Terrorism here to stay if nations continue to use it as state policy, says army chief Bipin Rawat at Raisina

New Delhi: Asserting that terrorism is fast becoming a new form of warfare, Army chief, General Bipin Rawat, said on Wednesday that the menace is spreading its head like a “multi-headed monster” and is “here to stay” as long as countries continue to use it as a state policy. Rawat, speaking at a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue in the national capital, also said that there was need to control social media as it was aiding the spread of radicalisation.

Army Chief Bipin Rawat: Biggest issue is that the social media needs to ensure that radicalisation does not happen through false information & misinformation. Radicalisation through social media is becoming one of the reasons for raising funds for terrorists organisations. pic.twitter.com/3VQAdkSc6o

— ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2019

He said a different kind of radicalisation was being witnessed in India and in Jammu and Kashmir, where youth have been getting radicalised due to “misinformation, disinformation, and a lot of falsehoods on religion” being fed to them. “That is why you find more and more educated youth being drawn into terrorism,” he said. Terrorism is here to stay as long as there are nations that continue to sponsor it as a state policy, General Rawat said, without naming Pakistan. “It is becoming a new form of warfare. A weaker nation is using terrorists as proxy to put pressure on another nation to come to terms with it,” he said. “The phenomenon of terrorism is now spreading its head like a multi-headed monster,” the Army chief added. On the Afghan peace process, General Rawat said there should be negotiations with the Taliban, but without conditions. He also asserted that Pakistan has always kept the Taliban “in its backyard” and should be concerned about it.