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Terrorism,
Beslan and Russia�s imperialsim
By Bobson Gbinije
The whole world made the
collective neurosis of the people of Beslan in North Ossetia, Southern
Russia the echo of their obsession and concern, when secessionist Chechnya
rebels carried out a despicable and savage act of brutality against
defenceless children and their parents in Middle School No. 1 killing over
340 people. It will be recalled that about 2 weeks before the school
tragedy two Russian planes crashed simultaneously killing hundreds of
people and two separate bomb explosions killed over eleven people
respectively. It has been a catalogue of woes for the Russian Republic in
the past 6 months.
The secessionist Chechnya
rebels who were believed to be behind the attacks were demanding amongst
others, the release of their fighters over a series of attacks on police
facilities in the nearby republic of Ingushetia, the freedom and
independence of the Chechnya Republic and the withdrawal of Russian troops
from Chechnya. These demands are genuine, and legitimate as Martin Luther
King (Jnr) asserts that, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere". The despotic and imperialistic highhandedness of Vladimir
Putin and his Duma over some republics of the old Soviet Union remains
condemnable. But does this injustice justify the bestial murder of
innocent children by the terrorists? It is outright No.
Terrorism is the
non-discursive aspect of political communication. It is a multidirectional
and multidimensional social matrix of violent communication. What then is
the united Nation's position on terrorism and how can we relate these
political causes to violent political communication? In the 1985 United
Nation Report on terrorism it listed thirteen points as the underlying
causes of terrorism- namely, Colonialism, the occupation by force of the
lands of another, expulsion of inhabitants from their lands or their
homes, refusal to permit the return of exiles to their country, racial
discrimination, religious oppression, suppression of freedoms, denial of
the rights of the people to independence, intervention in the internal
affairs of other states and the provocation of factional dissension e.t.c.
The United States of America,
Israel and the Russian republic are all guilty of all the above-mentioned
cases of terrorism. It is clear that oppressed people have to be allowed
to express their grievances through discursive political means. In the
absence of such channels, the ultimate form of political communication for
a struggling people has to be utilized. Until the present international
system sees it as its responsibility to dismantle all forms of Colonial
and imperialistic structures, violence will continue to be the form of
communication most suitable to register the utter disgust for such an
antiquated and inhuman system.
In the above context, however,
we have to distinguish between terrorism and violent communication as a
means of defeating an imperialistic or Colonial intruder. Wars of
liberation are legitimate to the extent that the imperialist or Colonial
intruder refuses to leave an occupied territory or refuses to negotiate
with the people displaced and international community as a whole. Like
what the United State of America did and
still doing in Guantanoma Bay in Cuba, Iraq
e.t.c, like what the Russian Republic is doing in Chechnya and some other
republics of the old Soviet Union.
The legitimacy of wars of
liberation could be seen by the mere fact that several countries in the
world recognize major liberation movements in the Middle East and Africa
as the primary spokespeople for the oppressed in occupied territories. Not
only are the liberation movement recognized they are funded in their
struggle to defeat the imperialist intruders. Human beings have to protect
their families and properties. In the absence of access to discursive
means of battling grievances people will resort to your discursive means
called at times "terrorist" acts. The aggressor and occupier state as
exemplified by the United States and Russian Republic are never called
terrorists nations, although they utilize the most abject form of
terrorism against individual organization and nations.
Terrorism and political
communication therefore are multifaceted phenomena. A comprehensive and
responsible approach ought to be initiated by all in the international
system to ascertain that discursive means could indeed be the sole means
of solving disputes and that responsible rational action could pre-empt
the causes of terroristic behaviours. The current political occupation of
various countries by America, Israel and Russia must be condemned by the
United Nations, African Union, Arab League etc. It is when channels become
clogged up to a point of being irreparable that violence emerges. When
America or Russia attacks another country it is hypocritically called
'precision strike' or pre-emptive action.
The horrendous decimation of
defenseless children by Beslan is most condemnable and must be condemned
by all citizens of conscience in the world. But Russian strong man
Vladimir Putin and the Russian Special Squad most be condemned also for
causing panic that ultimately led to the massacre. They most be prevailed
upon to comply with the request of the secessionist Chechnya rebels. In
the absence of right to their republic, home and land and with the
continued use of force to legitimize occupation, political violence or
terrorism will continue.
Finally, until we alleviate
the yoke of imperialistic bondage on oppressed people like the people of
the Niger Delta, the oppress people would be forced to express themselves
in the manner readily felt by the internal oppressors and the
international system it is the collective responsibility of the
international system and others interested in peace to destroy imperialism
in all it's forms. Measures to prevent international terrorism, which
endangers or take innocent human lives or jeopardizes fundamental
freedoms, and study of the underlying cases of these form of terrorism and
acts of violence which lie in misery, frustration, grievance and despairs,
and which cause some people to sacrifice human lives, including their own,
in an attempt to affect radical changes must be a point for global
concern.
� Gbinije wrote in from
Warri
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