The editorial in Organiser, ‘Guarding the republic in information age,’ says that India has evolved in the field of politics, economy and social sector, “but in the information age where knowledge is power, strategically we still have to accept the new responsibility for guarding our republic”. The editorial notes that in the 21st century, a “military war is a rare possibility” as “ we are constantly at war in the information age”. Nations are strategising and “there are new technologies controlled by private players, new actors beyond state apparatus, new ideologies that are driving people across boundaries… This is an invisible war which we are fighting at military, technological and intellectual levels,” it says. Noting that Pakistan is “playing a mischievous game of hacking against Bharat”, the editorial says that “there is a need for greater participation of technocrat soldiers”. “Cybermobilisation is another modus operandi that is visible across the world,” it says. “Bharat has been witnessing many information and disinformation campaigns that are triggering turmoil in regions like Jammu and Kashmir and the north-east,” the editorial says, adding that “the most treacherous part of this new-age war is the emergence of intellectual warfare inflicted through information”.
Decolonise the mind
Security concerns
The cover story of Organiser is about the joint annual brainstorming “Dialogue on Defence” it recently organised with its sister concern weekly, Panchjanya. The dialogue “pondered over the issues related to defence preparedness” as Captain (retd) Alok Bansal underlined that “new threats emerging from cyber space demand for better coordination”. Former IG BSF, Anil Kamboj underlined the neglect of “north-eastern and central parts of India where militant-Maoist insurgency poses serious threat to the security”. Another participant said, “the biggest threat perhaps lies within the country itself, not across the border”. “During 1971, the political opposition hailed Indira Gandhi as Durga and now that kind of magnanimity is nowhere in politics,” he said. Organiser’s editor Prafulla Ketkar said that “most of our threats are from the American point of view”, and added, “unless we identify things with our point of view, we can’t address the real issue.” Kamboj spoke about how “good coordination between the army and BSF … deteriorated, mainly because of political intervention”. It was “under instructions from the home ministry,” that the “BSF took its controversial stand against Armed Forces Special Powers Act during the UPA regime,” Kamboj revealed. It was argued that the army, navy and air force are “one unit”, as “only jointly they can achieve their mission”. Besides causing “major security concerns”, “lack of joint-coordination also incurs financial loss to the public accounts,” the article points out.
