Individual Report
Belief Systems
By Hur Fatima Khan
Subtopic - Personal Belief
Possible Areas of Research
Personal beliefs depend on differences in:
•
Religious backgrounds
•
Ethnicities
•
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
•
Education
•
Generation
•
Traditions
Main key issues
•
Rise of conflicts
•
Mental health issues due to the persecution
•
Difference of opinions and views
•
Subject to racism or discrimination
• Brainwashing that results in crimes and killings or
terrorism
• Possible arise of crusade or boycott because of hurted
religious beliefs
Research Question
How does brainwashing people’s religious beliefs turn them
into terrorists?
What is Brainwashing?
Brainwashing is the term for the concept that specific
psychological techniques can modify or control the human
mind. It is also known as forced re-education, forceful
persuasion, thought reform, thought control, and menticide.
It most frequently refers to any strategy intended to
persuade people to act against to their desires, wills, or
beliefs.
Why is it practiced?
This persistent attempt is made to convert non-believers to a
certain group, law, or belief. Several theories argue that
brainwashing limits people's capacity for critical or free
thought, exposes them to the invasion of unwanted ideas,
and influences their behaviors, morals, and beliefs.
What will happen if this continues?
It is clear that terrorism, a major problem of brainwashing in
ethnic communities, has a very serious and direct impact on
human rights, with terrible effects for the enjoyment of
victims' rights to life, liberty, and physical integrity. In
additional to these consequences, terrorism has the
possibility to destroy civil society, weaken governments,
threaten peace and security, and limit economic and social
development. Each of these has a major impact on the
practice of human rights.
How do terrorist organizations brainwash people into
joining them?
These days, young people spend a lot of time online, chatting
on their smartphones, watching videos on YouTube, and
using social media. To persuade young people, cult recruiters
use Hollywood-style marketing. Young people are drawn in
by well-known literature like The Lord of the Rings, movies
like The Matrix, and video games like Call of Duty. The plot is
twisted so that the reader would believe they are the brave
hero battling evil. But there are various ways to influence
things. Daesh, also known as ISIS, has proven to be skilled at
using the web and social media to find students and
brainwash them to become terrorists over the period of
years.
Eight criteria that can be used to assess any group or setting
were outlined by Robert Jay Lifton in 1961. The BITE model
for mind control—which stands for behavior control,
information control, thought control, and emotional
control—was created by Steven Hassan based on his
research and Dr. Margaret Singer's model. One can start to
notice various criteria that separate healthy from unhealthy
conditions by looking at these four elements in the
framework of his Affect Continuum.
Statistics of the people affected by terrorism
Around the world, terrorism is thought to have killed 22,847
lives in 2020.The average yearly death rate over the previous
ten years was 26,000 people. However, there can be a
considerable difference from year to year. The number of
casualties worldwide during this period fluctuated from its
lowest point of 8,200 in 2011 to its greatest point of 44,600 in
2014.
A Terrorist Group
A terrorist Islamist group called Lashkar-e-Taiba has been
fighting India, in Pakistan. The organization's stated goal is to
include Pakistan into the entirety of Kashmir. Despite
focusing just on Kashmir so far, the group has adopted a
realist mission of worldwide jihad. The group uses verse 2:216
of the Quran to support its beliefs. The group claims that all
Muslims have a religious duty to participate in military jihad
by deriving from this text. It labels Israel, India, and the
United States as "existential rivals of Islam."
During the Soviet-Afghan War, Hafiz Saeed, Abdullah Azzam,
and a number of other Afghan mujahideen created it with
money from Osama bin Laden. While the Kashmir Valley is the
main theater of the LeT's terrorist operations, their stated
objectives extend beyond destroying India's authority in
Jammu and Kashmir. Even though the group's efforts have
only reached as far as Kashmir so far, it has adopted a
maximalist agenda of worldwide jihad. According to the
group, all of India and numerous other nations were originally
ruled by Muslims and were Muslim territory, and it is their
responsibility to reclaim it from the non-Muslims.
The last surviving terrorist from Mumbai's most terrifying
attack on the Hotel Taj, Ajmal Kasab, revealed in 2012 that the
terrorists were Lashkar-e-Taiba members who were directed
from Pakistan. The terrorists who carried out the fatal attack
cruelly massacred 175 people, and the police shot and killed 9
of the terrorists.
Perspectives
Global Perspectives
The President Bush, in a speech after the two fatwas before
the 9/11 attack on the world trade center from Osama Bin
Laden in a speech gave his view on why the terrorists
targeted the US. “They hate us for our freedoms”, he claimed
“They hate the democratically elected government we see in
this room. They elect themselves as their leaders. They hate
all of our freedoms, including the freedoms of speech,
association, and religion. They also hate the freedom to
disagree with one another.
