The Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has urged youth organisations to play
a vital supportive role to supplement government’s efforts in
the fight against international terrorism and to carry out an
awareness campaign to expose justification or condoning of terrorism
anywhere and under whatever pretext. Inaugurating the international
youth conference on terrorism, Shri Vajpayee referred to the
globalisation of terror and said that terrorists cover their
campaign of killings with the cloak of jehad to gain two benefits
– one, to seek some kind of popular legitimacy and two, it helps
them to recruit misguided youth and impart to them suicidal
levels of motivation.
Following is the
full text of the speech of the Prime Minister on the occasion:
"I am pleased
to be with you this morning. I have attended many conferences
in which the issue of terrorism is discussed. But today I am
particularly happy. For it is the first conference that I have
attended which is for the youth and by the youth.
However, you have
committed one anomaly. You have invited a not-so-young man to
inaugurate your conference.
When I was looking
at the theme of the conference, it pleased me to know that it
is not only against something negative, but it is also
for something positive. It is against terrorism. But
it is also for a Global Dialogue for Peace.
It is this combination
of determination to fight the wrong, and an equally firm resolve
to pursue a constructive agenda, which the world needs today.
It is natural for
young people to take such a two-pronged approach. Young hearts
have an instinctive attraction to high ideals – of peace, voluntary
service, and adventurous pursuit of progress. At the same time,
their minds have an inborn abhorrence for the wrong and the
unjust.
Youth is the spring
of life. It is the age of discovery and dreams.
When they dream,
they dream not only for a good future for themselves, but also
a good future for their Nation and the entire humanity.
Their dreams take
them to stars and galaxies, to the far corners of the Unknown.
And some of them, like our own Kalpana Chawla, pursue their
dream till they realise it and even die for it in the process.
If any section
of society, in any country, is most impatient for change, it
is the youth.
Patriotism comes
naturally to young people. But they also easily respond to the
call of internationalism.
In today’s shrinking
and inter-dependent world, they reach out, with an open mind,
to what other cultures have to offer, what different streams
of thought have to offer, what new technologies have to offer.
And if they have
to compete, they like doing so with a sporting spirit.
Just look at the
spirit of internationalism that today pervades the cricketing
world, with the start of the World Cup Tournament in South Africa.
No matter which
team wins, cricket will win. Youthfulness will win. The spirit
of oneness will win.
Of course, we in
India would very much like our Boys in Blue to win!
The point I am
making is that there is something common, something profoundly
life-nourishing, that unites young men and women of all countries
and all cultures, all creeds and all classes.
It is their hope
and their strong urge to see a better world.
A world free of
poverty, unemployment, inequality and exploitation of man by
man.
A world free of
discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, language and
gender.
A world full of
creative challenges and opportunities to conquer them.
These are not empty
hopes. Modern science and technology, and the increasing vistas
of socio-economic cooperation among nations, have brought these
hopes within the reach of realisation.
However, there
is one condition. These hopes of young people in Delhi and Durban,
Colombo and Kabul, Jakarta and Havana, can be fulfilled only
in conditions of peace, only in a civilised and cooperative
world order.
In recent times,
terrorism has emerged as one of the gravest threats to peace
and a democratic polity.
The threat to peace-loving
societies from the globalisation of terror is an ugly reality
of today’s world. We in India grasped this reality many years
ago. We have lost more than 60,000 of our innocent men, women
and children, and security personnel to cross-border terrorism
in Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and other parts of our country
during the past two decades.
But it took September
11 to dramatically bring the global reach of terrorism into
the collective consciousness of the world. What has happened
later in Bali, Moscow, Mombassa has further reinforced this
truth.
Globalisation of
terror has another dimension today. Increasingly, a common ideological
inspiration – that of religious extremism -- is exporting it
around the world. Thus, jehadi terrorism has today become the
principal form of terrorism all over the world.
This is not because
Islam justifies terrorism. No it does not justify. No religion
preaches hatred or sanctions killing of innocent human beings.
Rather, terrorists
have chosen to cover their campaign of killings with the cloak
of jehad to gain two benefits. One, they seek some kind of popular
legitimacy. Secondly, it helps them to recruit misguided youth
and impart to them suicidal levels of motivation.
