Dr. Justice V.S. Malimath Report First pages - Ministry of Home Affairs

213
TERRORISM _
19.1 The genesis of terrorism, as a global problem, is attributed to
development of political situation in the World in late 60s. However, it is not a
modern phenomenon as it has been in existence since the days of ancient
Greece, in medieval Italy and in the 20 th Century. The origin of the present day
terrorism can be traced to the Sinai War of June 1967 when in a few days Israel
decimated the armed forces of some of the Middle East countries and occupied
large tract of their land. The Arab world has since then been simmering with
anger and rage leading to the beginning of "contemporary wave of terrorism" in
the Middle East in 1968. The first manifestation of moving away from the
conventional war and confrontation between the Israeli and the Arab was the
seizure of an American Airline by a Palestinian sympathizer. Terrorism is no
longer a technique of protest but has become a global apparatus to challenge the
number one superpower in the unipolar world. What had not been reckoned
earlier was the way in which religion was to become enmeshed with the
political aspiration.
19.2 DEFINITION OF TERRORISM
19.2.1 It stands to reason that in order to combat an evil, its nature must
be explained in an acceptable definition. It is extremely difficult to offer a
precise and objective definition of terrorism which can be universally
acceptable. There are several reasons for this, namely:
(i) Terrorism takes different forms: although it is usually equated
with political subversion;
(ii) The criteria for defining the term 'terrorism' is generally
subjective since it is mainly based on political considerations and
is often employed by Governments;
(iii) It is used as an instrument of syndicated crime;
(iv) Above all, terrorism is prompted by a wide range of motives,
depending on the point in time and the prevailing political
ideology.
19.2.2 While discussing terrorism, it is difficult to define
"terrorism", as, during the last 40 years the forms of terrorism
have undergone metamorphose. However, one of the earliest