A seven-point programme for your favourite party’s manifesto
Start fighting the war of minds
1. Project the war for what it is—that the New Jihadis are against everything that India stands for: freedom, openness, democracy and a tolerant way of life.
2. Assure the nation that we will fight—and win—this war. This will bring fence-sitters onto the side they think that will win. But the assurance must be credible.
Dominate the battle on the ground
3. Connect every thana, every chowki (and in future every policeman) to a national database and network. Neither POTA nor a new anti-terrorism agency is crucial: connect existing intelligence and law-enforcement agencies through a common network.
4. Empower police by implementing police reforms. Use the Supreme Court of India’s judgement in Prakash Singh & Others vs Union of India & Others to generate momentum. Strengthen police-public partnerships.
5. Move internal security to the PMO. The Prime Minister should chair a Cabinet Committee on Internal Security; a dedicated internal security advisor (rank of secretary or higher) should be appointed to act as the point man covering all aspects of internal security.
Engage the nation (don’t merely ‘secure their approval’)
6. Mobilise the nation through a national satyagraha against terrorism. Get the grassroots to be uncompromising and unrelenting in the battle against terrorism. Pay special attention to reconciliation and form national integration committees in sensitive areas.
7. Liberalise the economy. Terrorism and dissatisfaction are a direct result of the polices of “communal socialism”, a form of social “license-raj” that stifles socio-economic mobility. Economic freedom will lead to economic growth that will undermine the jihadi base.
The seven point acorn-programme seems like a lot of work. Dont it ?
Then,
>> A seven-point programme for your favourite party’s manifesto >>
No problem, anything can go in a manifesto.
The Indian state is solely represented by the human beings in Parliament and state legislatures. If this issue does not impact the re election of these humans, then India as a country does not care about terrorism.
What is preventing this from becoming an election issue ?
Completely agree with rc. As I said elsewhere, its not the terrorists or the politicians or terror sympathizers. Its the people. As long as they vote morons into office, they’re going to taste their own blood. You reap what you sow.
Makes sense. Neither bravado, nor closing our eyes to it is going to keep us safe.
>> As long as they vote morons into office >>
Can you blame them for being rational people ?
RC,
Terrorism has become an electoral issue. Political parties who think otherwise are in for a surprise at the next election.
Under “Dominate the battle on the ground”
More effective use of technology.
For instance, can the government not enter into a pact with email service providers to monitor emails in real-time, not with a view necessarily to prevent attacks, but to localize the pinpointing of senders to at least a few thousand people?
Under “start fighting the war of minds”
Deny terrorists the so-called oxygen of publicity
This might need curbs on the media. Note how promptly terrorist emails are reported. (Their theological declamations are often however suppressed, so that theology is not called into question, and the usual myths about “root causes” of terrorism can be perpetuated).
Nitin,
is there a link to, or can you provide a summary of Prakash Singh vs. Union of India?
Like someone mentioned in another thread, would be a great coup d’etat if GoI can get a collection of pandits, bishops, sikh priests and maulvis, especially maulvis to come together and announce a reward for information on the terrorists.
Heck, if rewards could be announced by sitting state ministers for beheading the Danish cartoonists, can’t imagine why not for this noble cause?!
Sarkar should also publicise a toll-free number nationwide where aam janta can call and report suspicious activity. Low-cost call-center labor in Des should be put to some good use at least. And yes, some 99.9% calls would be false alarms or crank/prank ones but the rest should be worth its talktime in gold, IMHO.
Aadisht,
Here’s an old post that provides a background on the judgement.
@Aadisht: Here you go.
@Oldtimer: Denying publicity alone is not a good goal to set, IMO. The aim has to be to deny support and sympathy, which is one of the terrorists’ aims. This can be done effectively only if their e-mails are published, rebutted and exposed for the bullsh*t that they really are. If something is ridiculous, it deserves to be shown as such and publicised widely. I see a lack of such articles, that worries me more.
