The Changing Face of Terror

The changing face of terror

9/11 represented a paradigm shift in terrorism. It was testimony to an ominous alliance  with technology and intelligence. Terrorism that was evolving from sporadic impulsive acts of retribution to highly  deliberate, strategic, premeditated operations executed with precision and professionalism. Such large scale operations  indicated terrorism having access to large financial and human resources, the kind we have never seen before. Terrorism had transcended from mere ideology to a well oiled Multi National Organisation.
 The profile of a Modern day Terrorist mutated from an indoctrinated fanatic to a tech savvy, intelligent albeit misdirected twenty something raring with rage and energy to take on anyone. Killing fellow humans or even oneself requires not just brutality and  barbarism, but also a deep rooted contempt.
What could be the etiology of such insane contemptuous hatred that could take innocent lives? What kind of a bargain are these posessesd beings indulging in? Is their  adversary genuine or an ill construed perceptive delusion fuelled by an imaginary persecution mania?Perpetrating senseless acts of terror and violence could hardly be the motive of one's life. Such extreme self destructive  virulence is analogous to an auto immune disease. For reasons that are completely unclear, the immune system that is programned to protect the organism targets innocent unsuspecting  tissues of the host organism.  What triggers such inexplicable behaviour is a mystery. These very restive and sensitised immune mediating cells go about their destructive  mission with a resolve,obviously with disastrous consequences. They are nourished by the host, who is rendered helpless by these  purposeless acts of rebellion and retribution. These killer  cells have no real adversary and yet unleash their weaponry on healthy innocent cells who have no means of counter attack. It is a slow and steady Harakiri that beats any logic. A mutinous act against a non repressive, supportive regime.
The biological organism compromises its own integrity by misrecognising parts of itself as other than itself and then seeks to eliminate these unrecognised and hence antagonistic aspects of itself.
Such acts of terror become anathema not just because they wreak havoc in society, but also because it confounds the political ontology that underlies our entire way of life. Perhaps that is also why “autoimmunity” continues to provoke if not horror at least misunderstanding, despite all efforts to the contrary.
Do these acts complicate the popular and political understanding that mankind is a singular and unified body? More importantly does it challenge the notion that this “body” circumscribes who and what we are?
A feeling of alienation by a part of one's own self hardly has any external remedy. It mandates a greater ability  of self cognisance and self appraisal.  A  more holistic perception  that would eliminate this senseless  pitting of the Self against its own Self.

Deepak Ranade