Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the Golden Temple at Amritsar for the first time. The grandeur and the serenity did not dilute the fact that this temple has the unique distinction of affecting the destiny of our nation in a manner whose aftermath is felt even a quarter century later.
Since I had gone to my unit for its silver jubilee celebrations, I was with many officers on this yatra. Because we were soldiers, there was no way we could not contemplate Operation Bluestar from a purely tactical angle. And as a natural extension, think about the origin and the challenges of dealing with extremist organizations. Almost as an answer, Tomar, one of my company commanders, recounted this story from Hindu mythology.
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Bhasmasur, a demon from the netherworld, sought powers that would enable him to achieve dominance over the three worlds. His penance paid off with Shiva granting him a boon. Bhasmasur asked for the ability to destroy anyone he touched on the head. Impressed by Bhasmasur’s devotion and convinced of his loyalty, Shiva acceded. No sooner had he done so, the demon wanted to test his powers on Shiva himself and the latter had to flee to save his life. Bhasmasur chased Shiva to kill him and take his wife Parvati for himself. In sheer desperation, Shiva, the feared destroyer, had to flee and seek refuge from Vishnu.
Demons who get their powers from the benign and then turn on the very people who supported or created them, are not new. The Taliban, the creation of the US and Pakistan, has done a Bhasmasur on its sponsors. The recent spate of attacks on Pakistani establishments is a clear indication of the demon crossing its threshold and going for the jugular of its creator.
While a lot of time is spent on studying the rise of terrorist organizations, it is equally instructive to analyse their demise. Most terrorist outfits lose their edge and deteriorate when their leaders can be made to stray from the core values or strategy that established them in the first place. Equally often, the larger-than-life image of an individual leader makes the organization vulnerable to a single point of failure. The Khalistan movement and, more recently, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are good examples of how strong, well-supported movements can be systematically defeated and destroyed by targeting the fountainhead or the leaders, rather than just the frontline soldiers.