By Sudhanshu Tripathi
While analysing terrorism, one comes across a peculiar state of a-reason or pre-occupied rationalities which is a situation of paralogism where a fallacious argument or reasoning appears superficially logical wherein even most unnatural and macabre acts of brute violence run afoul of what is reasonable and socially acceptable. It may be characterised as alienation of the self which is apparently opposite to reason but is, in fact, indifferent or neutral to the accepted standards of reason or eternal moral values.
It this situation where essence of humanity is overshadowed by circumstantial reactions which conceive distorted-wicked reasons as ideal goal to be accomplished; even at the cost of one’s own life. Further, it is a peculiar mind-set or dehumanised-self or radicalised-self, who consider violence or ever-destructive evil-psyche to surge ahead into global terrorism. This is why today’s terrorists are exceptionally typical personalities of firm convictions who are always ready to sacrifice their own selves for sake of their so-defined noble goals.
However the history of violence goes as far back as since the coming into existence of human beings themselves for sake of security of one’s person vis-à-vis several threats in the primitive stage of evolution of so-called society or jungle where Darwinian formula of survival of the fittest ruled the roost. Earlier a very prominent sophist philosopher of Greece, Thrasymachus had also said that might is right.
While the quality of virtue makes a man noble, pious and good in all sense, the otherwise (vice) makes him selfish, wicked and brute. The situation may be analysed as the state of pre-occupied rationalities as a-reason which prompts one to take recourse to innumerable evils. Obviously, these vices are diametrically opposed to the pure consciousness which operate in one as pre-occupied rationalities or a-reason. The state of Pure Consciousness is, indeed, an unparalleled position of supreme reason which is devoid of all frictions or contradictions and hence is the climax of the on-going journey of history in the world as the state is the march of god upon earth, in words of the great German idealist, Hegel.
While discussing terrorism as phenomena whether at a national level or international or global level, though the factor of violence is same, but the root cause or causes may not be same due to dissimilarity of environmental factors. However all these national or international factors may be reduced to the causes of inequality or injustice because that is the primary cause of revolution or sedition according to an ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and that results into violence and ultimately into terrorism.
While terrorism is a kind of most heinous or horrifying organised violence causing tremors running down through one’s spine, it ought to be very fearsome and disgusting to the people at large where it works as a theatre and hence prescriptive for the would be terrorists, but it becomes ascriptive as well as prescriptive both for some or few who help contribute terror by deliberately becoming human bombs or suicide bombs causing massive human carnage and large-scale destruction of public property, thereby presenting themselves as role model for future terrorists, hence motivating them to follow the suit.
All these are obviously due to perverted psychology or paralogism as pre-occupied rationalities among terrorist which are aimed at securing a world devoid of conscientious humanity, sanity and eternal & universal moral values. As obvious this presumption among terrorists to create a kind of world presents a situation of noumena which is entirely independent of our experience about it as we are utterly ignorant of the same. Thus prescription-ascription or phenomena-noumena dichotomy, though operate at different level, yet both have same causal narrative of gory violence or terror acting in contrast to the very essence of humanity.
Indeed, deeper analysis of terrorism as a phenomenon is needed because why is it not being stamped out despite practising with best of the deterrent measures. Instead of understanding the phenomenon of terrorism through the eyes of matter, it would be better to comprehend the idea behind the phenomena of terrorism. Why this be so? Because matter or material world is constantly changing and has no fixed or determinate form whereas an idea is always permanent, fixed, eternal and immutable. If terrorism is to eliminated anyhow, it will have to substituted by some more powerful or constructive idea like love, peace, or brotherhood.
Obviously, the present conditioning of mind-based rationalities as regards terrorism will have to be changed so as to pave way for incorporation of eternal and universal moral values which are eternal, unchangeable and also beautiful. These can pave the way for establishing balance in overall relations of human endeavours. In fact, the terrorism is to be over powered by the idea of love and peace which are true essentials of nature as truth and non-violence.
For this end, the ancient Indian system of Yoga emerges as an unparalleled cultural back-bone, based upon eternal ethical and moral values and universal ideas and ideals. Because these are in perfect harmony with the normal and natural way of life as well as Nature and perfectly connects the temporal world to the ultimate spiritual-metaphysical world by observing truth, love, peace, non-violence, temperance, thereby leading to sublimation and salvation or moksha, as Truth is invincible power ie. stayamev jayate. And this has again emerged in India and in all over the world as a constructive vision as well as endeavour when the entire humanity is earnestly fighting the global menace of Covid-19 to success. It will be won as nothing is beyond human endeavour.
Prof. Sudhanshu Tripathi, U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University, Prayagaraj (UP)
