of
communalism is the inter-group differences and intra-group commonality of
secular interest having their basis in religious, castiest or other ascriptive
group aggregation. In other words, communalism underplays an homogenous
and common aspects shares by members of different religious, castiest or
ascriptive groups and highlight their differences. For instance, communalist
use religion as an instrument to cement to communal monoliths. Communal
propaganda projects the communality of social, political and economic
interests of all members of a particular religious, castiest or other ascriptive
groups. It creates an illusion of the universal content of the secular interest of
unequal individual members of the religious group. Once this notion is
rejected there can be no question about secular needs, aspirations and
expectations of different religious groups being divergent and dissimilar.
Therefore, it will be wrong to categories communalism as Hindu, Christian or
Muslim. The right approach is to identify the basis of particular communal
moblisation.
The general perception prevailing in social scientists and other experts
that, the British colonialism may have used and perpetuated the existing
reality of suspicion, fear and insecurity prevalent amongst various religious
castiest or ethnic groups. But to say that it is the colonial mode of production
which has caused the emergence of the phenomenon of communalism may
not be a valid generalization.
7
There were three aspects of the communal
problem in colonial India. One was the creation and use by the reactionaries.
The landed interests and reactionaries endeavoured to divert energy from the
anti-imperialist struggle; and endeavouring so to disrupt and to vitiate Indian
corporate life so as to render it demoralized and helpless. Secondly, there are
the bourgeois forces, divided among themselves and each struggling for
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power; for freedom from domination from above, for freedom to dominate
below. Thirdly, there are the masses of the people with, their major thrust
towards freedom.8
For the Indian leadership communalism was a kind of an aberration.
They thought that communalism would get subsumed in the process of
industrialization and with the penetration of science and technology. The
objective of the theorization was mainly to study communalism in relation to
nationalism and colonialism. A dynamic analysis of the phenomenon with its
specific context may have helped to understand it in a more comprehensive
and in-depth way. But it was thought that since communalism was precapitalist notion, would get eroded after independence. 9 The perspective was
that with the initiation of the process of development of science, technology,
industry and with the steady spread of literacy, communalism and other such
retrogressive tendencies would automatically get subsumed and would lead
ultimately to the emergence of a new kind of social and economic groupings
and identities, undercutting the base upon which communal-social relations
and polities rest. Consequently, in the initial years after independence, ie. up
to sixties, social science
researches paid scant attention to study
communalism.10 By identifying communalism at a single point locus it loses
sight of a whole spectrum in which communalism manifests itself, and in
locating it at a point of tension, its silent manifestation goes unnoticed. The
threat posed to class politics by the institutionalization of communalism was
one of the main factors which attracted the attention of social scientists and
activists. 11 Communalism is one ideology which can be influence nationwide,
binding majority of the people, diverting their attention from the real issues
and securing the interests of the ruling classes. This is the reason why even
the ruling party is coming out more and more openly with its communal bias.
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The systematic and scientific study of communalism is imperative, not
merely because of its potential to disintegrate the nation on communal lines,
but mainly because it is a distorted, mystified and unscientific view of social
reality. Communalism blurs real contradiction of society. In other word, it
tries to mystify the real placement of individuals in society, for instance,
communal gives a false pretensions.
12
Communalism highlights only those
aspects of religion which are antagonistic rather than those that are humanistic
universal. In this way, it becomes easier for the communalist to use the grab
of religion to articulate their interests. The focus of communalist propaganda
is, therefore, based on differences between religious, casteist or other
ascriptive groups.
The communalist ignores or pretends ignorance of the common
cultural heritage. History and language which are shared by the people and
which transcends religious castiest or other ascriptive group differences. Not
only this, the continual propagation and subsequent inculcation of communal
ideology among workers tend to divide them and hamper their struggle for
better life. It also leads to the perpetuation of the inequitable division of
labour by restricting the formation of the skills to particular religious, castiest
or other ascritpive groups. This multiplies the sense of discrimination and
feelings of deprivation, which end in hatred, suspicion, or listing against the
groups identified on the basis of communal understanding of reality. The
elements of communal ideology constitute one of the necessary conditions for
the persistence of communalism. In the absence of these elements of ideology,
communalism can not occur or persists. Communalists do not question the
social system which fails to generate adequate opportunities for employment
instead, communalists, seek realization of available scarce job opportunities
along religious casteist or other ascriptive group lines.
13
Like fascism,
communalism also blurs the real issues and conflicts of society. The function
of communal ideology is to conceal the real character of the conflicts by
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providing mystified motives and banners and misplaced targets. For example,
the conflicts between big and small capital, between landlords and farmers
has been often concealed by communal ideology under the cover of religious
or caste conflicts. 14
There is no doubt that communalism has incorporated some of the
traditional ideological elements, but the content of present-day communalism
derive its life force from the new system of production and ideology. For
instance, in Punjab, the nature of industrialization and agricultural
development has given birth to a rural and urban bourgeoisie at the regional
level. Relative stagnation in agriculture and lopsided industrial development
provide meager scope for the expansion of investment opportunities in
Industry and trade. The persistence of communal ideology has provided a tool
to sectional interests to exploit and mobilize the emerging regional
bourgeoisie along communal lines for maintaining and enhancing their
economic and political power.15 It can not be seen in isolation. Also, studies of
many riots clearly establish that the unemployed youth mainly participating in
arson and looting. It gives them temporary relief from economic misery.
During the Mumbai riots of December 1992 and January 1993 several items
were generally losted by the rioters. Communalists try to sublimate, to use
Freudian terminology, the economical and social frustration of their respective
youth. To build up a comprehensive theory of communal riots, it must be
noted that in every riot there are micro as well as macro factors involved. The
macro factors are often of ideological nature and have nationwide sweep. The
micro factors may be non-ideological and of local nature. But both macro as
well as micro factors are integrally connected with the process of socioeconomic developments in the country. A social scientist has to take serious
notes of the basic change in order to grapple with the changes in the superstructure. It is a dialectical process. 16
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The changes taking place affects the superstructure and changes in the
superstructure affect the base. However, it will be wrong to establish a one-toone relationship between base and the superstructure in a mechanical sense.
To understand the nature of communal violence, one has to understand the
