Question – What does Bio-Terrorism mean? How is this serious crisis for human existence? Analyze with examples.

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Question – What does Bio-Terrorism mean? How is this serious crisis for human existence? Analyze with examples. – 15 May 2021

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• The study of human history tells us that the existence of war never ended on this earth. The more we wish for global peace, the more we are getting entangled in wars. Whether these wars have taken place between the borders between neighboring countries or the sharing of resources or due to the circumstances arising out of terrorism, man and mankind are dying dead day by day. Due to the constant fear of war, the competition for the manufacture of modern weapons is increasing all over the world. In the last hundred years, there has been an indiscriminate increase in the manufacture of weapons. With the increase in the manufacture of modern weapons, a major change is being seen in the traditional methods of warfare. Biological weapons are also a new way in them.
• Biological weapons and bioterrorism have come to the center of discussion given the modalities of corona virus infection. The United States and China are facing accusations for the manufacture and spread of the corona virus that causes cervical disease called covid-19.

Bioterrorism

• Currently high-tech based bio-terror is being used as a new weapon of terror. Not only are terrorist groups using bioterrorism, but powerful nations are also resorting to bioterrorism indirectly by not directly participating in the war.
• In the modern period, bioterrorism can be described as a brutal activity under which innocent people are internationally or humanly or naturally developed against viruses, bacteria and toxins against a nation for the development of its goal. is done. Abuse is systematically used as an intermediary means causing serious harm to animals or plants.
• At present, the problem of suicidal bioterrorism is also coming up in which the terrorist after infecting himself with deadly pathogenic infection, infects them among the common people and fills the whole area with devastating disease.

Historical background of bio weapons

• In the sixth century BCE, the people of the Assyrian Empire of Mesopotamia had put a toxic fungus in the wells of the enemy’s drinking water, leading to the death of the enemies on a wide scale.
• In European history, there are many examples of animal bodies infected by the Turkish and Mongol empires by infecting the water sources of enemy states. The main reason for the outbreak of the ‘Black Death’ as a plague epidemic is the throwing of animal carcasses suffered by Turkish and Mongol soldiers into nearby cities.
• In the modern era, biological weapons were first used by German soldiers in World War I (1914–18) by anthrax and Glanders bacteria.
• In the Japan-China War (1937–1945) and World War II (1939–1945), the Royal Japanese Army’s elite research unit used biological weapons on Chinese civilians and soldiers, which did not prove to be very effective, but according to the new According to estimates, about 6, 00,000 common citizens were suffering from plague and cholera disease due to consumption of food items infected with the plague.
• In 2001, several cases of anthrax attacks occurred in the United States, in which terrorists sent anthrax-infected letters to the offices of the US Congress, causing five deaths. This incident gave sufficient strength to the need to develop bio-safety and bio-invasion prevention measures at national and international levels.

Prevention efforts

• There were many conferences in many world to ban the manufacture and use of biological weapons. Firstly in the year 1925, under the Geneva Protocol, several countries started negotiations for control of biological weapons.
• In 1972, the Biological Weapons Convention was established and on 26 March 1975 22 countries signed it. India became a member of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in the year 1973 and today 183 countries are its members.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs is a nodal agency to deal with the challenges of bioterrorism in India, along with the Ministry of Defense, DRDO, Ministry of Environment etc. are also actively working on bioterrorism.
• The National Disaster Management Authority has prepared a guideline to tackle bioterrorism in which the involvement of government agencies as well as private agencies has been emphasized.

Challenges

• Bio-terrorism is the biggest threat in today’s time and the medical services of the armed forces should be at the forefront of dealing with this problem. In today’s context, bioterrorism is spreading as ‘infectious disease’.
• The situation is becoming increasingly complex due to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, creating new challenges.
• Experts believe that the potential of bioterrorism prevention lies only among veterinarians. The World Health Organization has established the Commission for Junosis globally. Under this, Junosis Disease Control Board and Control of Vector Borne Disease Center are functioning. In India, the severity of this is quite low, whereas terrorist attacks continue to happen here in the coming days.

Since bioterrorism is a global problem, all stakeholders need not only to adopt security measures in this direction but also research will be needed to deal with such challenges in future. – Instructions need to be issued. There is a need to be vigilant about the possibility that terrorists may use biological weapons.

There should be proper cooperation between the Center and the States to deal with biological disasters, but if it is to be dealt with effectively then coordination between districts and local bodies is even more necessary.