Whither Terrorism! PDF Print E-mail
War and Peace
Written by Lalita Panwar   
The last month's Lahskar-e-Taiba attack in Mumbai on the Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House in which about 200 people including police personnel were killed and about 300 injured has brought to the surface errors of judgment and top level leadership lapse. The sequence of incidents after the most fatal attack indicates that it was a around failure. Many heads rolled down as a face saving exercise. The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil and the Maharsahtra State Home Minister, R.R.Patil was forced to resign. After a short interval, the Chief Minister of Maharshatra, Deshmukh was also asked to resign owning responsibility for the terrorists attack. The people were seen criticizing the politicians openly. Since last two weeks, we have been hearing about lot of measures being taken to make the system full proof so that no incident of terrorist violence should take place in future. But, we all know that it is a normal exercise after such incidents. The same sort of talks and hectic activities were seen after the 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai and the attack on the Parliament. The fresh terrorist attack on November26 shows that nothing has changed.

The facts emerging after series of investigations indicate that there was advance information about this attack to our intelligence and it was circulated to the concerned departments but there was total lack of coordination. It was a case of competetive mistrust in the entire security establishment leading to a catastrophic misjudgment. Just about a week before the attack on November 19, one of the intelligence agencies had circulated "top secret" information on the basis of the intercept the previous day that an attack had been planned from sea on Mumbai and would be affected very soon. It also said that the terrorists could probably come by an Indian fishing trawler. This input was assed on for further analysis to National Security Council Secretariat and Joint Intelligence Council and was also shared with the Navy and the Coastal Guard. It was also sent in the form of an advisory to Maharashtra. However, as our system works, somewhere through the entire process, the seriousness and authenticity of the input were interpreted differently by different agencies. It is now clear that the terrorists stayed on the Kuber for a few days and were in the Indian territorial waters for atleast 72 hours. What was our Indian Coastal Guard doing all this while?

One positive reaction of the attack is that our politicians were forced to show a united front irrespective of party lines. Facing the opposition of the people on the street, they have made a common cause to sit together and think about this problem of terrorism seriously. The security forces did a wonderful job by bravely facing the terrorists and catching one of them alive. The captured terrorist has given vital information about the terrorist attack and helped the police to investigate the matter in-depth. Another development which has put the Pakistan Government in the defensive is that for the first time the United State of America took the issue of terrorism seriously and asked the Pakistan Government to cooperate in the investigation and put a check on the incidents of terrorism. The international community has come in support of India in a big way.

Our Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, has rightly declared that one unit of National Security Guard (NSG) would be stationed in each of the four metropolitan cities and the Federal Agency would be created to put a check on such incidents. However, much needs to be done on this front. The problem should be tackled on two fronts- external as well as internal. In case of internal measures, our intelligence machinery needs to be revamped in a big way. Its manpower and other resources including equipment, transport, training and incentives require to be considerably augmented.  State intelligence networks need to be positioned not only at state, range, district headquarters but also in police stations and outposts. Similarly, the state police needs to be urgently strengthened at all levels. The sanctioned strengthen of State Reserve Police Battalions also must be increased by 40-50 per cent besides sanctioning additional battalions.
As indicated by Shri B.S.Sial, former Director General and Inspector General of Police, Karnataka, other steps which needs to be taken includes:-         

- Mobile police patrols in cities and major towns must be increased substantially.

- A separate crime branch down to the police station level, with sufficient staff, trained in scientific investigation and interrogation techniques must be set up.

- Effective national / state highways police patrols to help intercept fleeing criminals / terrorists must be set up.

- State Industrial Force (SISF) battalions on the pattern of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) must be created.

- A separate anti-terrorist force, on the pattern of the Cobra units of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the National Security Guard must be set up.

- There should be bomb detection and disposal squads, along with dog squads at state intelligence HQs and in each district and range HQs.

- Immigration and security staff at airports and hotels must be augmented.

- More police stations and outposts should be created and the Government Railway Police (GRP) should be strengthened.

- A coastal security police scheme should be immediately implemented. Man-power, equipment, ships, speed boats and buildings should be adequately provided.

- More police commissioners should be posted in major cities and towns. Recommendations of the National Police Commission and the September 26, 2006 judgment of the Supreme Court should be immediately implemented.

On the external front, we should represent our case effectively at the global level so that we get an international support against the issue of terrorism. We should have a new policy which could be multi-layered, geared towards achieving one common goal; peace. An eye for an eye strategy should be part of the overall policy. India must examine ‘unconventional responses’ like intelligence, diplomacy and other means since the two nuclear-armed nations are not fighting a conventional battle. The Research and Analysis Wing (R&W) should also be given more leverage like Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) along with the requisite funds to carry out activities to increase the internal strife in Baluchistan and the NWEP.