role of various classes, social organizations, political parties communal as
well as secular and the aspirations of the elites of the communities involved in
the conflict. It should also be borne in mind that contrary to the impression
carried by people in general, religion is not the root cause of the communal
conflict, it is rather a powerful instrument in the hands of those interest which
seek to play their game through it. Thus communalism is mainly born out of
issues like controlling political or economic power through exploitation of
religious sentiments of one’s own community. It is believe that the
fundamental cause of communalism is political and religion is the only an
instrument cause.17
All social scientist agree that communalism is an urban phenomenon
rooted among the petty bourgeoisie. In a backward society, it is among this
class that traditional religions has greatest appeal. Another important
characteristic of petty bourgeois class is its tendency to submit to the
authority. This tendency is taken advantage of by the communal parties who
develop anti-democratic authoritarian structures. Another problem at the
macro level should be taken into account for developing the theory of
communal conflict is that socio-economic changes, especially in a traditionbound society, being about a deep sense of insecurity among those strata of
society which adversely affected by it. Working as well as pretty bourgeois
are usually the worst affected in such a situation. They are tradition-prone and
the sense of insecurity accompanying socio-economic changes reinforces this
tendency among them. Thus they fertile grounds for religious, revivalist
movements.18 On the contrary, the sense of insecurity generated by such
socio-economic changes for sizable section of the society increases appeal of
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religion by providing solace and reducing psychological stresses involved.
The recent rise of religious fundamentalism must be seen in this perspective.
However, there are two categories of religious revivalism and fundamentalism
as far as the Indian socio-religious scene is concerned. 19
The ruling classes even otherwise encourage such trends as these
irrational cults generates illusions and false consciousness among the masses,
thus providing at least temporary stability to the crisis ridden economic
system. However, these cults and frauds do not directly lead to promotion of
communal conflict in the society as they ostensibly keep out of the political
arena. In the second category ie, religious fundamentalism, are inherent in the
movement like Vishwa Hindu Parishath and rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
These movements have political ambitions and reflects the rising ambitions of
petty bourgeois classes in society. Here the religious revivalism has clearly
directed political goals. 20 In the contemporary world, violence has to find a
material justification rather than being rooted in a purely religious one. While
these justifications have some religious ramifications, these are basically
materialists. Two sources have contributed mostly towards disturbing the
equilibrium created between social relationships that have existed for many
years. There are the changes in production relations and democracy.
21
Capitalist methods of production have not only brought about changes like the
development of cities, the creation of modern and fast modes of
transportation, universalisation of education, equality of education, equality
of sexes etc., but also have given birth to imperialism, colonialism , wars and
social system based on exploitation and inequality. Nationally, these changes
have created tensions that the world had not earlier known. People are now
looking for material causes and solutions for their problems rather than being
satisfied with other world by ones like divine intervention, fate, rebirth,
heaven and hell. As an institution, democracy has also challenged the
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assertion those who claim divine sanction for social inequality and their
efforts to justify it.
Communalism is the most effective intervention on the part of ruling
classes to maintain their supremacy in the contemporary world. By the use of
the weapon of communalism, the ruling classes place certain “solutions” of
their worldly problems before the oppressed people in such a cunning way
that instead of organizing themselves against their oppressions, they fight
amongst themselves. Tension based on material factors developed more
sharply in the Indian society after the arrival of the British. These new
tensions were national during the transition of the century from feudal society
based on agriculture and handicrafts to an industrial capitalist society. The
Malabar revolt, which broken up in the year 1921 in north Kerala was one
such movement to substantiate this statements. 22 People are more vulnerable
today to the ideology of communalism mainly because religion provides all
the inputs for intensifying frustration among the poor. For the non-poor, or the
relatively affluent, the urban groups in particular, it is mainly the alienation
that is fed by consumer’s psychology. Consumerism creates a mind which
motivates one to pursue one’s own interest as the almost exclusive objective
of life. A kind of seclusionist individualism comes to be accepted as a virtue.
In the process, however, the individual becomes increasingly alienated, and he
seeks some redemption in a new kind of mysticism. Practicing religion,
religion-related rituals in particular, then becomes a part of the daily routine
of a larger and larger number. The new generation man-gods, who are widely
appearing in Indian society offer to provide peace and contentment , have
took the space of alienation and loneliness which are mainly the reflection of
psychological stress produced by the economic and social situation
contributed Globalization. Eventually, for stick on in the community with
popular support these man-gods turns to the propagators of religion and
finally resorted communalism.
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It is against this background that articulation of communalism as an
ideology has become institutionalized through political behaviour, the formal
system of education, the media, communal riots, on the acts of various
components of the state. That is the social-cultural environment in which the
new-found preparation of religious identity among a large section of the urban
affluent has intensified communalist consciousness. It may be a mere
coincidence in time, but the new phase of communalism in India has evolved
almost during some period when ‘consumer revolution’ and ‘stock market
revolution’ have been ushered in by state policy. It is difficult to say that
communalism has made deep inroads into the consciousness of the poor, the
rural poor in particular. Communal formation attempt build up new gods –
new because the poor’s god is not the respectable member of the well-known
Hindu Pantheon. But such gods are superimposed and the poor’s own folk
gods or folk mythology is pushed into the back ground. In essence a new
sacred lext is introduced through symbolism and persistent projection of an
enemy belonging to another religion.
Communalism in its present phase can be understood only by placing it
on the foundation that has been laid by the specific character of capitalism in
India. No aspect of the Indian social reality, or its dynamics can be
comprehended without, reference to that foundation viewed in the context of
that foundation, the role of the new economic policy with forced globalization
of India on its agenda becomes more clearly visible. It can only strengthen the
objective basis for communalist consciousness, unless the general democratic
movement
and
organized
ideological
pursuit
provide
an
alternate
environment. 23 Communalism is not spreading due to any inherent strength of
its own. On the contrary, the secular parties have been retreating before it
without giving it any real or tough fight. The very word communalism is
being used as an all comprehensive all inclusive term. Many things which are
not in fact communal, though they might also have a communal comport are
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described as communal. Communalism has become a part of our economic
situation. When factories close down and workers are thrown out of work,
there is tension which then tends to assume communal tones. But it is really
