Gunning for ideas

An empowered group of ministers EGoM meeting at regular intervals to jointly monitor the spread of Naxalism, is a sound idea which must be promptly put to work. For far too long, states have insisted on dealing with this security challenge in ways that do not add up to a consistent strategy. That law and order is a state subject is glibly invoked as excuse to shirk the rigours of an integrated approach to an all-India problem. So Manmohan Singh8217;s meeting with chief ministers on Tuesday was a significant moment. As the state flails about for a response to the security and terror threat, lurching from a self-induced policy paralysis to a heavy-handed community-based profiling, it provided an occasion for the nation to hear its prime minister speak on a shared spectre.

Such occasions must become more frequent. Especially because the UPA has laid itself open to charges of fuzziness in its response to the national security threat. It was under the UPA that the government tried to talk to Naxalites even though they brandished arms at the talks table. The ULFA has been conceded its unreformed intransigence on 8216;sovereignty8217;. At other times the government has sounded eager to pander to vote bank politics, at the risk of seeming unconvincing in its resolve to deal with terror.

Manmohan Singh struck all the right notes on Tuesday as he emphasised the need to firm up intelligence gathering while remaining sensitive to the special fears of minorities. True, we need to draft both the beat-constable into the anti-terror strategy as well as ensure that the people become 8220;counter-terrorist wardens8217;8217;. When mistakes are made by the state, there must be instant remedy. But most crucial of all is consistent political leadership. It was of course right and proper that the home minister, the nodal minister in this case, was asked to head the EGoM. But it is equally right and proper to ask why is it that the national security advisor appears so much more engaged and active on internal security than his ministerial counterparts.