Will World Learn from Bondi Hit?
Since the last few decades, terrorism has unquestionably become the scourge of the modern world. The latest major terrorist incident was the horrific attack on Australia’s iconic Bondi Beach in Sydney, where two Islamist terrorists shot dead 16 innocent civilians as they celebrated the first day of the globally condemned Jewish holiday Hanukkah. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the attack as a “devastating” incident and declared that it was “an attack targeting Australian Jews on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a joyful day, a celebration of faith.” He added that this hatred, violence and terrorism has no place in our nation. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned this incident and expressed solidarity with Australia, while declaring that “India has zero tolerance for terrorism and supports the fight against all forms and manifestations of terrorism.”
According to reports so far, the Australian Islamist father-son duo who gunned down holidaying Jews may have been radicalized in Islamic State ideology during a visit to Pakistan years ago, while the father killed in retaliation following the attack was originally from Hyderabad and was still carrying an Indian passport. The captured son is fighting for his life in a hospital in Sydney. According to police, both had recently traveled to the Philippines, where they may have received weapons training.
The death toll in the horrific attack was not higher thanks to the efforts of a Muslim grocery owner who bravely caught the murderer and handed him over to the local police. Unconfirmed reports also suggest that several Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were found near the scene of the attack. Since Israel’s retaliation against Hamas terrorists in Gaza two years ago, there have been a few isolated incidents of relatively less intensity targeting the Jewish community Down Under. In August this year, Australia accused Iran of planning two anti-Semitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne and ordered the Iranian ambassador to leave the country.
While the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the Middle East region, including Israel and Syria, are subject to occasional terrorist activities, the South Asian region, which includes India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the source of terrorist activities, is regularly grappled with sustained acts of terrorist violence. Most security analysts are clear that the horrific 9/11 attacks in the United States and later the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, as well as most of the terrorist attacks elsewhere in India and Afghanistan, were sponsored and carried out by Pakistan. Suffering from homegrown terrorism, be it from the Afghan Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or Baloch insurgents, Pakistan is now reaping all the evil it has sown, especially in its own neighbourhood.
As traces of terrorist activities spread throughout the civilized world, little is being done collectively by the global community and its toothless watchdog, the United Nations or the Security Council, despite many warnings to the international community. Unfortunately, instead of striving for a peaceful, law-abiding global order, many countries continue to pursue their own selfish interests and therefore focus on selective terrorism. It is not for nothing that the world or the UN cannot agree on the definition of terrorism or terrorist. While the latter is to most people an evil person who commits violence against unarmed civilians, surprisingly for some people the same person is seen as a social reformer or freedom fighter! This anomaly must end so that the world can unite in the fight against global terrorism.
Most security analysts agree that both the United States and China are not doing enough to contain terrorism globally, and they conveniently ignore nations that openly encourage these evil activities in their own neighborhoods. UN-designated terror groups like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and their many splinter groups roam freely in Pakistan disguised as charitable groups.
Pakistan stands out universally as the epicenter and bastion of global terrorism, but unfortunately draws some of its power and generosity from the US and China to continue their unjust and inhumane efforts, both among neighbors like India and Afghanistan, and even at home. It is time for these two powerful countries to end their support to Pakistan, which is the main sponsor of terrorist activities.
If the United States does not do this, it should not be a surprise that there will be a repeat of the September 11 attacks on its soil. Many in the United States who fully grasp the nuances of the global security paradigm are surprised by the Trump administration’s new love for Pakistan, forgetting Pakistan’s relentless pursuit of terrorist activities in the past. How can America now conveniently forget that Osama bin Laden, the world’s most fearsome terrorist, so designated by both the US and the UN, was captured and killed by US special forces after being found hiding for years in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, at a time when Islamabad was supposedly unaware of this fact?
India, which is constantly the target of terrorism emanating from Pakistan, will need to further strengthen its counter-terrorism structures. UN, FATF etc. It should work with all countries affected by terrorism to shape global counterterrorism narratives, including using platforms such as Pakistan needs to be isolated before its current de facto military ruler, Field Marshal Asim Munir, goes rogue in exporting the terrorism that comes naturally to him as a former chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. India needs to be militarily strong to be a deterrent against any evil that may come from Pakistani territory.
