Combating terrorism

SAARC has at last grasped the nettle and come to the realisation that short of defeating terrorism there can be no peace or prosperity in the region. All leaders took pains to stress this point during their speeches at the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo.

For the first time SAARC leaders have agreed to consider a legal framework for cooperation in tackling terrorism with a legal mechanism for effectively dealing with the menace.

That SAARC has come to realise the need for defeating this monster collectively itself shows inter-connectivity of the terrorist problem and the need for a mutual arrangement to exorcise the evil.

The tone and tenor of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s appeal for a joint SAARC initiative to combat terrorism was akin to a clarion call to South Asian leaders to rid the region of the this scourge once and for all without which progress and stability in the region could only be a pipe dream.

What the President was saying was that the decisions reached should be implemented with more steadfastness and conviction.

All past SAARC Summits treated this topic with the utmost priority but after some initial efforts to combat the menace interest faded when focus shifted elsewhere putting paid to all the initiatives discussed to tackle terrorism.

It is in this context that the President’s call for the tackling the problem at an institutionalised level should be taken note of. He said “we must ensure strengthening regional legal mechanisms and intensifying intelligence sharing to ensure the region’s collective prosperity and peace and stability.”

Inherent in the President’s statement is the fact that so long as terrorism is allowed reign there can be no way forward in social development.

It also implies that whatever plans discussed on the economic front will not succeed keeping the region under continued tension that could hardly be a recipe for the peoples’ emancipation sought to be achieved by SAARC.

As a leader of a country battling the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world the President is only too aware of what impact it has had on social development and economic progress. The devastation wrought as a result of an alignment of terrorist forces in the region could be too chilling to contemplate.

It would not only stifle progress but also deal a death knell to SAARC goals and aspirations. Already the chaos wrought by the serial bombings in India had brought home the threat posed to the region by terrorism.

The President’s views in this regard was echoed by his predecessor as SAARC Head Dr. Manmohan Singh who left no doubt on the resolve of India to confront the menace head on.

The Indian Premier said “we cannot lose the battle against idealogies of hatred, fanaticism and against all those who seek to destroy our social fabric”.

In the words of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan the newest entrant to the SAARC club “no amount of condemnation and outrage can suffice to express the anger and frustration we all feel when faced with such mindless brutality and violence” in reference to the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

This is the first time that the issue of terrorism had dominated the SAARC summit to such an unprecedented degree. From the emphasis laid by all SAARC Heads of State in their speeches it is apparent that more concrete measures would emerge to tackle terrorism in the region in a more forceful manner.

President Rajapaksa as the Head of SAARC we are sure would take the forefront in ensuring that the topic would not be allowed to peter out in the course of time as in the past and would take measures to ensure the institutional mechanisms drawn up in this regard would be implemented to the letter.

It hoped that the President’s call to SAARC nations to redouble their efforts for collective action to combat terrorism will this time around bear fruition paving the way for regional peace spelling prosperity and a new dawn for South Asians.