economic distress that creates the tension. Since it is ignore this underlying
reality, we get a misconception when communalism is very largely and
disproportionately magnified and appears larger than it really is.
The
communal parties have full faith in their ideology. They clearly declare that
they are communal. They openly preach and practice it. They use slogans,
they shout, they deflect every situation in their favour. The communal parties
are active and single-minded fervour, treading the selected path. Their success
provide them with opportunities for still newer strategies. The secular parties
are stuck in their discussions and seminars, where as the communal parties
evolve their strategies in social action. The strategies made by secular parties
in their discussions when taken to the actual field of action, flop and prove
ineffective. 24
V.1a Communalism in India
Communalism is today the most serious threat facing the Indian people
and India as a nation. It can tear apart Indian society and become a menace to
the hard-won unity of the Indian people, and unleash forces barbarism, as it
did recently in Orissa, Karnataka and early in Gujarath, Bombay, Jabalpur,
Bhagalpur, Meerut, Moradabad, Punjab and Delhi. 25 It is no longer a local or
regional phenomenon. It has become a nation-wide phenomenon as the
electoral success of the BJP and growth of other front organization of RSS
during the last few years indicates. It breaks out in violent from sometimes
here, sometimes there but, with varying degrees of intensity, it has begun to
pervade the entire country. Communalization of India has been occurring for
over 100 years, actively encouraged for the 50 years before independence by
the colonial rulers. De-communalization has also, therefore, to be a process.
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The Indian national movement and the congress had firmly, though not fully
successfully, opposed communalism. Gandhiji’s assassination in January 1948
had led to revulsion against communalism generated during partition riots of
1946-47. During 1951-52, Jawaharlal Nehru had made communalism a major
election issue and marginalized the communal parties. But the struggle against
communalism has to be initiated afresh as it has been more or less neglected
since then.26
Simply put communalism is based on the assumption that Indian
society is divided into religious communities whose interests not only differ
but are even opposed to each other. Communalism starts with the belief that in
India people can be organized and grouped together for secular that is
economic and political as also social and cultural purposes, only around their
religious identities. They form not only religious but also political
communities. This belief is the starting point of communalism. Next people
belonging to different religion based communities are seen as having different
secular interests. This is the communalism that prevailed in India from the end
of the 19th century till 1936. It may be described as liberal communalism. 27
Today the Akali Dal, the Muslim League in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and
Kerala Congress in Kerala from the liberal communalists. Moreover liberal
communalism constituted a part of the ideological framework of many
individually including many followers of the BJP. After 1937 communalism
entered phase that may be described as extreme or fascist communication
based on lies, hatred and violence. The extreme communalists argued that not
only were the interests of Hindus and Muslims divergent, they were mutually
antagonists and therefore irreconcilable consequently one religious group.
And so the phase of mutual hatred and malice and separation on religious
ground began. Jinnah and Musilm League argued that India consisted of two
nations – Hindu and Muslim – which could not coexist in the same state. VD
Savarkar of the Hindu Mahasabha and M.S Golwalkar of RSS, at the
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sametime, argued that India consisted of one nation, the Hindu nation, with
Muslims forming foreign element in the land (They held that Sikhs, Budhists
and Jains were Hindus and therefore part of the Hindu nation.). The Muslim
communalists would divide the country formally in to two states, the Hindu
communalists would create a state in which the religious minorities would
lead a subordinate, subservient, second-class existence. 28 After independence
extreme communalism has been represented by the RSS and its front
organizations, the extreme Sikh communalists, such as Bhindranwala and his
followers, and Jamaat-Islami. Most of the members of the BJP are liberal
communalists and not extreme communalists, however, its ideologies and
organizers, trained by the RSS, belong to the latter category. The Socioeconomic condition in the country continue to favour communalism. The
Indian economy has grown at less than the required rate, so that the problems
of unemployment and inequality have grown, breeding frustration and social
anxiety among the people. There has grown unhealthy competition for the
available economic opportunities and resources. This is so, in particular, in the
case of the middle classes, increasingly engulfed by the all-embracing desire
for modern consumer goods.
V.1b Communalism an Ideology
Communalism is basically an ideology. By ideology it mean a belief
system as inter-related assumptions through which polity or society are
viewed communalism, in other words, a way of looking at politics and society
and politics organized around that ideology. 29 Also, the communal leaders and
ideologies are primarily interested in spreading the communal belief system
or ways of thought that is ideology. Other aspects of communal activity are
secondary and follow from the basic communal ideology.
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V.1c Difference between communalism and communal violence
Communal ideology leads in many cases to communal violence and
riots. But the former is primary and the cause, the latter is violence, ie the
consequence. Rioting, looting and killing and other forms of communal
violence are contingent forms of communal thinking. A communal riot or
pogrom with the suddenness of its out break, its cruelty, viciousness,
inhumanity, beastliness and barbarity and its toll of many deed and large-scale
destruction property hits the headlines and compels us to pay attention. But, in
fact, it is an episode consequence of the prior spread of communal ideology, a
concrete manifestation and product of prior communalization of the people, of
the poisoning of the people’s mind through the spread of communal belief
system, so that happenings sparks a communal outburst.
It is important to keep in view that communal ideology can prevail
without violence but communal violence can seldom take place without prior
spread of communal ideology. No doubt, communal violence acts as a means
of spreading communal ideology hot-house fashion. That is one reason the
communalists take recourse to it- after all even they know that they cannot
eliminate or do long-term serious harm to the other religious community
through rioting and other forms of violence.30
But under no circumstances should one equate communal violence and
communal ideology. Communal violence is not the heart of communalism.
Communal violence ie, of course, a consequence of the spread of communal
thinking, but it is not the crux of the communal situation. Communal ideology
can not only exist but grow and prevail for decades and yet not take the form
of violence.
Gujarat violence of February-March 2002 which horrified the entire
nation, was the consequence of the prior spread of communal ideology way of
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thinking of through BJP’s and RSS’s propaganda machinery, school books
etc., for several years earlier. The tragedy is that secular persons tend to get
aroused only when communal violence occurs on large enough scale to make
a big impact on our conscience, but to remain passive in the period when
communal ideology spreading, and to go back to apathy one communal
violence subsides. This is also what happened in the case of Babri Masjid
offer which was brewing since 1983 but was completely ignored by secular
persons and forces till 1986 and in fact, till 1989. 31
The difference between communal ideology and communal violence is
crucial because the two have to be dealt with differently and have different
