Opinion When security is not a priority
Why India cannot act with the restraint and resolve seen in Boston
Why India cannot act with the restraint and resolve seen in Boston
As one watched the story that broke the long hiatus of terrorist strikes in the US,post 9/11,unfold on Indian TV,as well as on CNN and BBC,the contrast with reactions to similar terrorist strikes at public places in India was indeed striking. No blamegame among political leaders and agencies,no speculative reporting on the identity of the culprits. Just poignant pictures of the injured being rushed to hospital,expressions of sympathy for the families of those killed and injured,and a serious resolve to leave no stone unturned in bringing the perpetrators to book on the part of those in authority from the highest (the US president) to the lowest (the district attorney) in severely restrained tones. The prompt and efficient response of emergency services like the police and ambulances,and even from the public,was another aspect of the sharp contrast with the Indian scene. But to be fair to ourselves,the pressure of crowds and media persons and the general indiscipline make the task much more difficult.
One has been watching the reactions of our own politicians,who point fingers at each other over intelligence/policing failures after similar strikes. The aggressive presence of media reporters,who immediately start speculating with their parallel investigations and sharing clues with their viewers rather than with government agencies,as well as onlookers invading the scene of the blast,which leads to loss of valuable forensic evidence,are the other areas where we can learn from the reaction to the Boston blasts.
The US and India,the most powerful and the most populous democracies,both face a very high degree of threat from jihadi terrorists. Time and again,they have agreed to fight jointly and singly to free society from the menace of international terrorism. But the results have been hugely different. Both countries follow a federal system of governance. In many areas,the Central and state governments in India enjoy far greater power than their US counterparts in dealing with internal security threats. For instance,they can bring in the army in aid of the civil administration and deploy Central paramilitary forces in affected areas. Yet,our counter-terrorism strategy has failed abysmally,thanks to the lack of the kind of political resolve witnessed in the US after 9/11.
Our opposition leaders have been claiming,backed by sections of the media,that while the US has positioned a foolproof internal security apparatus post-9/11 so tight that no terrorist group has dared to strike again on their soil in India,they continue to strike with impunity at crowded public places,causing a heavy loss of innocent lives. The Boston bombings have punctured this myth.
As someone who has been at the forefront of the prolonged war against international terror,I can say with conviction that no country in the world,with the exception perhaps of totalitarian regimes,can claim that it does not face a threat from terror. Moreover,it is extremely difficult to provide foolproof security cover at public places in free and democratic societies. Our police forces and investigating agencies are seriously lacking in training,orientation and equipment,particularly forensic tools and technology,to handle such incidents,which disturb the peace and leave the average citizen with a sense of insecurity. Our unfriendly neighbourhood and the large presence of sleeper cells in our cities,waiting for directions to strike at times and places decided by their masters,do make India a dangerous place to live in. We have to face this reality.
Are we,therefore,to conclude that by opting for the UK model of parliamentary democracy in preference to the US and French presidential form,we have faltered? This,in my view,is both a hasty and a simplistic conclusion. The fact is that our political/ bureaucratic leadership has failed to ponder measures which deserve to be initiated to tackle the threats to our national security. The security of the average citizen is not a priority for our netas. How many of our national and state leaders have shown the courage to rise above electoral politics to bring in tough laws and provide teeth to our security agencies and police forces to meet the threats? I cannot even count them on my fingertips.
The writer,a retired IPS officer,is former secretary (internal security),Union home ministry
express@expressindia.com
Share
