|
Mumbai: As the country mulls introducing tough laws to tackle terrorism in the wake of the Delhi bomb blasts, a prominent retired police officer credited for quelling the Punjab insurgency is urging the state to win over the community to which the terrorists belong.
In Punjab, where he was the Director General of Police in 1986 at the height of the Sikh militancy, Julio Ribeiro said, "It was only after the Sikh Jat farmers withdrew their tacit support for the Khalistanis that the back of the movement was finally broken."
He added that terrorists cannot survive without the sympathy of their own co-religionists or community.
The present situation is far more complicated because terrorism now "transcends geographical borders and attracts culprits from all parts of the Islamic world".
Obvious solution
Ribeiro, who was also Mumbai's police commissioner, commented: "Millions of ordinary Muslims feel aggrieved by what they consider to be a bias against their religion and way of life by the people of our country and people in the Western world.
"The obvious solution would be to remove this feeling of alienation from their minds by treating them as equal citizens of this great country with equal rights as well as, of course, responsibilities."
|