relations with the state. Eradication of communal ideology is a long term
phenomenon. Communal violence require an immediate answer, but this
should be followed by a long-term ideological struggle against communalism
as a belief system.
The phenomena, Communalism has been dealt with the detail and the
issues related to the influence of Capital force and globalization in this regard
is the matter of more concern in contemporary social life. It is evident that the
rate of communal incidence in India is in higher rate after the inception of
globalization era in India. The ideology of communalism existing strongly in
all walks of Kerala life more than earlier period. Due to some social and
political reasons, the out-burst of communal riots are not frequent in Kerala
like other north Indian states. What is important is that the influence of
communalism as an ideology in social life of Kerala has enhanced, and the
reason of that may be various and anyhow, the globalized world context has
contributed significant energy to this end.
Fundamentalism is closely related terminology to communalism and
terrorism, still, the word is not much familiar and the connotation bearing this
terminology having complex meaning and spirit. The relationship between
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communalism and fundamentalism has directly connected to the religion, so
in this study, the close evaluations of the phenomena is more fundamental.
V.2 Fundamentalism
V.2a Religion in Society
Fundamentalism is many a times used for the idea of going back to the
fundamental of religions. As a social phenomenon it does not convey the full
meaning of the term.
In broad sense the term denotes those religious
movements, which claim doctrines to be immutable and deman from believers
a ulteral acceptance of the tenets of religion contained in the sacred books as
interpreted by them.
Fundamentalism rejects attempts at rational
interpretation and prefers blind faith to the arguments based on reason. It
demands a blind, strict observance of all traditional religious prescriptions. 32
There are three basic trends in this phenomenon, “first, fundamentalisms are
inevitably political. Secondly, fundamentalist movements are also genuinely
religious”. It will fail to understand these movements if neglect its irreducible
religious dimension. Thirdly religious fundamentalism are hegemonic, antipluralist movements that are constrained in their impact by the conflicting
demands made upon them by their dual Identity as inherently religious and
inherently political entities. 33
In a way fundamentalism is a strategy of vested interests of society
who stand to oppose social transformation. This they do in the form of
revival of set of doctrines from scriptures on religious traditions, which they
project to be opposed to the changes society is witnessing. They oppose the
changes in the name of defending the faith of belabored religious community,
whose identity is threatened as per them. In order to preserve this identity the
social norms of the era gone-by are reasserted. The retrieval of doctrines is
very selective.
These `fundamentals’ are redefined as per their social
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contingency. Essentially this exercise aims to fend off the new set of social
values, which threaten status quo. And all this is done in a religious language
for better effect. It does not intend an artificial imposition of old practices and
life styles nor does it aim a simple return to a sacred past, a golden era. 34
“instead religious identity thus renewed becomes exclusive and absolute basis
for recreated political and social order that is oriented to future rather than the
past. By selection elements of tradition and modernity, fundamentalists seek
to remake the world in the service of dual commitment to the unfolding
eschatological drama (by returning all things in submission of the divine) and
self preservation.35
Fundamentalists are involved with political life even
when they attempt to preserve their separateness from secular society. They
do participate in the matters related to modernization, development, political
structure etc.
Thus it can be inferred that it is a social movement targeting against
liberal values of society against society’s potential march towards nonhierarchical relationships. It is an imposition of retrograde conservative
values, selectively culled out from religious books or practices. It suppresses
the fact that there is no homogeneity with religions and construct the version
of religion suitable for vested interests. Despite the superficial opposition
between different fundamentalisms they share these basic creeds, each claims
that there is only true creed based on divine law. All fundamentalisms feel
threatened by pluralism.
This phenomenon increases the intensity of its
appeal, it creates hysteria against an imaginary or real enemy. In Soudi Arabia
it is targeted against women, in India, against Muslims and Christians, Iran,
previous ruler Raza Shah was used as a whipping Boy. 36 Fundamentalism has
been added to the vocabulary of a great many more people worldwide through
the increased attention to activities identified as fundamentalist as social
scientists. The term itself is certainly not new. Its use and applicability have
been extended beyond the conservative.
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Protestants in America whom
labeled the “fundamentalists” early in the twentieth century.
Jewish
fundamentalists began to organize with the initiation of Jewish resettlement in
Israel in the 1920’s but they became particularly noticeable after the
achievement of Jewish statehood in 1948. Muslim fundamentalism emerged
as an indentifiable movement and named as such in the 1970’s when the Shah
of Iran was deposed and the religious leader, the Ayalollah Khameini,
assumed control. (though, in respect, historians see fundamentalist movement
in Islam well before Khomeini).
Fundamentalism is a title worn with pride by those Christians who
have been placed by others under that title. The ultimate source of the term
was the publication, beginning in 1910, of the conservative Christian’s
manifesto in twelve volume titled `The Fundamentalist’. 37 This publication
was the capstone to a series of Bible conferences held by Christians
conservatives through out the country between 1876 and 1900, which Casper
views as “embryonic Stirrings” of the fundamentalist movement.
The
“Fundamentals” included the basic (fundamental) Christian doctrines that
many said one must accept and believe.
But fundamentalism is a new
designation for those Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus and others
whom Sociologists, Historians, philosophers, and other scholars include under
that title today. 38 Although fundamentalism has been recognized as such for
nearly a century, it is nonetheless a relatively recent phenomenon if we put it
is the context of the many centuries recorded history that have preceded us.
This is so because most scholars agree that fundamentalism is usually a
reaction to events and changes that have occurred in the modern world.
Fundamentalism is, then, reactive and wants to restore what has been lost or
discarded in the face of changes that modernization has made. To return to
the “good old days” requires, first, the realization that you have moved
beyond those days and the change has occurred.
39
There were no
fundamentalists in a pure sense prior to modernization. Modernisation has
143
been ushered in through the tremendous growth in technology that includes
most of what we see and use around us- the telephone, internet, radio,
automobile, modern medicine, organ transplants. Fundamentalists use all of
this technology it is at that point, where enthusiastic modernists rejects not
only the only technology but the old world views and explanations of reality,
that the fundamentalists want to return to the old core beliefs and principles.
Fundamentalism is a predictable response of some people in any
culture one way to name to one or more manifestations of modernity. Peter
Berger summarizes modernity as a set of five developments.
40
1-There is a
development of abstraction. By that he means, one sees the movement to
large cities of many uprooted anonymous people who work in large
bureaucracies or work at machines that do what had for millennia been done
by people having pride their careful handwork. Such abstraction and
reduction of the significance of the individual citizen in deferent to the
