Nabeel's open diary: Terrorism should be subject of study in schools

By Nabeel A. Khan

New Delhi: Terrorism should be taught as a subject in schools so that Indian youth become more aware of the scourge, says celebrated former police officer Kiran Bedi.
As the country continues to debate the larger ramifications of terror attacks in many cities, Bedi, the first woman officer in the Indian Police Service and a Magsaysay Award winner for her jail reforms, said: "Terrorism should be introduced in schools as a subject. It is very important that our youth be aware of it. NSS [National Service Scheme], NCC [National Cadet Corps] and the Scouts and Guides should dedicate special sessions on terrorism awareness."
NSS and NCC are both co-curricular activities in high schools and colleges around India.
Bedi was worried that people tended to forget about terror attacks soon after they occurred. Apart from introducing the subject in schools, "society should come forward and start participating through team policing", she said.
"Only state police, without civilian support, cannot easily stop or prevent acts of terror and for this we need to make our society aware."
Support
In the political spectrum, there is bipartisan support for the idea.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said it was the primarily the duty of police to protect the lives of citizens, but added that public help in combating terrorism was equally necessary.
"The people on the street, like small shopowners, vendors and parking attendants should be trained and sensitised against such incidents. Such people can also contribute to providing information to the intelligence," Javadekar said.
His party's youth wing "may start a campaign to spread awareness and alertness among the people through a scientific and logical approach", he added.
Congress party leader Salman Khurshid said fortifying communication between people and agencies was very important.
"Network of information between people and police is very important in combating terrorism and for this we need to remove people's cynicism towards police. Everywhere some people are good and some people are bad; the same goes for police," Khurshid said.
Both political leaders felt NGOs should come forward and create awareness in different communities about the evils of terrorism.
Academics also favoured the idea of NGOs and social organisations creating awareness and alertness against terrorism.
"People are still not alert against terrorism and for this reason social organisations and NGOs [non-government organisations] should start awareness campaigns," Alok Puranik, writer and lecturer in Delhi University, said.
Social activist Harsh Dobhal said targeting any particular community after a terror attack only makes matters worse. Government agencies should work in an unbiased manner to ensure equality is maintained among the people of all religions, castes and creeds, he added.
"Government agencies should act in a responsible manner. Innocent people or a particular community should not be falsely implicated. The police bring a new mastermind every day [following a terror attack]. Their statements are contradictory, which is bound to raise doubts. The police need to build faith in the people's minds."
Shabnam Hashemi, another social activist, wanted the media too to act in a more responsible manner.
"The media is trying to be judgmental, they announce their verdict even before the judiciary does that. More often the media is acting as a mouthpiece of police and polarising the opinion. That is very irresponsible," she said.