Is India's Foundation Secure ?

In his Intelligence Bureau Centenary Endowment Lecture on December 23, 2009, the home minister gave the outlines of a new security architecture for India. The focal point of his proposals is the setting up of a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) with the objective of preventing a terrorist attack, containing the attack should one take place, and responding by “inflicting pain upon the perpetrators”.

The NCTC would deal with all kinds of terrorist violence. It would, therefore, perform functions related to intelligence, investigation and operations. The National Investigation Agency and the Multi Agency Centre would become part of the NCTC. Other organisations like the National Technical Research Organisation, the National Crime Records Bureau, the National Intelligence Grid and the National Security Guard would also come under its umbrella.

The home minister also mentioned that his ministry, which had become unwieldy, would be bifurcated. Internal security would receive the home minister’s exclusive attention while another minister or a separate department would handle routine matters like Centre-state relations, disaster management, census, human rights, etc.

These reforms were overdue and P Chidambaram deserves credit for the home ministry’s proposed restructuring. However, we must diagnose correctly the reasons for our ineptness, if not failure, in handling various problems besetting the country. Unless these are addressed, the proposed security architecture would not deliver.

Successive governments have placed political considerations above.........

national interests. Accountability for failures is not enforced. Corrupt and criminal elements are operating openly and infiltrating state legislatures and Parliament. There is a nexus between corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, police officers and criminals. Corruption is upsetting the development apple cart. The bureaucracy and police have been emasculated by self-seeking and venal politicians. Institutions that inspired confidence and evoked respect are being systematically subverted.

Terrorism is a threat not only to our democratic structure and economy but to the very idea of India. Yet we are diffident about tackling it and have not bothered to enunciate our counterterrorism doctrine. The capitulation at Kandahar was indefensible. The will to fight and to sacrifice are essential for success in the battle against terrorism.

Jammu & Kashmir is a festering sore not because of any failure of the security forces but because of a series of political blunders starting from referring the matter to the UN and then agreeing to a ceasefire, surrendering the gains of the 1965 war at Tashkent, not insisting on a final settlement of the problem at Shimla in 1972, agreeing to release militants in exchange for Rubaiya, and so on. The problems of the north-eastern states are essentially due to political mishandling. There is a ceasefire in Nagaland but we have allowed the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) to virtually run a parallel government there.

The Naxal problem represents a failure of governance. Large sections of people, particularly tribals, have been alienated because of acute poverty, failure to implement land reforms, social discrimination or economic deprivation. The problem of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh has been dusted under the carpet. A group of ministers acknowledged that it posed “a grave danger to our security, social harmony and economic well-being” and yet there is no effort to tackle the problem.

1984 was a disaster but the arch villains of the massacre remain unpunished. 26/11 was a national humiliation but no one in the administration has been held accountable. The guilty men ensured no national commission would go into the causes of our failure to tackle terrorists. The criminal justice system is in the doldrums. All attempts at reform are stymied. The Malimath committee’s comprehensive report was dumped.

About 150 MPs elected in 2009 have criminal cases pending against them and these include 73 with serious charges against them under various sections of the IPC. Why can’t we have electoral reforms to debar these elements?

The entire security architecture rests on the foundation of district police or, to be more precise, thana police. This foundation continues to be extremely weak. There is paucity of resources, shortage of manpower and the living and service conditions of policemen are pathetic. Most chief ministers have not shown any commitment to police reforms and have treated Supreme Court directions on the subject with contempt. The fragility of the basic unit of the police would prove to be the Achilles’ heel of the security architecture if and when there is another major terrorist strike.

Centralisation of powers in the hands of a counterterrorism czar could also create problems. Will the Director of Intelligence Bureau and secretary R&AW be reporting to him? What would be his equation with the national security adviser?

Assuming all these prickly issues are sorted out, our ‘original sin’ – of placing caste, regional and political considerations above national interests – would still mar our efforts. While the security apparatus does require an overhaul, our principal weakness lies in the domain of petty politics, rampant corruption, lack of accountability, failure to carry out reforms in the criminal justice system and clean up democratic processes. A magnificent structure cannot be raised on foundations of sand.

Source:TOI {Prakash Singh}

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