anonymous city, work place, and governmental authority produced what
Emilie Durkheim called “Anomie” and Karl Marx called “alienation”.
1.
Development of an emphasis on futurity
2.
Process of Individualism
3.
There is liberation
Peter Berger says, “Tradition is no longer binding: the states …..can be
changed; the future is an open horizon”. While this opening up of options and
choices can be exhilarating and liberating, it can also bring terror and anguish
in the face of uncertainty and choices one must make all around.
4.
Secularization
Religion and religious explanations have been relegated to restricted
sphere of life, and science and reason are used to explain most of what we
wonder about.
41
In the face of such liberation and secularization, which
144
comes with modernity, the answers fundamentalists provide are attractive to
many people. Fundamentalism says that the liberation from tradition and the
secularization that relegates God to being simply one among several
explanations for reality must be resisted and overcome.
V.2b Religious & Political Fundamentalism
The political fundamentalism have added political activism to their
agenda and are no longer solely religious in their message and objectives. It is
aware of the strong political character of Hindu and Islamic fundamentalism.
In fact, to the outsides of Iranian dictatorship of the Ayatollah Khomeini in the
1980’s might have looked totally political and not religious at all.
Fundamental Hidutva is not the Hinduism practiced by millions of people. 42
Hindutva is an imaginary Hinduism which is essentially extra-historical,
extra-religious and is a political credo for those who want to make much of
the ideology for their political ends. One does not usually thing of Protestant
fundamentalism as highly political-nonetheless, the political dimension
appeared early and has been continued. 43 One early example in United States
rebellious involvement in the temperance movement that led to the Eighteenth
Amendment in 1919, which then ushered in the prohibition era in the United
States. That was very effective political movement that had strong religious
roots. Recently there was an active involvement of fundamentalist in the
defeat of liberal U.S. Senators, an electing people to Congress who are
committed to fundamentalist values, and in becoming highly assertive in the
battle over abortion. In short, religious fundamentalism often expresses itself
on political issues and pursues political ends.44
Religion that contributed the term “fundamentalism”, namely
protestant fundamentalism.45 The primary stimuli for the emerging
fundamentalist concern were, first, what they viewed as increasing secularism
in the society. This is lined up with the advancement of science and the
145
increasing confidence in the inductive scientific method of attaining truth at
the expense of deduction from standard repository of truth such as bible. Of
concern to them also were such developments as the dissemination of the
Marxist social philosophy, the spread of the accounts of Darwin and others
concerning the evolution of people and their world, and increasing
independence of society’s institutions from religious influence. On liberalism
was creeping to all fronts of the evangelist and in effort to combat this and
restore Christianity to what they regarded as its original nature and message,
many Evangelicals coalesced around the publication, beginning in 1910, of
the “The Fundamentals” exposited five central doctrines and an additional
four that could more or less be inferred from the central five. The five were
1.
The verbal and inerrant inspiration of the Bible.
2.
The virgin birth of the Jesus Christ.
3.
The substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.
4.
Bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
5.
The imminent second coming of Jesus Christ.
The four related doctrines are
1.
The deity of Jesus
2.
Sinful nature of humanity
3.
Salvation by faith through the free grace of god.
4.
The expectations of the bodily resurrected of true believers on last
day.46
Following the World War II, many fundamentalists joined the
anticommunist crusade that linked them with right-wing political groups. The
movement of such political group was based on such ideas as opposition to
communism and socialism in almost any form.
The association of
fundamentalist Protestant theology and right wing politics ushered
146
anticommunist crusade that linked them with right-wing political groups. The
movement of such political group was based on such ideas as opposition to
communism and socialism in almost any form.
fundamentalist
protestant
theology
and
The association of
right-wing
politics
ushered
anticommunist crusades in the 1950s and 1960s. As Janses and Eismann
state: “Ultra conservative leaders have had considerable success, simply by
perching anticommunism, in rallying not only religious fundamentalists
concerned
about
heresy
but
also
political,
economic
and
social
fundamentalists concerned about liberal trends that are threatening their
values”. 47
Some of the radical right groups tried to remain aloof from religion –
Robert welch’s John Birch Society, for one. Welch did not reveal his personal
religious conviction, if any, and said that he did not car what religion a person
was. His ultimate appeal was not to religious beliefs but to what he viewed as
fundamental American values. Other prominent right wing political groups,
however, made an intimate connection between the two Fred.C Schartz’s
Christian Anti-communist Crusade, Billy James Hargis’s Christian Crusade,
and Carl McIntires “20th century Reformation Hour” were major groups with
deep roots in Protestant fundamentalism.
As Hargis had said, “I fight
communism … because it is part of my ordination vows, of my creed. In his
publication, Christian Crusade, he states.”
48
The very fact that Christian
crusade has existed through fourteen years of opposition from powerful forces
in high and low circles is proof that it is of God….. I know we are on the right
track, getting the job done for Jesus.”
In discussing the connection between religion and politics that trend to
exist among radical right groups, Murray Havens states that most of these
groups” would substitute for religious tolerance an insistence on uniform
147
acceptance not only of Christianity but of their particular highly dogmatic
version of Christianity. 49
It is interesting that while most authors who have analyzed radical
right groups note the congruence and close association between right wing
political views and fundamentalist Protestant religion.
One is simplistic
dualism. The fundamentalist sees only two categories good and evil, with
nothing in between. The radical right winger of the 1950s saw fellow citizens
as either Americans or communists, one or the other. Another characteristic
of both fundamentalism and radical right philosophy is a conspiratorial view
of the world. Satan conspires to detour people from the path of righteousness;
communism does the same.
Communism actually becomes the Devil
personified – or better, politicized. Politics thus becomes a crusade, and one’s
patriotism proof of a mature Christianity.
Heilman and Friedman50 described fundamentalist Jews in ways that
are both similar to and different from descriptions of protestant
fundamentalists. They are similar in that they believe the fundamental truths
of their religion are unchanging and their religion as lived and applied today
is part of an unbroken tradition that began with old Testament prophets and
moved through history until today. But they are quick to note that an
important ingredient is not necessarily implicit in what has just been
described as unchanging doctrine and practice. That is “a refusal to endorse
or legitimate contemporary western culture”. 51
V.2c Islamic Fundamentalism
There are always two foci in Islamic fundamentalism. The one can be
viewed as religious focus and it contains the perspectives and the language
and terminology that constitute the fundamentalist religious rhetoric. The
other is more pure political. While other fundamentalism always include both
148
the religious and political dimensions, such a dual emphasis and application is
particularly prominent in Islam and the societies where Islam is dominant.
This duality could not be more evident than in the fundamentalism
represented by modern day Iran, and the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini.
While much of the rhetoric has been religious and calls for a return to pure,
