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Terrorism aims at creating anarchy in society, says Acharya

Discussion: (From left) IGP (Western Range) A.M. Prasad, patron of SRSM National Government First Grade College B. Sudhakar Shetty, District and Sessions Judge K.N. Phaneendra and Home Minister V.S. Acharya at a seminar in Udupi on Saturday.

Barkur (Udupi district): Home Minister V.S. Acharya has said that modern terrorist activities are directed at creating confusion in society, destroying lives and property and portraying the “irrelevance” of the State’s authority.

He was speaking after inaugurating a UGC-sponsored seminar on “Modern terrorism, efficiency of criminal justice system and role of civil society”, organised by the District Legal Services Authority, Department of Collegiate Education and SRSM National Government First Grade College, here on Saturday.

Dr. Acharya said that terrorism aimed at creating anarchy in society. The police, the judiciary and civil society had to play an objective role in curbing terrorism.

He said that trial by media was the latest trend. Human rights organisations were acting as pressure groups, and only the judiciary could give a judgment on an issue.

Dr. Acharya said that schools, colleges and hospitals were soft targets for terrorists. Therefore, disaster management had been included in the curriculum of medical students.

Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) A.M. Prasad said that the first target of terrorists was the elected representatives, followed by civil administration officials. This was done to damage the morale of the police. The next target was the press so that terrorist activities could not be reported. They then attacked the judiciary. “Their aim is to make their (terrorists) writ run large in rural areas,” he said.

Mr. Prasad said that terrorism in India was of two kinds: religion-based as seen in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, and ethnic or land-based as seen in north-east India. Terrorists usually recruited adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 and brainwashed them. These adolescents with little knowledge of the truth became willing pawns and were even ready to give up their lives. Sensitisation of people was essential to deal with terrorist activities, Mr. Prasad added.

District and Sessions Judge K.N. Phaneendra said new laws should be framed to deal with terrorism, and people should be taught to respect human values. Moral education should be made compulsory in schools, colleges and even professional courses, he added.

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