26th Nov 2018 10:11:PM Editorials
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

Terror, says the Supreme Court, is not only a heinous crime. It is crime with the intent of destabilising the country and striking terror in the hearts and minds of Indians. Indians are not new to terror. As we observe the 10th anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, it is pertinent to remember that for the Pakistan-based terrorists and their sponsors, 26/11 succeeded in all the defined elements of what a terrorist act is meant to achieve. It created anguish and turbulence, effected out-of-proportion casualties, rocked the local and international community, caused a major response dilemma for the state and gave much publicity about the terrorist capability to hit at will: India’s financial capital and symbol of the good life was brought to its knees and permanent scars left on the psyche of its people. It was truly India’s 9/11. But soon afterwards, like America after 9/11, India too got its act together on internal security. It’s a credit not often given by Indian analysts. After 26/11, mass casualty terror attacks in Indian cities have been rarer; many have been prevented, although efforts by terror groups to target us have been rife.
At home in the North East too,  terrorism has taken deep roots in the name of freedom fight. While in Nagaland, the insurgents (it may be noted that the Naga insurgency is the oldest in India spanning more than six decades) never targeted civilians, that was just opposite in Assam and Manipur. Assam still carries the scars of many mass killings of innocent people who have nothing to do either with the so-called oppression of the state by the Central government or as an opposing force to the insurgents. Their mistake was that they were soft targets for the marauding gun-totters whose only aim was to create a situation and get prime time on TV channels or on the front pages of the newspapers. That way Arunachal has remained peaceful. Whatever insurgency or terrorism is ticking in the state it is in two to three districts adjoining Nagaland and Myanmar.
But 26/11 became special because it was special because with the 24X7 channels becoming active, we watched the never-seen-before, live CNN style, television reports from Mumbai. So apparently did the ISI handlers, who used them to guide their terror teams holed up inside the two hotels. This “successful” covert operation by a handful of jihadists brought the commercial capital of India to a standstill.  Also visible was public frustration at the ineptness of the Indian State. The casual manner in which the terror squad came ashore and went about their brutal business also illustrated the failure of our intelligence agencies.


Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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