Terrorism Sept01

Terrorism is evil and must be condemned irrespective of the basis on which it is claimed to be justified. Defending religion, race and political sovereignty are claimed as justifications by terrorists who choose violence rather than the ballot box, inflicting death and pain on innocent civilians. All of us believe that religion and race are personal characteristics to be cherished and respected. Almost all of us choose to express our political preference through the ballot box. Therefore, the self appointed terrorists have neither the consent nor the authority to act on  behalf of people who wish no more than an opportunity to live their lives in peace and prosperity. Terrorists do not represent any religion, race or nation and we must ensure that our action to fight terrorism reflects this fact.

It is important that the democratic and pluralistic nations of this world stand together to fight terrorism. It is essential that terrorists, religious fanatics and opportunistic politicians do not claim legitimacy by whipping up racial and anti-religious sentiment world-wide to deflect us from our fight against terrorism. We need to identify, isolate, name and shame the terrorists. They must be prosecuted in our courts and punished appropriately. We must establish a social and political climate that ensures that terrorism, like murder, is globally unacceptable!

In developing countries, cursed with internal conflict, it is always the poor who have their homes bombed, their families destroyed and who have no chance of having a peaceful life. Let us help all innocent victims, including those in New York and Washington, as they share the same grief. Human life is precious and its loss - wherever it occurs - is unacceptable to all of us. We must now concentrate on removing the causes that conceive, feed and sustain terrorism.