Looking back at the tragic attacks on the financial-economic centre and the military headquarters of the world’s only super power last September 11, it is clear that the cancer of terrorism that draws its strength from extremist religious ideologies is going to take a long time to eradicate. The growth of this phenomenon can be traced to the early seventies, when there was a revival and resurgence of religious movements, worldwide. The rise of Islamism had transformed itself by the 1980s into Mujahideen violence when the US reacted to Soviet intervention in Afghanistan by supporting a covert war in the name of religion. Pakistan, which had been moving toward intensified Islamisation under General Zia-ul-Haq, partly to legitimise his martial law rule, crafted its own agenda by becoming a ‘frontline state’ in that war. The belief that the Mujahideen had defeated the super power which also led to its collapse gave tremendous impetus to the ideology of exporting violence in the name of religion. Unchecked by any coordinated international response, the region quickly transformed itself into the epicentre of global terrorism by the 1990s, when Pakistan was able to replace the Mujahideen rulers of Afghanistan by the Taliban with its narrow and fundamentalist world view. The economies of both nations also got derailed through gross mismanagement, creating a sharp rise in the levels of poverty and illiteracy. The socio-economic neglect of the weaker sections of society added to the growth of a sense of relative deprivation in many countries. Madrassas started to become the main source of education and also of extremism. The choice facing the youth in Pakistan was jobs or jehad; and since few job opportunities were available in a grossly mismanaged country, many opted for jehad. After Afghanistan, the greatest impact of 9/11 has been on Pakistan, transforming it from a pariah state to a partner in the war against terrorism. General Pervez Musharraf has subsequently promised that no terrorist violence will be undertaken from Pakistani soil. But his attempts at reforming the economy and the education system have not brought discernible results so far. His own credibility has suffered seriously in the process of the political changes seeking to legitimise the army rule in the country. It is not clear at this stage whether Pakistan will emerge credibly, or get sucked into the earlier downward spiral with disastrous consequences for the region. But it also needs to be remembered that the growth of jehadi terrorism took more than a quarter century. It would be unrealistic to expect it to go away within a short time. The war against terrorism involves changing the mindsets of a whole generation. A sustained international coalition against all forms of terrorist violence would remain the only true memorial to the victims of transnational terrorism.
