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PARIS TERROR ATTACKS

Call to arms, or a united response

Like in Mumbai, the terror strike has rattled Paris. Only a global-local strategy can be an effective counter

Call to arms, or a united response

A policeman stands guard outside the Le Carillon restaurant the morning after a series of deadly attacks in Paris. REUTERS



KC Singh

The terror attacks in Paris on Friday night are eerily similar to the one in Mumbai on 26/11. The victims in both cases are random, while the places are chosen to cause maximum mayhem and panic and in a city known for free-wheeling life. In particular, the moment chosen is to turn moments of entertainment and joy into tragedy and nightmarish horror. Other cities that have suffered similar attacks relive their past trauma.

What is known so far indicates attacks at six spots, the worst mayhem being at the Bataclan concert hall, where fatalities are feared to cross 120. The closed space and huge crowd made the terrorists’ task easy. But, unlike the protracted siege at the Taj and Oberoi hotels in Mumbai, the standoff here was short. It is unclear if the terrorists were even envisaging a hostage situation or they had an execution-style killing planned.

The other attacks were at restaurants or the famous Paris brasseries, which make that city a gourmet’s delight. Again, these are reminiscent of the attacks in Mumbai on, first, Cafe Leopold and then hotel restaurants. Global jihad is also adopting a standard modus operandi.

So far the identity of the terrorists is unknown. But a few factors are noteworthy. France joined the Western coalition to attack ISIS from the air in Syria. In fact, the first attacks were carried out in September last. The logical question would be whether this is ISIS or its affiliates or sympathisers hitting back. Furthermore, is it merely a coincidence that the attacks occur a day before the G20 summit commences in Turkey? It must be remembered that in 2005, the London bombings, dubbed the 7/7 attack, took place as Britain was hosting a G8 summit at Gleneagles. Of course, Prime Minister Tony Blair showed great fortitude in flying to London for a day but not allowing the summit to be aborted.

France, on the contrary, has gone into a paroxysm of paranoia, with curfew in Paris, sealing of borders and President Francois Hollande announcing that “we are going to lead a war which will be pitiless”. Part of the reason is that even when France was fighting a civil uprising on its colony in Algeria, terror did not travel to the European continent. But the geo-political conditions today are different. A witch’s brew of terror has been spawned by Al-Qaeda splinters clashing with the Arab Spring libertarians in Syria, and the impulses of Arab masses in the Shia-Sunni contestation. 

The Paris attack has come when the issue whether the Russian civilian aircraft that fell in Sinai was a victim of a terror attack or mechanical or other factors is unresolved. This is important to decipher to see if ISIS had hit back after the Russian intervention in Syria. It is also significant that the Paris monstrosity occurs as news came in that the Kurds had routed ISIS in Sinjar (Iraq) and another vital access controlling the city. Was the Paris attack meant to create a diversion from the setback? Terror syndicates thrive on enthusing followers with brutal acts that feed into their popular myth of invincibility. That the likely killing of Jihadi John has something to do with this would be wrong as such acts cannot be planned within hours. Normally, planning and execution take a long time.

There are lessons for India to draw. The upsurge in minority baiting, which began with ghar wapasi, and escalated as the Bihar electioneering advanced to blatant attacks concerning beef eating, etc, can provide India’s enemies disaffected youth to exploit. The battle against terror can never succeed merely via security-tailored responses. Half the battle is the fight for minds and hearts. It is this that the BJP is in danger of losing.

Adding to the challenge is the revival of the militant narrative in Punjab, thanks to the Akali Dal. Though at the moment an ISI hand in fomenting Punjab trouble is Sukhbir Badal’s attempt at fiction, if the BJP does not awaken to the local and global realities, there may be little difference between what ISI plans and ISIS does.

To return to the Paris saga, while the Charlie Hebdo attack was target-specific, though fed by the same religious intolerance that guides the latest attacks, the guiding hand of new convergences in global jihad is visible. There are lessons for Pakistan too. The forces of radical Islam have obtained a critical mass after capturing large areas in Syria and Iraq. The fight to eliminate them will be a hard one, fought street by street.

Collateral damage of the kind seen in Paris is inevitable. The world needs to unite. For that, all five permanent members of the UN Security Council and major economic powers who are gathering in Antalya, Turkey, for the G20 summit need to get their friends and clients on the same page. The first international consequence is President Hollande of France skipping that meeting. The agenda of that conference will now inevitably be coloured by the Paris events. The riposte to Paris perpetrators would be if a strategy to put the terror genie in the bottle can emerge in Antalya.

The writer is a former Secretary, MEA

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