How we can avert more Paris attacks

The ghastly terror attacks on civilians in the Paris region on November 13, culminating in the death of more than 160 civilians, is shocking and deplorable. The whole world grieves for the French people and condemns terrorism as a barbaric way of any group pushing its own agenda, including under international law and the basic tenets of all, including Semitic, religions.

It is not surprising that IS has claimed responsibility for this terrible outrage. Some Parisian newspapers have said in anger "that it is war now". But any informed observer would argue that the war started quite some time ago. The so-called "regime change" and the US-backed military assault on Iraq, Libya, Somalia and currently in Syria is reminiscent of colonial wars by imperial powers in the 19th and 20th centuries. As earlier, there is rising Islamophobia as a bitter reaction to Islamist offences, sometimes leading to extreme laws and curbs. It should be remembered that the major regime change in Iraq was based on the blatant lie that Iraq was a nuclear threat, infamously stated by Prime Minister Tony Blair to be a threat that could attack Britain in 45 minutes.

The lies continue. Has France or any major power identified, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as supporters and funders of IS? Has any great power, or not so great power, exposed links between Turkey and IS, and the former's regular purchase of stolen oil from IS in exchange for Turkish weapons? Is it not true that the US and Turkey have bombed the Kurdish Workers Party, PKK, though the Kurds are the main boots on the ground against the IS, unlike any of the great powers? These facts are well known. But as the saying goes there are no "good terrorists" as opposed to "bad terrorists". The NATO support to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to overthrow the Syrian regime headed by Bashar al Assad, is not only illegal in international law but also strengthening terrorism. It is well known that the bulk of the FSA has merged with the Jhanbat al Nusra, an affiliate of al Qaeda. So it is the West and its allies that have created Islamist alienation, not to speak of the Taliban which it set up and armed, to overthrow the Russian-backed regime in Afghanistan.

Tragically, the French government did not learn any lessons from these very serious events, not even from the Charlie Hedbo incident, which was seen by many Muslims throughout the world, as a violation of the Quran and the Islamic injunction not to make any drawings or cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The killings were unconscionable. These tragic events in France and the impact of great power imperialism in the Islamic world are intimately connected. There has to be a civilisational dialogue and respect for people particularly of non-Christian and non-Jewish backgrounds. France should remember that it has played no significant role in supporting the rights of Palestinians based on UN resolutions and the genocide in Gaza in 2014.

It is not enough to condemn terrorist attacks or make insufficient efforts to counter Muslim alienation. France itself has faced a challenge which it was unable to defeat in Algeria. But this is not a "clash of civilisation". It is the anger of a lot of Muslim people, the vast majority of which would condemn this atrocious and criminal act.

Terrorism is here to stay. It can and must be fought, in collaboration with all possible allies, importantly including Islamic states and secular states with large Muslim populations. But this requires necessary respect and self-critical understanding of the dominant Western discourse, and respect for the right of all free nations to build and sustain their own way of life. France has the intellectual and political resources to do this.

Let this new discourse not be challenged by Islamophobia, which will only make things worse. The people of India share the anguish of the French people and hope that such terrible events will never happen in France, or anywhere else again.