original Islam, the motivation for such rhetoric stems in large measure from
opposition to Western forces that exerted economic and political influence and
that has shored up repressive political regimes. It is more than an appeal to
return to the fundamentals of religion; it is also a call to restore political and
economic independence and rule by the citizenry.
In fact, while for many
observes the Ayatollah Khomeini epitomized the Islamic fundamentalist 52,
many would agree that he should really not have been called fundamentalist at
all. He came to power not because he proposed “fundamentalist” concerns
but because he emphasized “a host of highly sensitive economic, social and
political issues, and in doing so, developed a new Islam that could be
described as the Iranian version of political populism”.
53
Khomeini clearly
was not a pure fundamentalist in that he was part political revolutionary and
Social reformer as well as religious leader.
V.2d Hindu fundamentalism
With increase in the communalization of society the fundamentalist
components of sangh parivar, an Hindutva agglomeration in India, have
started influencing the society. Here have been deliberately propagated that
Islam is the base of fundamentalism but it is missed out that any religion can
be made the base of this phenomenon. The point that only semitic religions
can provide the ground for fundamentalism is taken care by semitizing
Hinduism itself. As such the Brahminical stream has been the dominant
stream in Hinduism. During last two decades and so projecting Ram as the
holy deity, Vedas as the holly books, and Acharyas as the holy clergy have
149
achieved the semitization process of Hinduism.
The Sangh Parivar
phenomenon exhibits features of both fundamentalism and fascism. 54
As per the formulation of Hindutra fundamentalism, like the global one
which exists everywhere in post-industrial societies, has been generated by
the system of advanced capitalism or late capitalism. In third world countries
it is in a manifest forms in contrast to the latent form in advanced countries.
Bapat55 feels that due to lack of power of public opinion of the progressive
world at the turn of century, the first world is making every attempt to put
fundamentalism on the top of the agenda for the world politics and even for
military purposes. After the decades of 60s and 70s, which constituted the
years triumph of socialism and also of emancipatory nationalism, the next two
decades marked the beginning of revivalism and fundamentalism. Originally
fundamentalism developed in America where capitalism faced a lot of turmoil
from 1870 to 1930.56 Similarly other countries, when faced with severe
economic crisis came up with the fundamentalist response from some sectors
of society. In America this fundamentalist response came in the form of a
movement which asserted the revivalist trend to identify “essential absolute”
to enable American citizens to take on the forces of darkness. Bapat makes a
pertinent point that since 1818, Maharashtra, amongst all the Indian states has
served as a kind of hot house for sustaining all kinds of orthodoxy, revivalism,
fundamentalism and communalism, particularly of Hindutva variety.
To begin with fundamentalist Hindutva is not the Hinduism practiced
by millions of people. Hindutva is an imaginary Hinduism which is
essentially extra-historical, extra-religious and political credo for those who
want to make much of the ideology for their political ends.
This
fundamentalism is neither based on traditional modes of thought nor traditions
as they existed. They win over people by propagation of “manufactured
traditions”.57 They adopt the gain of modernity, science, technology, weaponry
150
and industrial production. It wants a modern apparatus of life without the
necessary relations between human beings, which would give them space to
struggle for their rights. In nutshell, it wants to achieve a certain modern
culture ie. the modern production process sans the accompanying space for
improvement of human relationships. It is a post feudal phenomenon aimed
at inventing a new identity for the ruling classes. It uses the language of
religious discourse. Fundamentalism is possible only in semitic religions.
The semitisation of process of Hinduism is going on from last many decades.
This senitic Hinduism which in fact Brahmincal Hinduism has discovered the
Book in Gita and Vedas; the holy deity in `Ran’ from amongst hundred of
contends for this status, and Acharya and Mahants as the clergy. The attempt
of this fundamentalist movement is to impose their elites’ interests and
programmes of the present, in the language of past.
Table : Comparing Hindutva and Fundamentalism 58
Hindutva
Fundamentalism
1
Targeting against liberal ethos
of society
Same
2
Imposition of retrograde social
values selectivity culled out
religious texts
Same
3
Swadeshi is the “economic
policy”
Anti imperialist noises.
4
Built around Gita & Vedas,
Ram and Acharyas
Based on semitic religion - Holy
book, Holy daily and clergy
5
Harping on traditional orthodox
beliefs
Same
6
Projection of women as ideal
mothers
Women under patriarchal control of
father, husband and son
7
Claim the Vedas are created by
Brahma, the God
Claim that `our’ creed based on
divine law. Holy book coming from
151
Hindutva
Fundamentalism
God himself.
8
Golden past of religious rule is
show to be ideal goal
Same
9
Demand homogeneity of Hindu
culture
Abhor pluralism
10
Political onslaught to impose
interest of elite, middle class,
upper caste on whole society.
Create hysteria (against shah of
Iran, In Iran against women in
Saudi Arabia)
11
Creates hysteria against internal
enemy, the Muslim
Hysteria against women,
neighbouring country.
12
Great importance to women’s
dress code.
Same.
13
Built around emotive appeal of
religion
Same.
V.3 Terrorism
Terrorism is one of the Social phenomena with recent addition but it
has become the most discussing issue in contemporary social life. It has been
established fact that the root cause of uprising of terrorist tendencies in
Society is directly and indirectly related to social harmony, which is stemmed
from the economic and financial status of the society. In the Kerala
perspective, the incidence of terrorist activities are not predominant, like other
states of India, still, the tendencies were actively played in the incidence
happened in Marad, Kozhikode. The phenomenon terrorism is much
complicated subject matter and not susceptible to an easy analysis. There are
Psychological, Sociological, religious, ethnical and economical dimensions
involved in this subject and itself the subject matter requires a detailed
exploration.
152
The term terrorism is rather difficult to define within political circles.
It brings out strong emotions, which result in confusion.
Many social
scientists have developed working definitions of terrorism that suit their
particular research models. Anyone who undertake the study of terrorism
soon finds there are almost as many definitions as subject as there are
opinions on it. Definitions of terrorism tends to reflect political biases; also
terrorism is a highly emotional and pejorative term. No definition, moreover,
has been able to embrace all the forms of terrorisms like, simple, legal,
analytical, religious etc.
Despite the problem of defining terrorism, several people have
developed their own approaches.
Jenkins called terrorism the use or threatened use of force designed to
bring about a political change. 59
In a definition closely related to Jenkins, Lanqueur said terrorism
constituted the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective when
innocent people are targeted. 60
Schmid analysed the definitions of one hundred scholars and experts in
the field. He considered a variety of violent behaviours, including political
terrorism, crime and assassination. He looked for areas of agreement, hoping
to glean from them a comprehensive definition of terrorism. 61
There is no true or correct definition, Schmid concluded, because
terrorism is an abstract concept with no real essence. A single definition
cannot possibly account for all of the potential uses of the term. Still there are
number of elements common to the leading definitions, and most definition
have two major characteristics. Someone is terrorized, and acts’ meaning is
derived from its target and victims.
153
V.3a Schmid’s Analysis of Terrorism Definitions
After analyzing over 100 definitions, Alex Schmid concluded the
following