About your other point, I think the police agencies already have various agreements in place that allow them access to databases of ISPs and e-mail providers. I am not sure what “real-time” would mean in this context, but text-scanning (or any such content-scanning technique) is easily defeated, real-time or otherwise. Lets not give the police and/or their political masters an excuse for their incompetence.
On both these counts, I do not trust politicians and bureaucrats to not abuse any “extra” powers that they might be given.
It is virtually impossible to prevent all terrorist attacks in India (too large a country, too many people, too many borders with hostile States), but the cases remaining unsolved for months/years indicate a rot that should not be allowed to hide behind an apparent lack of e-mail monitoring or e-mails getting printed in the media (a very recent phenomenon anyway).
@sud: There is a toll-free number already: 100. And it is distributed locally, so there can’t be any language problems (unless you are in another part of country where you don’t speak the local language). A national-level centralized call-centre architecture would, IMO, face a lot of logistical problems because of different languages and the specialized training required (plus, Govt’s inability to pay well and the resulting high attrition rate). We need, perhaps, to use the existing distributed infrastructure better and to upgrade it.
On that note, I wonder how many people use the existing system. And going by this story, dialling 100 (and other emergency numbers) may not be free from non-BSNL mobiles. That post is from 2006, but if it is not free even now, a whip needs to be cracked somewhere (TRAI?).
Unfortunately, the major action items are those that can only be taken up by the Govt.
pSecular media’s response to bombings:
DAY1:
Blame the Home Minister and the police
DAY2:
Hold RSS, BJP and Modi responsible
DAY3:
Assert that Muslims are the real victims. Criticize the law-enforcers for taking suspects into custody.
Doesn’t quite sound a like a realist’s view, this post. Let’s be honest about a few things – is there really an agreement on what India stands for or should stand for? The poor of the country (and even ones relatively better off) get shoved at every turn it’s impossible not to be cynical about everything. Then there’s the question of what and who really is the threat. Jihadi terrorism seems to be one of many such problems, it’s not as if the whole thing will just go away if that battle is won. Economic freedom will continue to remain a dream for sometime, entrenched interests will ensure that. Then there are issues like Singur and Nandigram where lines begin to blur. No wonder political formations go for catchy slogans about reservations, Ram mandir or terrorism.
These are my few random jottings regarding measures that must be taken to contain islamic terrorism aka jihad.
– An anti terror law on the lines of US Patriots Act.
– A Federal Agency on Crime.
– National Communications and Surveillance systems.
– Fortifying all state borders. Looking at all entry and exits of citizens – either tourists or migrant blue collar or white collar workers.
– A statewide database of hotels, lodge and guest houses. With full record of guest lists.
– Removal of all muslim slums in all major cities.
– Embed agents in islamic regions to extract any ground information on suspicious movement or activity.
– A national database on crime with photo and fingerprint records.
– Allowing Special Police Forces to Quarantine entire regions and conduct house to house search operations.
– Implementing a national three tiar alert system similar to the one adopted by US.
– A national citizens register.
– Mandatory Citizen ID cards.
– An agency in the lines of National Immigration Service in the US {NIS}- that can detect, detain and deport aliens.
– Creation of a detention center on the lines of Guantanamo. This will house all radicals, islamic preachers and ideologues identified as threats, as well as those who run support systems for sleeper cells.
– New citizenship laws that puts a very high premium on Indian Citizenship.
We need to have systems adopted by western european countries regarding citizenship. {Currently, gaining a fake ration card for Rs. 500 is passport to Indian citizenship}.
Nanda Kishore,
Points #1 and #2 are designed specifically to address people like you.
Let’s be honest about this: there are clear answers to each and every one of your questions. But it so happens that questioning the existence of those answers is often used to hijack the discourse on counter-terrorism policy.
Start fighting the war of minds
1. Project the war for what it is—that the New Jihadis are against everything that India stands for: freedom, openness, democracy and a tolerant way of life.