As Canadian politician John Horgan puts it, "apprehension
surrounds the belief that interrogating terrorists... is
ultimately equal to surrender, and that any type of
knowledge is the same as justifying or empathizing."
Researchers worry that if they pay close attention to the
narratives of terrorists, it would be said that they are
supporting the terrorists' awful beliefs and actions, giving
them more influence. This is a moral concern, if not a
methodological one. Politicians, the general public, and even
some policy officials frequently make this accusation.
National Perspective
The Attack on Taj Hotel case was successfully investigated by
Rakesh Maria, a former Mumbai police commissioner, who
questioned Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist arrested alive. In
2012, Kasab was hanged to death. Maria elaborates on the
Hindu Terror plot in the 2020 memoir "Let Me Say It Now,"
saying, "If all had gone according to plan, he [Ajmal Kasab,
the only one of the ten terrorists to be caught alive] would
have been dead with a red thread tied around his wrist like a
Hindu." We would have discovered an identity card on this
individual bearing the fake name Samir Dinesh Choudhari, a
student at Arunoday Degree and P.G. College, and argued
that its foiled Pakistan's intentions to frame the Mumbai
Terror Attack as the result of a Hindu conspiracy. Kasab
joined the LeT with no interest in jihad, the man said, and
joined them only to commit robberies. Kasab was however
made to believe that Muslims could not perform the 'namaaz'
in India as a result of the brainwashing he had received." So,
Maria says, he was taken aback when a mosque visits near a
movie theater called Metro was made possible. Before being
assigned on the assignment to attack Mumbai, Kasab
received a week's leave and Rs 1.25 lakh, says the former
police official. Kasab revealed that he handed the funds to his
family for his sister's wedding.
Different Perspective
Canadian MLA, John Horgan offers a simple justification for
conducting conversations with terrorists despite doubts
about their reliability:
“We need to consider how decisions were made, what those
decisions meant, and how those decisions affected the
person in question if we want to comprehend how the
terrorist developed. Interviews provide deep insight into how
people who engage in terrorism... see themselves, their
surroundings, and their paths of engagement. Even though
survey data appears to let us do the same thing, only
thorough interviews allow us to comprehend the significance
of each person's experience and how that significance affects
motivation to act (i.e., mobilization).”
Personal Perspective
There was so much of hatred in Kasab. He didn’t think twice
after taking lives of 175 people. I don’t find ‘him’ guilty of
that. He needed money for his sister’s wedding and so
started stealing with the LeT’s, unaware that they would
brainwash him in doing such a heinous crime! The poor guy
from a robber ended up being a terrorist! He didn’t have
much knowledge or education and so believed whatever they
told him, and did as they asked. Like Kasab, Osama bin Laden
and his companions did wrong but don’t realize due to lack of
education and awareness on the matter. Terrorism is totally
wrong. We need to spread awareness so that no one
tomorrow becomes Kasab or Osama bin Laden.
What could be done to this issue?
•
We could post videos or posters on social media to
educate the people
•
Educational Campaigns could be set up
•
Pamphlets could be distributed in the areas with
terrorist groups
•
Educational speeches could be given in parts of Jammu
Kashmir and other areas
•
Many of the conflicts could be solved without violence
to educate about non-violence policy
References:
By Hannah Ritchie, Joe Hasell, Edouard Mathieu, Cameron Appel and
Max Roser; Our World in Data- https://ourworldindata.org/terrorism
By Steven Hassan; Unicri- https://f3magazine.unicri.it/?p=1353
Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lashkar-e-Taiba
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakesh_Maria#:~:text=Kasab%20was%20
executed%20by%20hanging,his%20wrist%20like%20a%20Hindu.
The Economic Timeshttps://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/let-planned-toproject-26/11-attack-as-hindu-terror-rakesh-maria/articleshow/7419204
8.cms
Jstor- https://www.jstor.org/stable/26798579?seq=3
EasyLlamahttps://www.easyllama.com/blog/cultural-issues-in-workplace-enviro
nments/
Britannica- https://www.britannica.com/topic/brainwashing
Evaluation
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org - I chose it as their entries
are typically at the head of any web research and can be
excellent resources to obtain basic knowledge on a topic and
identify trusted sources through their remarks, references,
external links, and additional reading sections.
The Economic Times – I chose this news website as the
news, updates, theoretical deals, and predictions always
include the opinions of writers and sources as well as what
has been spoken or communicated. Furthermore, if the
occurrence has actually occurred, I have found the news to
be quite accurate and fair, without the material being
influenced by the writers' personal agendas or views.