Marc Hecker: Cannot use social causes to justify terrorism

Dr Marc Hecker elaborates on a point PicSameer MarkandeThe frenzied pace of life at Mumbais commercial heart of Kala Ghoda seems to fall away at The Cercle Litteacuteraire on the second floor of a building behind the defunct Rhythm House The French book library whose doors creak frighteningly loud earns our forgiveness because of its endearing old world charm and mean desi masala chai was hosting a lecture on France Vision of Terrorism by Dr PhD Marc Hecker Paris based Hecker who has a PhD in political science from University of Sorbonne teaches a course on terrorism and asymmetric warfareAn interviewWhat is the primary aim of your India visitI was invited for a closed door seminar in Pune which was on Deconstructing Terror attended by 20 experts from around the worldWould you say currently in Europe France is the hardest hit when it comes to terrorismThere are two ways to look at this there is the threat that France is facing and there are measures that we have taken to counter this We have had a spate of terror attacks but that is not to say that France is an unsafe country You are safe walking on the streetsFrance was one of the first countries in Europe to ban the niqab the face veil the ban some say triggered attacks on the countryThe ban is used by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS and the AlQaeda as a pretext for attacks The French Republic though is based on secularism which is the separation of religion from State Civil servants are supposed to be neutral Symbols of religion are banned in public schoolsIs there credibility to reports that French Jews do not feel safe in the countryFrench Jews have been targeted by terrorists In certain areas in France on the outskirts of the cities Jews have faced insults and there is a sense of fear amongst Jews Recently Jewish migration from France was as high as 7000 a year though this number has declined slightly now and so have antiSemitic incidentsThere is a very strong belief that increased attacks are a result of immigration that Europe has opened its doors to its perilWe need to be very careful here We cannot generalize Immigration may have brought some problems but there is a humane and moral responsibility that we have For instance when people are being slaughtered in some country and they want to come in what do you do The Govt of France is seeking to control illegal immigration In France several terror attacks have been by home grown terrorists who are FrenchFrance has problems because its people mostly Muslim in impoverished areas are not assimilated in the mainstreamYou cannot use social causes to justify terrorism Currently I am studying at least 137 cases of persons convicted of terrorism offences At least 40 per cent of them were uneducated but certainly not all of them A high percentage of those convicted though had a record of petty crimeWe see Palestinestyle attacks now in Europe Terrorists are using knives and car ramming like they have in IsraelTerrorists look at the efficacy of a technique if it succeeds it will be used elsewhere It is not about IsraelPalestine it is about the success of the terror tacticFinally will we ever see the end of jihad attacks Will it ever be defeatedThe key here is cooperation between countries It is very difficult to defeat an ideology You can defeat groups of terrorists You can destroy sanctuaries One can try and prevent radicalization but it is very difficult to control an idea especially with all the communication in the new age We can only develop our own counternarratives to fight the ideologyCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates