Monday night’s terrorist attack at Manchester was the worst that the United Kingdom has experienced, since the 2005 London bombings. The Manchester bomb led to the death of 22 young persons and has left 59 injured. Added to the horror of the attack was that among those killed were children, many of who had accompanied their young parents to a music concert. Hardly had the sounds of the concert died down at the Manchester Arena, when they were replaced by the blast and cries of horror. The dream of thousands who had gone for the concert had turned into a nightmare in a split second.
This terrorist attack is not one in isolation. There have been frequent such attacks in recent times. ISIS, that has claimed responsibility for the Manchester attack, has also said there will be more bloodshed. In the last few years, Europe has been the target of terrorists, and reports emerging say this is the 12th terrorist attack in Western Europe since the beginning of 2015. ISIS has been linked to most of the attacks that resulted in the death of 300 persons.
The regularity of the attacks, especially across Europe, makes it appear that whatever is being done to contain terrorism is all too little. British Prime Minister Theresa May touched upon this in her address on Tuesday morning when she said, “At terrible moments like these, it is customary for leaders, politicians, and others to condemn the perpetrators and declare that the terrorists will not win. But the fact we have been here before and the fact we need to say this again does not make it any less true.” While effort are made to stop terrorism, the attacks keep coming.
Resolving to thwart such attacks in future, as May said, and taking them on to defeat the ideology that often fuels this violence, is not going to be an easy task. World leaders have condemned the attack and pledged to join hands against terrorism. The condemnations have come in the past and will come again the next time there is an attack. So, once again world leaders are making the customary pledge to fight terrorism, but incidents such as the one in Manchester prove that it is never going to be easy. Early investigations into the blast have found that it was a single terrorist who set off an improvised explosive device and was himself among those killed. As long as there are persons who are willing to die in the attempt and work alone, law enforcement and anti-terror organizations are going to find it increasingly difficult to fight terrorism.
Terror attacks, whether at home or abroad, have to be condemned. They are targeted at innocent people who cannot fight back. Terrorists have been choosing crowded places so that the damage caused and the lives lost are high, hence creating a bigger impact by the sickening killing of random lives. This has to stop, but how? Since no one knows when and where the next attacks will be, the fight against terror is a fight against a faceless enemy that nobody knows where he will strike.
India has often been the victim of terror attacks and can very well empathise with what has happened in Manchester. But condemning and empathising is not enough in the fight against terror. It requires a more serious resolve from world leaders to end terrorism, if not we will always be looking at our neighbour in the bus, train, plane and theatre with suspicion.
