The need for ‘out-of-box solutions’ suggest that the existing paradigm guiding the ‘War on Terror’ has been futile. In fact, it has proved to be counter-productive because it thwarts real solutions to terrorism.
Dr. Abdul Kalam, when he was the President of India has been quoted on the January 22, 2003, edition of the Agence France Presse, as saying, "Can we remove terrorism by war? Nations have been destroyed by war. Has the world eliminated terrorism? No. Not at all. Is there a solution?" President Kalam further identified one of the solutions to terrorism was for people to become "enlightened human beings." Dr. Kalam’s insightful perspective that war is not a solution to terrorism is all the more relevant today.
The image of terrorism today is constructed as an enemy that cannot be conceptualized in traditional terms as it is a phenomenon built over time, without territory in the usual sense. The War on Terror is mostly projected as a clash of cultures, worldviews, ideas, narratives, history, chosen glories and chosen traumas. This all implies the ‘other’ as being the terrorist. It is a war of perception in which ideas and not weapons of mass destruction are required. This current public discourse of terrorism jeopardizes the vision of a shared humanity because it implies that terrorism will not be overcome, unless they are gotten rid off. This idea further threatens possible solutions. There is a dire need to frame the challenges of a world free of terrorism in ways that allow us to constructively engage in a dialectical process of understanding.
If we are to explore out-of-box solutions to terrorism together, then it is quite essential that it has a human face. Naturally, this suggestion contravenes the existing paradigm of the War on Terror, because all that this War on Terror has done is to create the image of an enemy of the ‘other’ based on the efficacy of force, which only perpetuates more violence. The use of force has become the yardstick of success and has come to acquire the position of monotheism, which obviously compounds the possibility of solutions through peaceful means.
To make this world free of terrorism means that we must make this world free of violence. Let’s be clear when addressing the question of violence because it is at the root of terrorism and manifests in many forms - State violence, structural violence and other forms of violence - that prevents the fullness of a dignified humanity to emerge. A first step is to recognize that it is virtually quite impossible for the world to completely “eliminate” terrorism, or to completely eliminate the ‘other.’ If our response to terrorism is more violence, that in the final analysis, we would end up being no better, possible even worse.
We need to evolve a new paradigm in which our response to terrorism is a creative, imaginative and responsive way to engage with injustices. Such a paradigm is based on principles of nonviolence and would find ways to end violence and its consequences. This process would help us explore new ways to address conflicting interests using peaceful means where resorting to force has no role.
Imagine several decades ahead from where we are today, where humans would have already realized a shared humanity. Then come back to the present, and, in the process identify what it would mean and how achieving a shared humanity was attained.
When we realize that the well-being of our children is tied to the dignified well-being of their children then we will appreciate the vision of a shared humanity and the imperative to let violence end and a harmonious coexistence begin. Indeed, our shared humanity is based on the idea that the security and well-being of any one community, nation or people is connected and interdependent with the well being of others, requiring mutual respect, understanding, cooperation, and investment in our mutual destiny.
The War on Terror has been narcissistically obsessed with the ‘other’ and the more walls that we build around ourselves; the more we will have to tear down when we finally realize that we actually need each other. The endeavor to find out of the box solutions to terrorism is not about who they are; it really is about who we are and how we respond to issues of injustice. How we address injustice (of all forms) is inextricably linked to whether we can build a world free of terrorism.
In 2007, Yahoo! India introduced a forum to address issues in the Indian sub-continent and this forum opened in India with the then President of India, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, posting the first question on January 13th, 2007. The question that President Kalam posed was: What are the out-of-box solutions to free the planet earth from terrorism? Aküm Longchari from The Morung Express was invited by Yahoo! to respond to this question. Considering that the relevance of the topic remains current, this editorial has been written based on the ideas shared in the response.
