cont'd No doubt the role of security, intelligence and investigating agencies will always be crucial in combating terrorism but their being professional, objective and neutral is a pre-condition.
However, role of community is not less important. In fact their contribution is fundamental. Talk of combating terrorism should regularly feature in meetings among community members and between communities. The religious and civic leaders should hold regular meetings talking about evils of terrorism and communalism and other social evils. Besides, parents should spend some time with their children particularly discussing international and national affairs. Citizens should be aware of their surroundings. When in public places anything that seems out of place should be reported. Police-community relations and communication is also crucial. The police should work with citizen and devise programmes for mutual cooperation in a way that citizens do not feel threatened by the police and thus become their partner.