Terrorism is an abstract concept with no essence

A single definition cannot account for all possible uses of the term

Many different definitions share common elements

The meaning of terrorism derives from the victim or target
(Source: Alex Schmid Political Terrorism Brunswik.T: Transaction,
1983)
The United States Defense Intelligence Agency has accepted,
Terrorism present itself in different guises, and it is fallacy to lump different
types into single definition. For example, the terrorism of a criminal or
revolutionary gang is different from Guerrilla or state-sponsored activities.
The DIA believes that predictive pattern of activity can be developed when
sources and types are combined in behavioural models. 62
Wilkinson’s “Political Terrorism” 63 focused primarily on nationalistic
and revolutionary terrorism, but his classification system moved beyond
broad, relatively meaningless definitions of terror. Three types of terrorism
emerged from his analysis. (1) Criminal (2) Political (3) State sponsored. In
latter years Wilkinson added that it is also necessary to distinguish between
external and internal terrorism.64
Terrorism manifests itself in two different manners: Criminal and
Political Wilkinson point out that criminal terrorism is the least controversial
and is thus more easily approached.
Some criminals terrorist s seek
individual psychological gratification, while may other may engage in it for
profit. For the most part, according to Wilkinson, this separate criminal
154
terrorists from their political counterparts. Criminal terrorism is a problem
distinct from political violence.
Political terrorism, on the other hand, controversial subject that
deserves in-depth treatment.
In order to encapsulate political terrorism,
Wilkinson pointed to its various forms. The most common form is the use of
internal state power to frighten its citizens to obedience.
Wilkinson
approached state-sponsored terrorism as a tactic used in international conflict.
State unable to attack other states directly have turned to terrorism as a
weapon.
About the same time as a Wilkinson published his first work, J.Bowyer
Bell (1975) described six types of terrorism: Psychological, Criminal, Vigi
lante, endemic, authorized, and revolutionary. Bell spent a significant amount
of time examining the final type of terror, revolutionary terrorism. 65
Table : Bell’s Typology of Terror
Type
Purpose

Psychotic
Psychological gratification

Criminal
Profit

Vigilante
Retaliation

Endemic
Internal struggle

Authorized
State repression

Revolutionary
Behavioural change through fear
Source : J.BowyorBell, Transnational Terrot, (Washington.D.C, American
Enterprise Institute for public Policy, 1975) .
155
Bell described several forms of revolutionary terror.
Form
Purpose

