The author on Thursday spoke about the manner in which terrorism shapes democracy through emotions and the need to understand that terrorism has its implications in political violence and that the two cannot be understood separately. He also stressed on the need to address the issue of terrorism keeping in mind the local background and the context. “It is important to recognize that political violence is not very different from criminal violence, both at a certain point merge. Hence it is important to understand that both text as well as context are necessary to understand the cause behind any terror act,” said Mamdani.

Stressing that no government can tackle terror without tackling the core issues first, he said that the two are completely interlinked. “No terror attack whether 9/11 or 26/11 can happen on its own. While it is important that every government should ensure security to its citizens, it is equally important to know that this cannot happen unless the government addresses the reasons that cause insecurity among the people,” said Mamdani.

Citing the example of Ireland and its struggle for independence, Mamdani said that violence continued in both countries — Ireland and England — because the British government failed to recognise Ireland’s demands. “This caused a lot of damage to both sides. The British government woke up to the demands of Ireland only years later,” said Mamdani. “It is important for the big powers to understand that no same recipe can be used for all issues. It is important to de-globalize and regionalise issues before addressing them. This is the only long term solution to tackle terror,” added Mamdani.

Mamdani also quoted the example of Pakistan as a country that never addressed the core issues. “Pakistan like Israel has never solved problems but only postponed them which has resulted in the problems that they are experiencing today.