Events & Issues

New Delhi, 5 January 2009

Lessons From Mumbai

PEOPLE’S PRESSURE MUSN’T WANE

By Dr P K Vasudeva

The psychological impact of the Mumbai attacks has been greatly felt on Indian people, as also on those from abroad. There has been an intensity of public outrage and international solidarity, not seen before, which has long-term implications. Political leadership seemed remote, and sometimes callous, and this elicited a sharp response from the public.

At the same time, the security forces and the firemen were deservedly praised for their courage, determination and success, despite several handicaps. The Muslim community too has been lauded for its strong denunciation of the attack, and expressions of solidarity with the country’s values of secularism. The popular verdict of the opposition, that the UPA government is soft on terrorism, has been vindicated following the setting up a National Investigation Agency (NIA) for intelligence-related counter-terrorism, a Coastal Command for stronger maritime security, and a specific anti-terrorism law.

There are, however, numerous problems and pitfalls on the road to all three, which can only be avoided by a far-sighted political leadership and the constructive and sincere co-operation of all entities involved, be it the State governments, or the security and intelligence agencies.

The people must monitor this process closely and not allow any slackening of effort or descent into petty turf wars. For too long, the country has suffered from violent insurgencies, and armed extremists of every shade and political persuasion, who see the gun as a short-cut to their political ends. The Naxalites first and now the Maoists are playing havoc in a number of States by destroying them politically, economically and socio-culturally.

Terrorism has strong links with crimes such as smuggling, extortion, and human trafficking. Organised crime, which has burgeoned in India due to a cosy relationship with some elements of the political class and law enforcement agencies, provides a source of support and logistics for terrorists, and a nexus develops between them.

Isn’t it time to crack down on the organised crime? It is a pity that Dawood remains a threat to us even while he is abroad. Is there really no way to suppress his Indian operations, which have grown so monstrously? Who are the vested interests that are coming in the way?

Much has been said about the “root causes” of terrorism. Dr Vamik Volkan, an expert on psychology of terrorism, has an interesting thesis, which says: that persons whose lives are disrupted by social or political upheaval or conflicts have traumas inflicted upon their sense of personal identity, which is normally supported by several layers of membership, such as the family, clan, village or local community, social and religious groups, country.

Disruptions affecting any of these can cause trauma and alienation from mainstream society and feelings of low self-esteem. Such persons then become targets for conversion to terror, as part of a deliberate exploitation plan that implants a large-group identity into him, while injecting selectively religious justification for killing the so-called enemies.

It follows, therefore, that society must provide effective means for such “disrupted identity” persons to rejoin mainstream society in an inclusive and constructive manner. India’s ethos of multicultural understanding provides a sound foundation for building a strong social cohesion.

A further problem is that the longer terrorism persists, the more difficult it becomes to wean away terrorists, especially the young, to normal peaceful lives. This has been the experience in situations such as Lebanon and Angola.

In our region, terrorism has two faces — internal and external. Externally inspired terrorism has come from all sides of India. Our neighbours have different circumstances which give rise to terrorist threats to us. The recent Mumbai episode should be seen as part of a series of attacks that will probably continue into the future, as terrorists develop their skills and equipment especially when they are encouraged by some elements of local population and when they are not handled with impunity.

We desperately need a strong counter-terrorism system in place, sharpened by repeated drills and exercises, with full civil society participation, in order to deal with these very real threats. Both the police and paramilitary forces should be trained by the crack Army commandos to tackle terrorists on need-based timings. Moreover, the conventional criminal justice system was never designed to deal with terrorism or even organised crime. At best, it would sentence the apprehended and convicted perpetrators, who are expendable foot-soldiers.

The battle against terror is more like a war against an enemy force, and we need to decapitate its generals and commanders, deprive it of resources and mobility, and destroy its communications, command and control.

This calls for covert operations across borders in case the host country is unable or unwilling to take strong measures as is indicated. But for successful covert operations such as those carried out by Israel, highest quality intelligence, commitment, focussed, preparations and political support are needed. India should go all out to counter ISI operations where it has been successful so far.

How do we ensure high quality intelligence and analysis? There should be no misuse of intelligence capability by targeting political rivals. The target should be terrorist entities and their front organisations. A high degree of professionalism and co-operation, co-ordination, and information exchange amongst various agencies — civil, military, and technical, is called for.

Creating the NIA may not by itself solve the underlying problem of lack of co-operation and co-ordination among existing entities with expertise and capability. Political sentiments should not be played while tackling terrorism or getting intelligence. It should be empowered to harness all the capabilities of the IB, RAW, military intelligence agencies, and State governments to deal with terrorism. In organisational reform, creating new boxes or entities, does not work if the basic problems of attitude and commitment are not resolved.

The proposed Coastal Command is an opportunity for a thorough review of the security responsibility for the different zones, from 0 to 200 km, where different agencies now have responsibilities. The Coast Guard, and BSF must be made stronger, and the crack-down on smuggling intensified even if it causes some pain to vested interests.

There has been much discussion on the fact that public order is a State subject under the 7th Schedule of our Constitution. In 1952, nobody foresaw the rise of terrorism. Be that as it may, nothing prevents the Union Government from signing agreements or MoUs with each State Government under which counter-terrorism could be dealt with by the Centre.

To win the battle, it is essential for both the Central and State governments to work together, putting aside narrow political considerations. All challenges can be faced and overcome with the support of, and persistent pressure from the people of India, awakened by the recent terrible experience.--INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)