Organisational
To maintain discipline in terrorist group

Allegiance
To win public support

Functional
To accomplish goals and mission of group

Provocative
To incite governments to repression

Manipulative
To obtain demands through dramatic
confrontation

Symbolic
To strike at targets for psychological impact
It can be discern five basic forms of terrorism: criminal, ideological,
nationalistic, state-sponsored, and guerilla. The tactical forms of terrorism are
complicated, but its tactics are not. According to Brian Jenkins 66 there are six
basic tactics of terrorism, bombing, arson, hijacking, ambush, Kidnapping,
and hostage taking. In a later publication, Jenkins claimed that 95 per cent of
all terrorist activities fall into these categories.
The tactics of terrorism are very similar to the tactics of war. Their
basic principles fairly straight forward and do not change over time. The
process by which the principles are applied, however, makes war and
terrorism seem complex, and the complexity is exacerbated when the
technology of weapons is improved. The tactics are relatively constant and
easily learned, but the social meanings attached to the actions complicate the
issue.
James Fraser and Jam Fulton maintained their a distinction should be
drawn between terrorism prior to World War II and modern day terrorism. 67
He referred to these phases as “old terrorism’ and “new terrorism”. According
to Faser, Old terrorism was tied to the anarchist ideology. It was based on the
156
radical philosophy of the bomb and, other than eliciting from established
governments, was not very effective. New terrorism is quite a bit different, he
felt, not in its philosophy but in its effectiveness.
Fraser identified several factors that distinguish “new” terrorism from
“old”. The first is the news media. Terrorism reaches more people than it did
in the past. This factor is closely related to a second, communications. News
of terrorist incidents would not spread quickly were it not for instantaneous
global communication links.
Third, terrorists weapons are increasingly
sophisticated and deadly. Old terrorism was linked to dynamite, but new
terrorism employs a vast array of technological weapons.
Finallly modern
terrorists have increased their striking power through their mobile command,
support, and communication networks.
All these factors have changed
terrorism, according to Faser.
Another important variety of terrorism is describing by reknowned
environmental and social activist Vandana Shiva68 is bioterrorism. According
to Vandana Shiva, bioterrorism69 is the deliberate use of living organisms to
kill people.
When economic politics based on trade liberalization and
globalization deliberately spread fatal and infections diseases such as AIDS,
TB and Malaria, by dismantling health and medical systems, they too become
instruments of bioterror. This is why ‘citizens’ groups have organized world
wide against the TRIPs (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights)
agreement and GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services ) of the WTO,
TRIP imposes patents and monopolies on drugs, taking essential medicines
beyond the reach of the poor.
For example, the AIDS medicine which costs 200 without patents,
costs $20000 with patents. 70 TRIPS and patents on medicines become recipes
for spreading disease and death because they take cure beyond people’s reach.
Similarly, privatization of health systems as imposed by the World Bank
157
under SAPS (structural adjustment programmes) and also proposed in GATS,
spreads infections diseases because low cost, decentralized public health
systems are withdrawn and dismantled. There are also form of bioterror.
They are different from the acts of terrorists only because they are perpetrated
by the powerful, not the marginalized and excluded, and they are committed
for fanaticism
of the free market ideology, not fundamentalist religious
ideologies. But in impact they are the same. They kill innocent people and
species by spreading disease.
Stopping the spread of bioterrorism al all these levels requires stopping
the proliferation of economic and trade policies which are crippling public
health systems, spreading infectious diseases and leaves sorties more
vulnerable to bioterrorism.
V.3bTerrorism and Globalisation
Terrorism and globalization81 share at least one thing in common –
both are complex phenomena open to subjective interpretation. Historically,
terrorists have used readily available means to permit small numbers of
individuals to spread fear as widely as possible. In the late 19 th and clearly
20th century anarchists relied upon revolvers and dynamite. Yet terrorists and
acts of terrorism rarely had any impact beyond national borders.
Three
factors led to the birth of transnational terrorism in 1968: the expansion of
commercial air travel, the availability of televised news coverage and broad
political and ideological interest among extremists that intersected around a
common cause. As a result terrorism grew from a local to transnational
threat.
The Iranian ‘Islamic Revolution’82 of 1979 was a watershed even in
transnational terrorism. Although Israeli: Interests remained primary targets
for attack, due to continued sympathy for Palestinian cause, a number of
158
groups began to target citizens and other symbols of the United States. The
decade of terrorism (1980-90) included incidents such as suicide bombings
(Lebonon, 1983) and hijackings (TWA Flight 847, 1985). During this decade
three disturbing trends emerged: fewer attacks that were more deadly and
indiscrimination; the increasing sophistication of attacks. Al though others
forms of terrorism was decreasing in scale and intensity, militant religious
terrorism, symbolized by the group of Al Qaeda and enabled by globalization,
was growing into a global phenomenon.
Al Qaeda received global
recognition as result of its attacks conducted in New York and Washington on
11th September 2001. What exactly it Al Qaeda? Expert continues to debate
what Al Qaeda is, what is represents and actual threat that it poses. Part of the
reason for disagreement stems from the fact that Al-Qaeda, as the standard
bearer for militant Islam, has evolved considerably since the invasion of
Afghanistan. Immediately after 9/11, Al-Qaeda was pictured as the centre of
global nexus of terrorism connected to almost all terrorist groups. Regardless
of how one views Al-Qaeda, one cannot dispute the influence and appeal of
its message across national boundaries. Efforts to explain the vitality of
global terrorism in general – and Al-Qaeda in particular – focus on three areas
linked to aspects of globalization; culture economics and religion.
Culture is one way to explain why militant’s call for armed struggle
has been successfully in under developed countries. 83 In particular, violence is
the only method to preserve traditions and values against a cultural Tsunami
of Western products and material affinity. The social changes associated with
globalization and spread of free market capitalism appears to overwhelm the
identity or values of group s who perceive themselves as the losers in the new
international system. In an attempt to preserve their threatened identity and
values, groups, actively distinguish themselves from despised ‘others’. At the
local level, this cultural friction may translate into conflicts divided along
religious or ethnic lines of safeguard identity.
159
According to one explanation, however, the number of distinct
civilization is limited globally. They include Western, confusion, Japanese,
Islamic, Hindu, Static-Orthodox and Latin American.
84
Individual perceive
their own civilization to be week, insecure, or stagnant, and interaction is high
between weak
and strong civilization, conflict may inevitable. Samuel
Huntington suggests that a major fault-line exists between the liberal western
civilization and an Islamic one ‘ humiliated and resentful of the West’s
military presence in the Persian Gulf, the West’s overwhelming military
dominance,………..to shape their own destiny. 85
Not everyone agrees that defense culture identity is primary motivation
for globalised terrorist violence. 86 Other see economic aspects as the crucial
motivating factor in the use of violence to effect political change. Although
globalization provides access to a world market for goods and services, the
net result has also been perceived as a form of Western economic imperialism.
The United states and the post-industrial states of Western European from the
global north or economic ‘core’ which dominates international economic
institutions such as World Bank, set exchange rates, and determines fiscal
policies.
The actions and policies unfavourable to the underdeveloped
countries, or global south, that comprise the periphery or gap.
Political
decisions by the leaders of underdeveloped countries to deregulate or privatise
industries to be competitive globally may lead to significant social and
economic upheaval. The citizenry may shift loyalties to illegal activities such
as terrors if the state breaks its social contract with them.
Wealth is also linked to personal security and violence. With little
possible opportunity to obtain wealth locally, individuals will have to pursue
opportunities elsewhere. The result is emigration or the rapid growth of
burgeoning urban centres that act as regional hubs for the flow of global
resources. Movement, however is no guarantee that individual aspiration will
160
be realized. In that case, individuals may turn to violence for criminal (ie,
personal gain) or political (to change existing political system) through
insurgency or terrorism reasons. Paradoxically, rising standards of living and
greater access to educational opportunities associated with globalization may
lead to increased expectations.
If these expectations are unrealized,
individuals can turn to extreme political views and actions against ‘the
system’ that denies them the opportunity to realize their ambitions. A
prominent study suggests that a sense of alienation and lack of opportunities
is contributing factors for the decision to turn to violence globally. 87
Other views offer a broader explanation. In particular the writings of
revolutionary Franz Franon provide insights in the use of political violence to
right economic wrongs. 88
In the 1960s, Fanon89 suggested that the end of colonization would not
end conflict between the West and oppressed.
This struggle would be
replaced by another until the economic and power imbalances were removed.
90
Terrorist violence is motivated by the inequalities of the global economy
161
References
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Chandra, B. 2004, Communalism A Primer, Anamika Publishers, New
Delhi.
2.
Chandra, B. 2004, Communalism A Primer, Anamika Publishers, New
Delhi.
3.
Mandav, P. 2000, Communalism in India: A Paradigm Shift to Indian
Politics, Authors Press, New Delhi.
4.
Chandra, B. 2004, Communalism A Primer, Anamika Publishers, New
Delhi.
5.
Baber, Z. 2006, Secularism, Communalism and Intellectuals, Three
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