Terrorism: Religious fanaticism or political manipulation?

SEPTEMBER 2016 TOPIC: The ugly face of terrorism: Is it the result of religious fanaticism or political manipulation?

Terrorism may or may not be political manipulation but the ugly face of it is definitely not because of religious fanaticism or call it radical Islam (as some people call it). Terrorism is entirely a work of a bunch of lunatics who in the name of religion causes havoc. Talking about its history, yes it was political manipulation. Recent attacks like bombing in Baghdad killing several Muslims, suicide bomb in Prophet’s mosque in Medina (which is a religious place of Muslims) and bombing during eid payers in Bangladesh doesn’t explain the religious fanaticism. Terrorism has no religion; it is a mere game of politics.
Harshita Rawat (17)
MSS, Bengaluru

No religion teaches us to hate. If terrorists exist, it’s because of political manipulations. The Middle East suffers immensely from this problem. Militants there are encouraged as they are seen by governments as a way to control the people with fear. Not just Middle East but there is also a western hand which secretly supports militants for protecting their own interests. Terrorism is a political manipulation in the garb of religious fanaticism.
Sukeerat Kaur Channi (16)
Sacred Heart Convent School, Ludhiana

Today our world is facing a terrible tragedy of terrorism, which is mainly due to religious fanaticism. When people become stubborn and think that their religion is the supreme, they resort to terrorism. Today several terrorist groups have grown and have started spreading violence. These problems go out of control when a foreign country enters into another country’s affairs and makes matters worse. This leads to political pressure and at times the terrorists take advantage of these situations and make the trouble worse.
Senjuti Bhattacharya (16)
St Joseph’s High School & Jr. College, Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai

Terrorism is surely not the result of any religious fanaticism, be it Islam or any other religion. No religion ever promotes terrorism, violence or social disruption. We should never adopt a stereotype attitude to Muslims as terrorists. A terrorist is a person who doesn’t believe in the almighty. That’s why he fearlessly takes lives of the innocent people. Some countries in order to prove their strength and to destroy their competitors tend to sponsor different terrorist groups. Terrorism is doing no good to the world rather it is spreading violence and bloodshed which needs to be stopped.
Samridhi Goyal (12)
St Anthony’s Junior College, Agra

Numerous reasons might be found causing terrorism. Perhaps the most commonly held belief today is that terrorism is caused by religion. Though it is not the main cause for terrorism, religion does play a significant role in driving some forms of it. Nevertheless, a lack of political inclusiveness in the state against a certain political order may cause individuals to join or create terrorist groups. Owing to frustrated expressions of political parties violence can give birth to terrorism. Hence, I would like to conclude that the cause of terrorism might be principally political manipulation.
Akshit Sharma (14)
St Peter’s College, Agra

The driving force behind terrorism in the modern world is oppression. When someone weak is denied his rights, he wishes to find a remedy to stand for himself and the people he loves. Be it the western countries advocating terrorism in the middle-east, or the maoists in India, some way or another, they were harassed and denied their fundamental rights as a human being. The propagators of terrorism have vested interests when they drive an ordinary youth into the barbarous act of violence. At times, terrorism in a particular state is promoted to topple the government through instability. Hence, political instability can be termed as the primary reason behind the propagation of terrorism.
Sarthak S. Mundane (15)
Fatima Convent High School, Paratwada

Terrorism is a social evil born with the ruthless mentality of destroying humankind and assets of the nation resulting in the destruction of national economy. I think terrorism is the result of hatred and agitation among the people who have negative and harsh experiences in life which enroots the seed of taking revenge. To fight terrorism we’ll have to unite together. We must stand above the motives of political manipulation and religious hypocrisy. We should be suave and sagacious while making action plan to eradicate terrorism with its deepest root. Our message to the world should be that any dogma we adopt is for the good of humankind.
Roopal Gupta (19)
Sophia College, Ajmer

