We would like to share the following with al lour readers and viewers :
"THE THREE-DAY school hostage drama in Russia came to a heart-rending end on Friday. More than 330 people died - half of them children. At least 700 others were maimed or injured when violence erupted at the school in Beslan, North Ossetia, seized by a gang of fundamentalist terrorists even as Russian negotiators were trying to engage them in substantive talks. While the terrorists' demand of independence for Chechnya was unacceptable to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, he promised to put the lives and health of over 1,000 hostages above all other considerations. Russian authorities have explained they had no plans to storm the school and were seeking a peaceful end to the standoff. But they were compelled to act when the terrorists set off bombs in the school and opened fire on fleeing children. In his message of sympathy to the Russian President, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed understanding that "Russian forces were compelled to act in very difficult circumstances." Many other world leaders sent similar messages of sympathy and solidarity to Russia and condemned the school siege by terrorists as a barbaric and despicable act.
The Beslan calamity has revealed the ugliest face of fundamentalist terrorism. The Chechnya-linked terrorists deliberately targeted innocent small children. For three days they held at gunpoint hundreds of boys and girls and adults caring for them; the hostages were packed, in sweltering heat, in a small school gymnasium with bombs hanging over their heads and without food and water. The terrorists demonstrated they had no compunction in detonating the bombs that killed the children in the end. The crisis climaxed a bloody week of apparently coordinated terror attacks in Russia. It began with the simultaneous bombing of two airliners in which 90 people died. Then came the suicide bomb blast in Moscow that took 11 lives and injured more than 50 people. That 10 of the 32 hostage-takers killed by Russian forces in Beslan were reportedly of foreign origin appears to provide fresh proof of the nexus between Chechen rebels and international terrorist networks. Russian investigators claim they have found evidence that the school raid was financed by an Al-Qaeda operative, Abu Omar al-Saif, who has been active in Chechnya for some time now. President Putin has highlighted the truth that international terrorism has unleashed an "all-out war" against Russia. Displaying a commendable resolve not to give in to terrorists, the Russian leader made it clear his Government had learnt its lessons. He called for an overhaul of the country's security system, and for effective anti-crisis management mechanisms. Russia has sought - and, at last, received - unqualified international support for its struggle against terrorism. Meeting in emergency session at Moscow's request, the United Nations Security Council denounced the Beslan hostage-taking as a "heinous act." In a unanimously approved resolution, the 15-nation world body characterised acts of terrorism as "criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation" and reaffirmed determination to combat "one of the most serious threats to international peace and security." The Security Council called on all states actively to cooperate with Russian authorities in tracking down and bringing to justice those who carried out, organised, and financed the recent attacks. The hope is that the world will draw from the Russian tragedy the appropriate lesson: that international terrorists, outrageously appropriating the banner of Islam, have come a long way in forming a united front against civilised humankind. It is high time western countries stopped differentiating between "bad" and "good" terrorists - between those who target the United States and its allies on the one hand and those who target Chechnya, Jammu & Kashmir, Xinjiang, and so forth - and close ranks in fighting the terrorist menace.
The Hindu - September 6, 2004
We hope all of you will agree.
D. C. Nath, IPS (Retd.)
Former Special Director, IB (MHA), Govt. of India
Editor-cum-Executive President & CEO
International Institute of Security and Safety Management
New Delhi, India.
