It will be very handy to know the factors that groom terrorism before discussing how to tackle it. The main factors that cause terrorism to grow are manifold. They are
· Political factors
· Religious factors
· Socio-economic factors
· Psychological factors
However, we cannot blame anyone of these factors alone for the rise of terrorism. The above factors all work together to breed the menace of terrorism in any area. I am sorry to say that no military action or airstrikes work better than addressing these problems. One barbarism is no answer to another barbarism.
The main political reason for the growth of terrorism is the suppression of the people of an area by the state or any international institution. Where the political aspirations are suppressed and the suppressed people know no democratic means or have no democratic opportunities to achieve their aims, they take to terrorism. The best remedy for such a problem is to strengthen democratic institutions in those areas by spreading democratic education among the people of those areas. The democracy as a political system should take into account the aspirations of the people of all races, religions and ideologies. It should address the problems of the people in a prompt manner. However, in today’s world, we find only partial democracies. There is an urgent need to spread true democratic education and use less force in every space.
Religion is also an important factor in attracting people towards terrorism. The irony here is that which is called a modern religion of the world has become a breeding ground for terrorists. I am not blaming any one religion for the rise of terrorism. However, I want to accuse every religion of this crime of creating terrorism in the world. Therefore, the people of these religions must be educated in a way that they realize that there is a life beyond religion. Man can achieve salvation even through science. It is worthy to achieve something, which is useful to all the humanity on this earth. Then only people think broadly and analyze what is best for them. They must realize that the universe is so vast that they cannot limit themselves the Scriptures of their religion. They must take opportunities to explore the world and invent new things.
There are many socio-economic factors, which give rise to terrorism. Either most of the terrorists come from the most backward countries or have their ideologies originated in backward cultures. The main reason for this phenomenon is the underdevelopment of such areas and lack proper educational and employment facilities in those areas. Most of these backward cultures are having illiterate people who obstructed the functioning of their minds with their dark superstitions. If we educate these people in scientific and democratic traditions, we can easily wean these people away from terrorism.
Psychological and physiological factors also play a role in creating terrorism in the world. The people who kill others are in most cases sick. They are mentally ill and physically unhealthy. All terrorists are sick people. The psychological stuff they hold in their mind kills others and ultimately kills them as well. Only timid people take weapons. On the other hand, the confident and fearless people always try to solve their problems through peaceful means. So the mental illness of terrorism needs immediate psychological and physiological treatment. We need more educators and doctors than military personnel or weapons.
Finally, I want to say that tackling terrorism is a multi-pronged approach. Therefore, we need to take the factors that give rise to terrorism into consideration and to proceed towards removing those factors. The world now needs more thinking people than military weapons. We cannot build a new world on corpses of our fellow beings but with their helping hands