It is through such
misuse of religion that jehadi terrorism is trying to violently
impose its own rigid, intolerant social order uniformly around
the world. The murderous campaign has not spared even Muslim
populations, as was evident from what the Taliban did in Afghanistan.
It has not hidden
its goals and objectives from anyone. In pursuit of its objectives,
it has given sufficient indication of its readiness to resort
to any means and to attack any target. The December 13 attack
on our Parliament illustrates this. Hence, international community
has to be vigilant against the real possibility of chemical
and biological weapons, and weapons of mass annihilation, falling
into the hands of terrorist organisations.
However, we should
never allow ourselves to be frightened by terrorism. We should
have the conviction that the defeat of terrorism is certain.
Human nature cannot bow before intolerance and violence. It
also rejects any attempt to cast the entire humanity in a uniform
mould. As in Nature, mankind likes, nurtures and protects diversity.
Which is why, freedom of faith and thought is a fundamental
human right; and tolerance of other’s religion, customs and
political beliefs is a fundamental duty of everyone.
This is the basis
of democracy. It is also the basis of secularism.
It is today a self-evident
truth that democratic, secular and multicultural societies are
the prime targets of terrorism. These have become the most vulnerable
to its attacks. Terrorists exploit the civil liberties, religious
tolerance and cultural diversity in our countries. They seek
to destroy our democratic fabric by fomenting sectarian divisions
and cultural tensions and ultimately deprive us of that very
freedom which they have exploited.
It is also a fact,
often ignored, that the sponsorship, bases and finances for
terrorism come from totalitarian military regimes. They nurture
and support extremist terrorist groups to further their own
political agenda. In turn, these groups make themselves indispensable
to these regimes by maintaining the focus on external campaigns
and diverting attention from the inadequacies of their internal
systems.
Democracies are
more vulnerable to terrorism for yet another reason. Our values
inhibit effective anti-terrorist action. Intrusive surveillance,
curtailment of liberties, restrictions on movement, and other
such tedious security procedures often become unpopular because
they affect the quality of our life. Today we have to reconcile
ourselves to some infringement of our rights and freedoms, so
that we can counter the far more destructive threat from terrorism.
We have to take decisive, tough and forceful action against
terrorists, which is both punitive and deterrent.
Even while demanding
restraint and fairness from our police and security agencies,
we should recognize that extraordinary circumstances call for
effective responses. The human rights of terrorists cannot override
those of their victims – not only those hit by their actions,
but also the generations which are denied normal life and economic
progress by the prevalence of terrorism.
I call upon
youth organisations to create proper awareness about these imperatives.
My young friends,
distinctions are sometimes drawn between different acts of terrorism.
In some cases, we are told, it is not really terrorism, but
a freedom struggle. This is how our neighbour has been trying
to justify its policy of cross-border terrorism in Jammu &
Kashmir.
Sometimes, double
standards are used to justify terrorism. It is asserted that
Osama bin Laden’s associates are freedom fighters when they
act in one country and terrorists when they act elsewhere. Jehadi
groups have been given shelter and support using this dubious
logic.
Similarly, some
countries have a tendency to condone terrorism somewhere, while
condemning it elsewhere. This is counter-productive, because
such lenience will boomerang on all of us.
Youth organisations
should carry out an awareness campaign to expose justification
or condoning of terrorism anywhere and under whatever pretext.
While the fight
against international terrorism is principally the responsibility
of governments, youth organisations can play a vital supportive
role. It is well known that extremist and fundamentalist groups
draw their sustenance from, and often their fresh recruits from,
an underground as well as overground ideological campaign among
the general population, with a specific focus on students and
youth. It is necessary to foil such efforts.
No organisation,
irrespective of whether it claims to espouse the cause of the
majority or the minority community, can be allowed to inflame
passions, spread hatred and incite violence. Young people should
work actively to isolate such organisations and individuals.
And just as
extremist groups have created a global network of organisations
bearing different names, it is necessary for student and youth
organisations opposed to terrorism and extremism also to work
in close international cooperation.
With
these words, I inaugurate your conference and wish it all success.
Thank you".
