We all have been seeing the barbaric acts being unfolded in Bangalore and Ahemadabad in the last few days. Even though these are the most recent attacks, there have been a series of attacks in different cities in the last few years all over India. As always, there is public furore after such attacks, politicians come up with the same monologue about not giving into such people etc etc… However everything is back to square once the incidents fades away from the public memory and things goes into a deep hibernation to be risen only after another attack. Also, it has become a common practice to blame the sitting govt, the police and the intelligence agencies for the attacks.
so, it is so shocking that even after 20 years of fighting this menace, India still lacks a concrete formula to prevent such attacks. we have all seen the efficiency with which the agencies have thwarted attacks in US after 9/11. Is it possible to achieve such kind of success in India?
1. Effective Intelligence: Indian context is very unique what with a very floating population in our urban areas. In such a scenario, human intelligence becomes a very vital tool in deciphering the different designs of these outfits. These days intelligence agencies are busy catering to their political masters rather than chasing the terrorists. A country with an effective intelligence agencies can achieve more than just preventing attacks. Secondly, deciphering the information also becomes very vital in this context. An efficient setup to analyze and act on such information is very vital for the prevention of such designs.
2. Political Mindset: In India, somehow the politicians think that they are the one who should all the work. You see these ministers visiting the attack site with all their followers. What good will come out of those visits only they should answer. They should understand that their role is to facilitate those who are expert in that area to work with out any interference and provide with all the necessary infrastructure and backup. Recently one news paper even complained that the concerned minister is not taking a tour of the attack sites in Bangalore and that he is spending time in his office!! One has wonder as to the motive of such papers. It is a well known fact that the police force in India has been forced to kneel down to its political masters in every aspect of its functioning. We have seen lightening results where the police force has been given a free hand to investigate. However in most cases, the political set up tries to manipulate the investigation to suit its political needs which is very unfortunate. A paradigm shift in thinking of the political class is the need of the hour to prevent these attacks in future.
3. Effective police force: In the post 911 scenario, police force all over the world have been modernised to meet today’s challenges. However, it is such a pity to see police in India still clinging to their British era 303 rifles most of which will not even work. How can these policemen guard the public or themselves against the AK 47 wielding terrorists? For some reason the state Govt’s in India just doesn’t show that kind of an urgency that is exhibited elsewhere in the world in meeting upto the challenges of the present day. Recently during Akshardham attack in Gujarat, it was so pity to see that the whole rescue operation had to wait until the NSG troops arrived from Delhi. If that is the scenario, one cannot expect any timely intervention or action by the police force to prevent any terrorist attacks. Every state has to raise its own “Anti Terrorist Squad”, fully trained and equipped to handle any scenario.
4. Enact Necessary Laws: In the post 911 era, while most countries raced to set up necessary legal framework to backup their security agencies to effectively carry out operation, India on the other hand repealed such a law. These are extraordinary situation that we are witnessing today and the laws drafted 30-40 years ago might not fully assist the agencies to carry out the tasks demanded by the current situation. However contrary to this, the current India Govt thinks that an age old law is still enough to handle the situations. All the agencies are unanimous in their opinion. They don’t have the necessary legal back to take actions that are demanded by the emerging situations of the day. The true dimensions will become clear only when we see the situations devoid of any politics. If it the assumption of the Govt that any anti terror law will hurt the minorities, well that is one big blunder a govt can do to its citizens.
5. Effective Monitoring: Extra ordinary situations demand extra ordinary solutions. In UK, the city of London is monitored round the clock by thousand of cameras placed at strategic locations. These cameras might not prevent an attack but will give definite clues about the perpetrators. We have witnessed this during the train bombings in London few years back. We know that all major cities in the world are embarrassing this method. I think even in India, the govt should follow this method in all the major cities. Yes, there might be cry from organizations about civil liberties, but the people understand that this is a small price to pay when compared to the cost of not doing anything.
6. Public Awareness: The authorities should take steps to spread general awareness among the public to thwart any design of the terrorists. Being aware of the general surrounds is important for every individual. All suspicious items should be promptly reported to the authorities. It was shocking to see people investigating the bomb by themselves in Bangalore before calling the authorities. One man said that after seeing the unknown item, he rolled it couple of times and saw some wires coming out. It was a live bomb and that man could have lost his life. This is very much similar to those people who went to the beach to catch fish when water receded during 2004 Sunami! What a pity!
Finally, I think everybody has their own responsibility in preventing the beastly acts that we have witnessed this last weekend in Bangalore and Ahemadabad. As long as we don’t realise this responsibility, incidents like these will keep happening and we continue to suffer. I hope at least this time the Govt and the public wake and realise that the people who lost their lives, did not loose it in vain. Lets give some meaning to their sacrifice and resolve to prevent such acts with all our might!.
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