Unravelling the Myth: The Origins of Suicide Bombings and Their Justification

The first recognized examples of strategized suicide bombings took the form of Japanese kamikaze pilots during WWII, who would internationally crash their explosives-laden planes into Allied ships. Since then, the world has experienced many other forms of suicide bombings: from airplane attacks, to car bombs, this type of terrorism is widespread and continues to be so even today. Not a day goes by that news services fail to detail the latest bombings and attacks, partially due to the prevalence of them. Of course, each group has its own reasons and explanations for its actions, but are they justified in their reasoning?  

Suicide bombings often occur when extremist values are implemented into political struggles, but attacks can also be based on religious ideologies, or as a war tactic. For example, the political group Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka have waged a violent  war against the Sri Lankan government, in order to become a legitimate socialist, and primarily Tamil state. Their war tactics include using suicide bombings, child soldiers, and ethnic cleansing of Muslims in order to achieve their goal. In most cases recently, however, religious motivations are  the backbone of suicide bombings, and many experts agree that the ideology of Islamic martyrdom is a contributing factor to the prevalence of suicide bombings. This ideology, known as Istishhad, encourages sacrifice as a form of heroism. Groups such as al-Qaeda often use this as justification behind their political intentions.  

Incidences of suicide bombings and attacks can also be seen in the past. Throughout history, man  suicide attacks have been seen as acts of desperation. During the 17th century, Dutch militants found that their Taiwanese opponents would rather take their own lives in gunpowder explosions, along with the lives of Dutch soldiers, than be taken prisoner. Later, in the early 19th century, there are many records of the Sinhalese people killing themselves while attacking the numerous British soldiers. The reason suicide bombing is often used as a last resort is that the kill ratio it implies is exceptionally high, especially where one group is either outnumbered or out powered by another. Today, this tactic is used as a preconceived strategy. 

Of course, the prevalence of these attacks are alarming. One of the main concerns is that now, as suicide bombings are commonplace for many political and religious groups, humans are being used as weapons on their own. The value of each life that goes to war is degraded, despite the ‘martyr’ status an individual may receive. Suicide bombings are also often detrimental to civilians, who are either caught in the crossfire, or used as media fodder for the group. 

From this it is clear that suicide bombings completely violate basic human rights. Despite having ‘justification’ for their attacks, groups that implement suicide bombers are simply acting in a manner that completely disregards the lives of the people around them, as well as those of their members. Often, results will be backwards for the group. Once civilians are under fire, world organizations and militia will label the groups as terrorist organizations and whatever goals they aim to achieve will be prevented by larger forces. In many cases extremist movements are not necessary, and disputes can easily be settled with peaceful protest or negotiation. It is important that the religious and cultural ideologies that promote violence as a form of enhancement or heroism are disputed, because these dangerous beliefs are what cause the motivations behind suicide attacks. When mindless violence and religious and cultural fanaticism are put to an end, many people will finally enjoy a more peaceful world.