Pros And Cons Of State Sponsored Terrorism

Terrorism is defined by the group or actor that is perpetrating the act. These specific goals and purposes, as well as the perpetrator’s place of domicile and the location of the specific attack, determine how terrorism is to be classified. State-sponsored, international, religious, and dissident terrorism are all defined by these standards, and examples of each type hinge on these variances.

The US Department of State proscribes state-sponsored terrorism to refer to any state that has “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.” Syria is classified as a state-sponsor of terrorism because the government abets non-state actors that commit acts of terrorism. State-sponsored terrorism can be covert or pronounced in nature,

Specifically, these actions are motivated by “Hundutva,” which seeks to establish the hegemony and dominance of the Hindu way of life as defined by the Oxford Dictionary. Acts of Saffron terrorism have included assassination, intimidation tactics, riots, and bomb blasts. The majority of these acts are committed by members of Hindutva organizations, but there have been some lone wolf actors as well. The views of these terrorists emphasize the oppression that Hindus have faced from other groups, namely Muslims and Christians, and aims to reverse the influence that this has had on the Hindu people (Falak, 2015). They also call to form a “Hindu nation” as a means to assert the dominance of Hinduism. This form of terrorism is classified to be religious because it is motivated by the application of terrorist violence for the greater glory of their faith and thus, religious gain. The Bharitya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the two main political parties in India and is allies with and supportive of Hindu extremists. In this respect, this group could be further classified state-sponsored religious terrorism because of this governmental

Boko Haram’s primary objectives are to prevent Nigerian society from becoming westernized, to advocate for and to implement Sharia law, and to establish an Islamic caliphate within Nigeria to perpetuate these goals. Boko Haram is literally translated to mean “Western education is a sin” (Sergie and Johnson, 2015). Because of this view, public education is thought to be conducive to these “western” ideals and values and thus, they serve as a heightened target for Boko Haram (Stout, 2013). While Boko Haram seeks the establishment of an Islamic state in Nigeria, Boko Haram has the additional objective to extend Islamic rule beyond Nigeria. On March of 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (US Department of State, 2016). This group is classified by the US Department of State as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” because they transcend international boundaries and execute acts of terror in countries wherein the perpetrators are not native to that country. Specifically, Boko Haram is responsible for attacks in neighboring countries like Chad, Niger, and Cameroon (US Department of State, 2016). For example, in November of 2015, Boko Haram was responsible for two suicide bombings in Nigeria and Cameroon that resulted in the death of at least 12 people. Other tactics employed by this group include ambushes, armed attacks, kidnappings, and