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Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee8217;s statement on Monday that to fight terror, tough decisions may have to be taken which may 8216;temporarily infringe8217; on freedom and 8216;abridge8217; human rights, must be set in a context. The central goal of terrorism is to create fear among a large segment of population so as to put pressure on the state and society to accede to its demands. A major objective of the terrorist is to incite the state to a strong response which could then be used to project the idea of state repression. It is also during this response that the potential for excesses arises. One also must take into account the reality of psychological pressures where the security forces stand guard in the face of unknown all-azimuth threats to their own lives as well. The problem gets aggravated since the terrorists normally retain the initiative to strike at targets of their choosing, tend to merge with civilians, and wield weapons and equipment that are often superior to those of security forces.
The question of human rights in the face of continuing terrorism has emerged as a major issue world wide partly because terrorism on this scale and scope had not been experienced earlier. Opinion in the US, for example, was deeply divided about the rights of the al Qaeda terrorists captured and transferred to prisons in the US. But terrorism, by definition, targets innocents. By their indiscriminate criminal killing, terrorists forfeit their claim to those rights that are available to peace-loving law-abiding citizens. The problem becomes more complex in the case of excesses and the curtailment of fundamental rights and liberties of ordinary citizens in counter-terrorism action. This is where every effort must be made to ensure that liberties and rights of innocent civilians are meticulously respected.
