Scripting a tale of blood and gore : Terrorists at a school
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 19, 2014 -

Scripting a tale of blood and gore and making it to the news to spread a propaganda.

Picking the softest target, a target which will not be in a position to defend itself or hit back. Terror attack or terrorists at work.

Aptly sums up the offensive carried out at a school at Peshawar in Pakistan on December 16, killing over 140 people, mostly school children.

A country which gave Malala Yousufzai to the world is again in the news, all for the wrong reason. However important to note that it is not Pakistan alone which is outraged but the entire world.

Not only defiling the sanctum sanctorum of a place of learning but also targeting school kids to deliver a point and nothing can justify this.

No sure magic formula on neutralising terrorists or changing their mindsets, but this should be no reason for the world to keep silent.

All should rise and condemn the dastardly act in the strongest voice possible.

Not that it would have any effect on the terrorists but at least it would have sent out the message that the world stands united against such atrocities.

Not the time to go into what gave rise to terrorism but time for the world to extend co-operation and accordingly chart out a road map to neutralise such elements who are hell bent on creating havoc and mayhem.

Killing children is by itself unacceptable but it becomes all that more so when innocent kids are killed in the name of a cause or a ‘revenge strike’ as the Pakistani Taliban would like the world to believe.

Any attempt to justify such wanton killings is not only comical but also an insult to the mental faculty of all thinking persons.

The cockiness of the terrorists is clear from the threats that they are ready for more such attacks.

It is this which the world should take note of. That too seriously.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has done the right thing in advising all States to beef up security measures at all educational institutions across the country.

How far the State Governments will go towards this is something which only time can tell but it is important to note that preparedness is perhaps the best weapon against terrorists.

Pakistan is the next door neighbour and India has been at the receiving end of terror attacks in the past.

Not impossible to ferry terrorists or terror plans from across the border and it this point which India should take serious note of. This is where intelligence sharing becomes important.

Again important to keep in mind that terror attacks need not necessarily come from any particular direction or group.

If the terror attack at Pakistan was at the western side of India this should not mean that Delhi can afford to sleep over the northern, southern and eastern front.

Moreover such an attack, if it comes, need not necessarily be the Pakistani Taliban.

There are a dime a dozen such groups spread out all over the world. Manipur lies at the extreme side of the eastern border.

A fact which must not blow over the head of the State political leadership.