Let me stress at the outset that the bombing and killing of innocent people anywhere in the Kingdom is something I reject totally. These acts can never be condoned by any sane human being or defended and justified under any circumstances. If we agree that this country is home to all its citizens and that whatever affects it also affects the entire population who may find themselves forced to pay a high collective price for terrorist acts, then we will surely consider the problem from a wider perspective and in a more sensible, sincere, serious and transparent manner.
The ultimate objective must be to arrive at practical solutions that will put an end to this ordeal. No individual or group working for this goal should shun others or refuse to listen to the opinions and ideas put forward. The diverse opinions expressed may prove useful to the efforts being made to address the tragedy the country is now experiencing.
This leads me to question the effectiveness of a solution through security. Is additional security sufficient to contain the problem and does it represent the only safe and sure way to achieve the desired results? If this is the case, then there should be no objection to pursuing this method to its logical end.
However, if it is not so, then why not augment the security solution by other means — including asking well-known trusted scholars to initiate a dialogue with those who carry out these acts? The individuals responsible for the acts believe so strongly and unswervingly in the rightness of what they are doing that they are willing to blow up both themselves and others. But they are no more than the tools of those who are able to convince them of the rightness of what they are being asked to do.
The individuals are fed these ideas from an early age, at a time when they have no one to guide and lead them and no other ideas presented to them. There have to be some who can approach these individuals, read their minds and convince them that what they are doing will lead them nowhere and is not the way either to achieve success in this world or in the hereafter. This may be one way of containing the crisis and preventing it from spreading. It could also serve as a deterrent, preventing those who seek to add fuel to the fire and see harm being inflicted on this country.
