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Fight
Terrorism from
Within, says Julio
Ribeiro
By Subhajit Bhattacharya
Mumbai's
new Police Commissioner
D. Sivanandhan
knows his priorities
right. Soon after
he took over the
post of the City's
top cop, he organized
a seminar on Global
Terrorism to create
an awareness among
the public as
well as agencies
concerned on the
perennially looming
threat of terrorism.
Sivanandhan roped
in eminent speakers
to do the talking
at the seminar,
held on 31 July
at Ravindra Natya
Madir, in Prabha
Devi, heart of
the city. The
audience comprised
people ranging
from top executives
of big corporate
houses to ordinary
members of 'Mohulla'
(area) Committees,
besides senior
government and
police officials.
Welcoming the
invitees, Police
Commissioner Sivanandhan
said, “Terrorism
is a mindless
massacre and can
be provoked by
any kind of ideology
and sometimes
without any kind
of ideology.”
Expressing concern
over repeated
terrorist attacks
on Mumbai, Sivanandhan
said the main
objective of the
attackers was
to weaken the
economic backbone
of India and also
to push this country
to invest to the
maximum extent
in the field of
defence so that
its economic growth
was hampered.
Besides Sivanandhan,
other eminent
speakers included.
Julio Ribeiro,
Former Mumbai
Police Commissioner
and Governor of
Punjab, Sundeep
Waslekar, President,
Strategic Foresight
Group and Kumar
Ketkar, a well-known
journalist.
The seminar gave
an insight about
the new form of
terrorism at the
same time it gave
a clear picture
about the fact
that terrorism
do not have any
kind of religion
or form it is
just mind less
murder.
Julio Ribeiro
said “There
is no Islamic
or Sikh terrorism
because no religion
in the world teaches
you about terrorism,”
adding that “We
can call this
terrorism a Jihadi
terrorism”.
The only way to
combat this modern
form of terrorism
is to fight it
from within that
is to weaken the
support system
which the terrorists
are getting from
a particular community,
Rebeiro said.
For example, the
whole scenario
in Punjab changed
when the Jats
and the Sikhs
withdrew support
to terrorism,
he said.
Ribeiro also said
that “The
mindset of the
Mumbai Police
has to change”
the police man
has to understand
that we are at
the service of
the people. The
police have to
create a friendly
image among the
people so that
the latter gave
the right information
to the police
at the right time
about any suspicious
activity, he added.
The concept of
'Mohulla Committees'
was first launched
in Mumbai by Ribeiro.
It was a significant
towards establishing
a clear communication
between the police
and the civilians.
In his address,
Waslekar focused
on the development
of modern form
of terrorism and
said that “terrorism
is regarded as
a proper industry
where the margin
of profit is about
60 percent. He
said that “right
now there are
190 countries
in the world at
the same time
there are about
190 terrorist
groups”.
The new age terrorism
is a mixture of
both religious
groups and non-
religious groups
he added. Lashkare-Taiba
, which owned
huge properties
in Pakistan, have
swimming pools
, big buildings
, printing and
publication businesses
and factories
of leather goods,
offered a new
corporate look
to terrorism,
Waslekar said.
Ketkar said that
the preparation
for terrorist
attack is never
sufficient the
police and the
administration
have to be alert
always. According
to him, terrorism
is another form
of fundamentalism.
The seminar ended
with a vote of
thanks by K.L.
Prasad, Joint
Commissioner of
Police, who said
that “we
have to fight
the terror with
the people and
not without them.
The main motto
of the Mumbai
Police is to make
Mumbaikars more
alert so that
they could face
this kind of challenge,”
he added.
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