M A I N   N E W S

India calls for combating terror
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 22
India today launched a concerted campaign against international terrorism, asking parliamentarians of the world to strengthen mechanisms for eliminating the menace and address the root causes of terrorism like poverty, illiteracy and unemployment.

Inaugurating the three-day international parliamentary conference to mark the Golden Jubilee of Parliament, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam pointed out that poverty, illiteracy and unemployment were sowing seeds of terrorism worldwide and proposed global sharing of resources under a consortium approach to address these issues for peace and development.

The issue of terrorism was brought into sharp focus when not only President Kalam but speakers, including Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, utilised the conference here to sensitise the international community about the diabolical threat of terrorism to democracy.

They reminded Parliamentarians from over 85 countries that India had been a victim of terrorism for more than two decades, long before the September 11, 2001, terrorist strikes in the USA.

“How can parliamentarians strengthen mutual cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism, which have become a big threat to peace, democracy and civilised world order?”, asked the Prime Minister while addressing the opening session of the conference to mark the Golden Jubilee of Parliament.

Dr Kalam said in the same vein that cross-border terrorism and insurgency were not restricted to one country or a region, but had emerged as a global threat to peace and harmony of humankind.

“Global sharing of resources under a consortium approach will be one way to address these issues for peaceful co-existence and co-development,” the President said.

Poverty, illiteracy and unemployment are driving forward the forces of anger, frustration and violence globally, Dr Kalam said, adding that these forces linked themselves to historical enmity, tyranny and injustice, ethnic issues and religious fundamentalism and transformed themselves into an outburst of terrorism worldwide.

Terming terrorists as enemies of an open society, the Lok Sabha Speaker asked parliamentarians to help their governments in bringing necessary legislative measures to fight terrorism and build a consensus to safeguard democracy from “forces trying to destroy its foundations”.

Asserting that terrorism posed a “big threat” to peace, Mr Vajpayee asked parliamentarians the world over to strengthen mutual cooperation to combat the menace and called for further empowerment of institutions of democracy.

“In 2003, the world is facing a new kind of warfare, owing to a combination of religious conflicts, ideological differences and market warfare,” Mr Kalam said, adding that apart from threats to nations, governments and economies of societies, what was most painful was the suffering of millions of innocent human beings.

Quoting a message from the Arunachal Pradesh Tawang monastery, he said the elimination of ego would lead to vanishing of hatred towards fellow human beings and peace would blossom. “It (message) is apt for this occasion, for the reason that we all need peace on our planet earth,” he remarked.

President Kalam, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, former Presidents R. Venkataraman and K.R. Narayanan, former Prime Ministers P.V. Narasimha Rao and I.K. Gujral, Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi, Cabinet Ministers and parliamentarians attended the inaugural function at the Central Hall of Parliament.

A highlight of the three-day conference, to which Pakistan has not been invited, is a discussion on ways to combat terrorism. It will also deliberate on themes like parliamentary practices and procedures and need for reform to secure greater executive accountability and of Parliament in the era of globalisation and liberalisation.

Observing that the spectre of terrorism was haunting all democracies, Mr Shekhawat recalled the December 13 attack on Parliament, saying that it symbolised the grave threat posed by the menace to democracies all over the globe.

In the session on combating terrorism, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission K.C. Pant asked the world community to stall the financial channels of terrorist outfits and demanded that the USA should tackle the root cause of scourge in Pakistan. He also sought its “de-radicalisation” as Islamabad had become the “epicentre” of global terrorism.