Good Lessons from Terrorists

The first thing I ever heard that could be considered an act of terrorism was the assassination of Indira Gandhi. She was then the Prime Minister of India. I was quite young then and I can recall the shock I felt to imagine that someone could kill the very person he had been charged with the responsibility to protect (she had been killed by her own body guards).

Years later, when I was a teenager, I heard on the news that her son, who had taken over as prime minister after her, had been killed by a suicide bomber. That was the first time I heard of suicide bombing. It was unimaginable in my young mind that a person could hate another so much that she (the bomber was actually a woman) could choose to die in order to see the person die. I had just been ushered into the harsh reality of terrorism.

Acts of terror have now become so common that hardly a week passes before we hear of reports from across the world. Terror has become the equalizer between rich and poor countries, between democracies and dictatorships, between communists and capitalists. There almost does not seem to be any criteria in who terrorists target. I guess the title of ‘terrorists’ is appropriate since they keep all of us adequately ‘terrified’.

For the longest time ever, I hated terrorists with a passion. They appeared to have made our lives very difficult. The endless metal detector tests and strangers going through the contents of my bag every time I want to enter any building is almost as bad as the terror itself. I have however been wondering of late what makes terrorists tick. I have been thinking that there must be some inherent good in the hearts of terrorists. I truly believe that we can learn a good thing or two from them.

One quality I admire in terrorists is their conviction. A terrorist is someone who is ready to die for a cause (and don’t tell me it’s for the 70 virgins otherwise there would be no women suicide bombers). This separates a terrorist from say, a robber, who can kill to get money or some other material benefit. If all of us could have the same level of conviction as terrorists in the things we believe in, the world would be a better place to live in. The only thing we should not emulate is the nature of their beliefs.

I have never in my layman’s experience been involved in an act of terror. I can however imagine the vast amount of courage needed for someone to blow himself to smithereens. It definitely takes someone with single minded focus to do the things that terrorists do. They lack not just the fear of death, but the fear of pain. Personally, I fear pain to a fault, and it’s not that am cowardly or anything, it’s just that I can’t consciously and voluntarily put myself through pain. For instance, I cannot willingly take myself to a doctor if I know I will get an injection.

I have been thinking that we need to promote a new kind of terrorism. Let me call it ‘political terrorism’. We could use a few ‘political suicide bombers’. These are people who will do what needs to be done at the risk of never winning an election again. They would go and do those things that will guarantee them political oblivion since they would not be willing to suck up to their cronies, kinsmen, and sponsors. I know one needs lots of money to win a political seat in Kenya. This money is almost always “borrowed” from “supporters” who would recoup it back through favours. A political suicide bomber would just ignore these supporters and refuse to grant favours.

I am not a politician and so do not know the finer details of how one gets himself elected. I can only deduce from what I hear about what happens. I am however sure that courage and confidence are good lessons we can learn from our, unfortunately ‘departed terrorists’.

P.S. When guards at malls pass a mirror under your car or swipe a metal detector over you, are they in essence declaring you to be “bomb-free”? How do they expect a bomb to look like – A long cylindrical shape with fins and written “BOMB!” on the side? Just wondering!