Political Diary

New Delhi, 23 February 2013

Yawn! Terror Strikes Again

DO ALERTS MEAN EXACT ROAD, MINISTER?

By Poonam I Kaushish

How many terror attacks need to take place before the Government becomes serious about tackling this menace. In the last ten years alone, 20 such attacks have taken place across the country. Each time the story is the same: “Never again” promises and “we are committed to fighting cowardly terror attacks”. Sic. Till the next attack occurs. Underscoring that terror has become a gulli-danda ka khel for our netagan.

Yesterday’s twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad’s crowded Dilsukhnagar area once again reiterates that we continue to be a soft state, worse are clueless about tackling it. Asserted Home Minister Shinde, “The situation is under control, the Government will combat this.” Really? How?

The political circus of ex gratia took over. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced Rs. 2 lakh for the deceased next of kin which the State Government upped to Rs 6 lakh. Followed by a series of high profile appear-and-vanish visits to the city to profess their angst and extract political mileage.

Undeniably, the Government has lot of explaining to do. True a specific alert warning of an attack by a Pakistan-based terrorist group was shared by Central security agencies with Hyderabad police on the morning of the blast. Along-with Bangalore, Coimbatore, Hubli, Maharashtra and Gujarat warning them that Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen and banned Indian Mujahideen might launch attacks post Parliament perpetrator Afzal Guru's hanging.

But is that enough?  Does the Centre's role end after warning States about terror threats and that they should be on the alert? Not at all. It has to be proactive and take adequate preventive measures. Pertinently, when it had leads of an attack what security imperatives did it put in place? It cannot simply pass the buck by asserting it is for the States to step up vigil. Already Andhra Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has refuted Shinde and said the alerts were general in nature. .

This is only half baked truth. What Shinde left unsaid was more important. Last year, the Delhi Police announced that an Indian Mujahedeen operative had confessed to stalking areas in Hyderabad including Dilsukhnagar which was widely circulated. This begs a question why wasn’t security beefed up in Dilsukhnagar as this crowded locality had been targeted twice earlier.

The tragedy of it all is that over the years we have politicise terror to such an extent that it has become the biggest hurdle to crafting a uniform approach to security and fighting terror. A case in point Afzal Guru’s hanging. Vote banks politics is dictated our leaders’ reaction to his hanging? From Samajwadi’s Mian Mulayam to National Conference Omar Abdullah all are touting ‘human rights violation.’

Guru’s family should have been allowed to visit him one last time. Does that mean that he should have been hanged with the knowledge of his family? Where in the world does any Government announce its intent to hang a terrorist?

Also, now that Ajmal Kasab and Guru have been executed the Congress is busy trying to draw electoral mileage with its eye on the forthcoming election by projecting their hangings as an indicator of its Government's resolve to deal with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

Our Home Minister too is no better. He hoped to reap a political harvest by talking of ‘saffron terror’ recently hoping to earn brownie points by pegging terrorism on the Sangh Parivar. Only to cut a sorry figure by apologizing for his remark. He needs to focus on augmenting national counter terrorism capabilities instead of conveniently turning a blind eye that a terrorist has no religion, caste or colour.

Clearly, coordination between the Central and State Governments as also among securities agencies is lacking. The National Investigation Agency set-up with much hoopla needs to clarify how it helps various State Governments probe blasts? Yet its officials ensconced in New Delhi’s air-conditioned offices brush their responsibility by claiming lack of skilled manpower.

In this age of real politik, India will remain at the mercy of terrorist organizations which will always have the upper hand in choosing the time and place of the next attack. Time is far gone for taking moral and legal positions. Our leaders should not be under any illusion that the execution of Kasab and Guru would have any deterrent effect on the jihadis operating from Pakistan and their State sponsors. Deaths will not deter them from carrying on their irrational jihad.

The flames of fundamentalist terrorism in India are still being fanned by the Pakistan army and the ISI, though on a reduced scale. The time to debate this issue on moral and legal grounds has long since passed “Are we alert after Hyderabad blasts? Are we sure that Bangalore, Mumbai whenever terror strikes a country over and over again it emphasis that the Government lacks the political will to fight terror or does not have the capability and skills to meet the threat or any other city are now secure?”"

Sadly, instead of learning lessons from previous attacks, we continue making the same mistakes: Casual indifference. Be it in intelligence gathering, not following alerts, lack of police patrolling and shooting their mouth off to score brownie points before nailing the perpetrators. All covering up their sins of commission and omission. Alas, only concerned about their own security. Shockingly, in the Union Capital there is only one policeman to every 1000 citizens. Ditto the case elsewhere.

From Kargil to Mumbai the story, comments and diagnoses have been heard before. Examples abound. Post 26/11 the National Counter Terrorism Centre is nowhere in sight. The National Intelligence Grid is behind schedule. The National Security Guards hubs in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad for quicker response to terror strikes are yet to materialize. The Maritime Security Advisory and Maritime Security Adviser are thwarted by turf war. Our coastal security apparatus comprising registration of vessels & ID cards to fishermen are both incomplete.

On the obverse, since 9/11 twelve years ago no attack has taken place in the US. Simply because its leaders and police concentrate on fighting the ‘terror enemy’. Not each other. We need to learn from them. The time has come for the Government to stop playing footsie with the aam aadmi’s life, get its act together and proceed firmly. No longer will “work in progress” suffice.

 Until we get out of this unprofessional rut, terrorists will continue to strike with impunity and innocent civilians will continue to die. How to neutralise their capability and infrastructure is a question that should engage our continuous attention. Obtaining accurate intelligence about impending attacks and then neutralizing the terrorists’ ground capability once and for all will only work.

 The need of the hour is that the Government immediately finds answers to two questions: Are we alert after Hyderabad blasts? Is it sure that Bangalore, Mumbai or X,Y,Z city are now secure? It must delink national security from electoral vote bank politics and show a strong resolve to fight against terror. Remember, for Indians it is a question of life and death. ----- INFA

                                                          (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)