Terrorism is indeed the result of both religious fanaticism and political manipulation. No religion has ever supported violence. Terrorists who think that their work is to protect their God or their religion are actually ignorant that God needs no protection from humans. Terrorism is a result of ignorance. Some people who are irrationally zealous about their religious causes often mastermind terrorist attacks. As far as politics is concerned, it has never left any stone unturned in manipulating things for its advantage. Politicians need to appear as saviours to survive in the political arena. So they encourage terrorist activities to emerge as the light after darkness, which has been the stratagem of politics. As long as politics is not led by ethics it is never going to get rid of the stain it bears.
Bhavya Chauhan
Convent of Jesus and Mary, Chelsea, Shimla

Perhaps the most commonly held belief today is that terrorism is caused by religion. Though it is not the main cause for terrorism, religion does play a significant role. Grievances against a political party may cause individuals to join or create terrorist groups. Frustrated expressions of ‘political will’ can turn to violence as an alternative to political systems. Many terrorists say that they sincerely chose violence after long deliberation, because they felt they had no choice. This explanation for terrorism may be difficult to swallow. It sounds too simple, or too theoretical.
Tanisha Bhatia (13)
Convent of Jesus and Mary, Chelsea, Shimla

According to me, the ugly face of terrorism is the result of political manipulation. It is the indiscriminate killing of innocent people and this is something that cannot be justified. Such acts of terrorism are usually carried out by those who have been ideologically brainwashed, whereas those who actually plan these attacks are truly responsible for them. They sit in safety watching the media frenzy after every major terrorist attack. The goals of such attacks are selfish and evil.
Maitreyi Singh (15)
Jeevan Marg Sophia Sr. School, Deoria

Terrorism has its catastrophic effects by the use of threat and destruction. Not only is it a colossal waste of money and resources but it also fragments the society which entails in communal frenzy and religious fanaticism. Terrorism spreads its poisonous fangs relating to religions, more precisely ‘Islam’. Ideologically, all religions teach harmony, integrity, peace and unity. Islam does not give birth to terrorism! Moreover, terrorism adds a catalyst to the unscrupulous acts of the politicians which is to promote political agendas causing one’s country’s economic downfall too.
Harmann Bhogal (17)
St Francis’ Convent Inter College, Jhansi

Terrorism creates terror in people’s minds through violence. I believe it is more due to religious fanaticism. A recent example of this happened in Bangladesh. The terrorists went into a cafe and asked the people to recite ayats of Koran to check whether they were Muslim. The ones who could not do it were shot. Political manipulation is merely to attract votes. But the educated community of any religion is smart enough to choose the right party. So, terrorism is mainly due to religious fanaticism, and political manipulation plays the role of a catalyst.
Jiya Goyal (12)
St Anthony’s Junior College, Agra

In my opinion the root cause of terrorism is religious fanaticism. The fanatical belief in a religion acts like manure and nutrient in sowing the seeds of hatred towards other religions in a fanatic. Religious fanaticism destroys the love and brotherhood between two religions and promotes hatred and serves as a pillar of terrorism. A fanatic can be made to do anything on account of religious blindness, thereby converting him into a terrorist and keeping at stake the life of innocent people. Political manipulation often supports terrorism but at the grass root level it is the religious fanaticism which is responsible for terrorism.
Akshita Agarwal (18)
Agra

When I read this topic, all the inhuman massacres and violence of the past flash through my mind. Thousands of innocents lost their lives and their loved ones. Who is to be blamed; the religious fanatics or the manipulating politicians? I believe both. The perpetrators may seem to be the former, but the latter is to be blamed equally. The true peril that religious doctrine poses is its encouragement of attacks that are more savage in nature than other types of terrorism. Politicians are often the ones fuelling and igniting the religion-based wars for money and power. What disturbs me is, are those thousands of innocent lives worth one man’s bank account?
Aarti Sandeep Agrawal (19)
SRM University, Kattankulathur