A changed world

It is the latest in a series of attacks all over Europe over the last few months, and it is another major attack on London.

Not only has the city not forgotten the 2005 attacks, but it also houses many citizens who lived through a different, but similarly brutal, age of terror. The IRA attacks on London saw constant fear in all quarters in the 1930s, the 1970s and post-2000.

In fact, a review of London’s history reveals the city has long been the subject of attacks, not just in relation to people aligned with religious causes. There have been attacks by groups aligned to issues as diverse as the anarchist agenda to Palestine.

We express our sympathies to those who have lost loved ones.

We condemn outright the perverse and maleficent actions of the plotters.

The authorities have identified British national Khalid Masood as the perpetrator of this dastardly act. According to reports, Masood, 52, born in Kent, had a clear history of violence. The Metropolitan police said he had previous convictions for a number of violent offences including grievous bodily harm and assault, but had never been found guilty of terror offences.

Be that as it may, questions must be asked. One relates to how this individual came to this point. If the claim of the terrorists sect is to be believed, what was their mode of operation? How did they recruit this individual? Was this simply a case of a lone actor, whose actions are being opportunistically exploited by the group? Also, how did this individual slip below the radar? How effective and accurate are monitoring measures? Or has the time come for us to now admit that no matter how much resources are put into security, there will always be gaps, always be failings, always be matters which not even law enforcement authorities can predict or prevent? What should the response to an event like Tuesday’s be? The most immediate reaction is likely to be noticeable on a social level. An upsurge in Islamophobia will attend the fact that yet again the perpetrator was a person who claimed to be from that religion. To those inclined to see through the tinted lenses of prejudice, it will matter not that Masood was British-born.

Those riding the tide against immigration and asylum seekers will be emboldened by the mere fact of Masood’s race.

The appropriate response, therefore, is not to turn to hate and racism under the guise of security. It is to clinically reform and to push forward with social engagement. Society must continue to uphold the values we hold dear. Freedom, inclusive of the right to live life without discrimination, must remain our goal. This means furthering our understanding and assimilation of all ways of life, notably Islam, and neutralising the claims made by those who would exploit the failings of capitalistic democracy to justify acts of pure evil.

Where does this leave all of us? If London could be attacked in the way that it has been, what are we to make of the prospects elsewhere? In Trinidad and Tobago, the 1990 attack by a terrorist group remains a raw nerve. Today the nation has the ignominious status of having the highest rate of recruitment to foreign terror cells in this part of the world, according to recent reports.

We are left with a choice. Stay at home in fear, mindful of vulnerability anywhere. Or go out and live life bravely in furtherance of our values. We say we must do the latter