http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1975637.cms Big city terror & you Big city terror & you Anshul Chaturvedi [ 10 Sep, 2006 2058hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
It's been 5 years since 9/11. How has that day, & the chain of responses to it since, impacted our lives? "Cities are the richest of terrorist targets."- Dr Russell W Glenn, US based defence and political analyst "Intelligence agencies warn of a further intensification of violent activities, with the possibility of more 'fidayeen' attacks; use of suicide bombers; attacks on economic and religious targets; targeting of vital installations, including nuclear establishments, Army camps; and the like. Reports also suggest that terrorist modules and 'sleeper cells' exist in some of our urban areas... In the battle against terrorism, the role of the public will be vital. A major effort is necessary on our part to sensitise the public into becoming allies in this war and persuade some of them to function as counter-terrorist 'wardens', who would report on any kind of unusual activity."- PM Manmohan Singh, during his speech to chief ministers at a recent meeting on internal security You're neither a terrorist sympathiser nor part of the security system. You want to live your life, your way. As an urban resident, you've chosen to live and work in a large city - be it Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore - you travel by plane, rail or the underground metro, shop at crowded malls, chill out at multiplexes, generally live your life the way you want to... 9/11, Al Qaeda and all the terror jargon's got nothing do with you, right? Wrong! You're just the person it's got everything to do with... The big city as terror target is here to stay, and here's why The bustling metropolis has been, and in the post 9/11 world will very probably stay as, the prime target for terrorist organisations worldwide. The urban citizen, and more importantly, his way of life, are a key target for the terrorist. Many reasons make the big city the perfect arena for terrorist activity. One is media spotlight: The impact of any event is magnified by the magnitude of media attention given to it, and terrorism is no exception. Media organisations are typically based in the biggest cities and so they respond immediately and intensely - the episode is relayed across a national and increasingly, global, audience. Think 9/11 and your mind will in all probability recollect the clip of the plane crashing into the second tower that you watched on TV. Those planes crashing in remote rural interiors would have also claimed a toll of lives, but it wouldn't have come into our homes with that sense of reality, with no cameras around. The second factor is the heterogenous mix of people in a bustling metropolis that provides much greater scope to disappear, or for 'sleeper cells' to exist unnoticed till they are called upon to act. A third factor is the repercussions beyond the city itself: An attack on Parliament nearly triggers off an Indo-Pak conflict, blasts in Mumbai impact the stock market - which a blast in Srinagar won't, even if the toll in human lives is similar. Even an aborted threat at Heathrow leads to a ripple impact across the world that effects hundreds of flights and thousands of flyers. The more high-profile the target, the greater its relevance, the greater the fallout. In a sense, it's about terror TRPs. And they are only guaranteed in big cities. You can't shrug it off as the government's responsibility In the post 9/11 world, those of us who live in metropolises need to accept the inevitability that these factors will position our cities as targets, so long as international terrorism exists in its present form. There's no sarkari solution that'll change things overnight. To what degree incidences of terror in our vicinity can be checked will increasingly depend on our responses. That's the only way urban terror can actually be fought - by the urban resident, who is its prime target. A smaller town like Malegaon will be targeted on account of its history of communal tension. But a Delhi or a Mumbai may well be targeted for no reason other than that it is Delhi or Mumbai. Still, the reality is that despite the Sarojini Nagar blasts in Delhi or the train explosions in Mumbai, many, many more people in these cities fall victim to road mishaps than to terrorism; no matter how persistent the threat, it's been handled reasonably efficiently, and we just have to get on with our lives. Key targets, and the global connect of your daily commute Typically, the terrorist will try to cause panic at the airport, the railway station, the metro, a major multiplex or mall. This would be the way he would work in any urban centre. So the commuter upset with frisking needs to realise that the Delhi Metro or the Mumbai suburban trains are not random targets - in February 2004, 39 people were killed in blasts in the Moscow underground, in March that year, 191 died in blasts on a Madrid rail line while the July 2005 London underground blasts that claimed over 50 lives are still fresh in public memory. Commuters in large cities the world over face similar threats and are tied by common fears and responses. The same applies to our experiences while at the mall or the multiplex - for instance, the Bali bombings of 2002 targeted two nightclubs and claimed over 200 lives. Finally, our own watchfulness and initiative become as critical to the safety system as the scanners and the gun-toting securitymen. The battle for minds and prejudice Possibly the single most perceptible social impact on the rest of the world post 9/11 has been racial profiling. When actions serve to divide cities and societies along ethnic or racial lines, terrorism gains deeper roots. The sections that are branded or made to feel 'watched' by the rest of society - such as the Asians in the UK - are vulnerable to a ghettoisation mindset that serves as an ideal breeding ground for the philosophy of hate. Many Asians complain of being treated in a hostile manner abroad. If we react to instances of terrorism by doing the same ethnic branding here, a primary objective of the terrorist is achieved. Not allowing that is probably a greater test of the urban, cosmopolitan outlook than anything else. As Glenn writes, "Urban terror may never be eliminated, but its probability of success and level of impact can be diminished by initiatives that capitalise on the wealth of support, expertise, and strength of collective character..."The final response to urban terror is not police action; it is the display of collective character. <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1975637.cms> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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