The first year of the new Millennium, 2001, has earned the dubious distinction of being the most violent and bloody year in recent times. Thousands of innocent lives were lost and properties worth crores destroyed. It was a year full of devastation and destruction.

 The incidents of September 11, October 1 and December 13 will remain etched in our memory forever. If the scenes of September 11 in New York were horrifying, the scenes outside the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly building on October 1, were also heart rendering. By the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon, the terrorists challenged the world’s only super-power. Similarly, sucide squad’s bloody misadventure outside the Indian Parliament was another attack against the democratic world.

 Are the perpetrators of such inhuman acts not mad? Don’t they attach any value to human lives or they don’t believe in humanity? Today such questions trouble every peace loving people of the world. But, without showing any resilience, the death-merchants went on hitting more newer soft targets, which can be best described an act of sheer madness.

 A divided world made the task easier for the terrorists. For example, while India was fighting terrorism, Pakistan was over-enthusiastic to provide safe haven to the extremists. That country formed terrorist groups and provided arms training to ultras in the name of freedom struggle in Kashmir. They even employed Afghan mercenaries with hefty sums to create disturbances in that border State. But, had the two countries buried their hachets and fought jointly against terrorism, history, in this part of the world surely would have been different. Their joint resolve against terrorism could have led to avert WTC-kind of situation which today’s world finds itself in.

 Beyond doubt, today we are paying the price for our narrow interests, which restricted us from taking
the ‘monster’ of terrorism by horns. Some countries, like Pakistan, never really realised what great
disservice they are doing to the mankind by patronising the terrorism.

 Now the time has come for the world to unite. The only way to prevent more deaths and destruction is to face the menace unitedly. Moreover, the fight against terrorism should not end with the elimination of Al-Qaeda or surrender of the Talibans. Terrorism has spread its tentacles and we have to wage a global war against the terrorists and their patrons.

 As Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rightly pointed out that time has come to make a final assault on terrorism, the world must stand united to wipe out terrorists and their sponsors to prevent the recurrence of 2001 in future.
   

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