–Projecting the indigenous jihad movement which has the covert tactical support & sympathy of the Muslim community almost enmasse, as a war like situation would polarize the society, & the clandestine movement would come out in the open, having given the legal sanction of war, would prove to be detrimental to the Nation.
Be rest assured, on their part there is no war of minds, they are very clear of their ‘holy duties’ & ‘the ticket to paradise’ and care 2 hoots for what any India stands or sits for, it’s none of their concern.
2. Assure the nation that we will fight—and win—this war. This will bring fence-sitters onto the side they think that will win. But the assurance must be credible.
–All attempts for any such ‘credible’ assurances will lead the masses in the Rss / VHP brigade’s laps, who are in the making of the Hindu version of Taliban. (I’m more comfortable with the jihadi morons,- atleast I am aware & alert that there is a stealthy snake in my backyard & whom I can deal with effectively, lol).
Dominate the battle on the ground
3. Connect every thana, every chowki (and in future every policeman) to a national database and network. Neither POTA nor a new anti-terrorism agency is crucial: connect existing intelligence and law-enforcement agencies through a common network.
-I would prefer to leave the police with it’s policing & with regards to existing intelligence agencies, strengthen them more with fresh recruits, more overriding powers, an exclusive judiciary, & centralized state level sizable units specifically to deal with terrorism & any such anti-national activities. Let’ not forget that recently even the armed force specially the air force had been indicating of jihadi elements entering their ranks. The Mumbai police & Indian politicians still have a large number of Dawood’s ‘men’ & the D companies ‘business’ is flourishing in India.
4. Empower police by implementing police reforms. Use the Supreme Court of India’s judgement in Prakash Singh & Others vs Union of India & Others to generate momentum. Strengthen police-public partnerships.
-By all means, but the police-public partnership sound a wee bit idealistic.
5. Move internal security to the PMO. The Prime Minister should chair a Cabinet Committee on Internal Security; a dedicated internal security advisor (rank of secretary or higher) should be appointed to act as the point man covering all aspects of internal security.
-Isn’t there already a NSA in place, & do not the IB, RAW report exclusively to the PM?
Engage the nation (don’t merely ‘secure their approval’)
6. Mobilise the nation through a national satyagraha against terrorism. Get the grassroots to be uncompromising and unrelenting in the battle against terrorism. Pay special attention to reconciliation and form national integration committees in sensitive areas.
-The present ground realities in India are much too complex to be solved in a simplistic manner as suggested by you, rather on the contrary, Any such stupidity will only serve the purpose of vested interests & shall be shamelessly exploited & mauled by pervert prevailing vote-bank politics, at it’s worst, may also create a civil war-like situation, any such exercise in today’s scenario has the potential to go horribly wrong, best let it be seen (even though it’s not so) & projected as a law & order situation & give space for the state machineries to deal with it.
7. Liberalise the economy. Terrorism and dissatisfaction are a direct result of the polices of “communal socialism”, a form of social “license-raj” that stifles socio-economic mobility. Economic freedom will lead to economic growth that will undermine the jihadi base.
-Islamic terrorism does not fit in your liberalization logic, or else how would you explain the Islamophobia of the western liberal world? Mercifully we are not a paranoid society like them. Even though the dismantling of the legacy of the nehruvian curse is a must, it should be done in a speedy phased manner & not in an authoritarian manner.
—Further any such ‘patriot Act’ are not for India, America & most of the western world are exclusively Christian countries, & their so called indigenous terrorists are merely immigrants, who can be packed back from here they have come. Such isn’t the case with India, which in it’s self is a mini-earth with all social & environmental global ingredients in almost the same proportion, relatively speaking.
It’s so easy to write agendas, isn’t it? But have you thought what it might mean?
For example, connecting every police station is going to cost hundreds of crores of Rupees. Where is that money going to come from? Are you willing to pay extra tax to raise that money?
Police reforms are a must. The unit is very weak to cope with an international face of terrorism.