The Hindu Business Line : The right to security

One newspaper in Kolkata on Tuesday morning carried the picture of a metal-detecting doorway at one of the railway stations being ignored by travellers with a security person nonchalantly looking on. To this writer at least, if anyone wanted to know what precisely is wrong with the Indian security apparatus, one need only point to the picture in answer.

The central point is that no amount of beefing-up of security after terrorist-strikes will do the nation any good unless there is a total revamp of the set-up, right from the people who pass all-India examinations to get into the service to the constable on the beat.

If, after a national tragedy where scores of people have lost their lives because of terrorist-detonated bomb blasts, security personnel in one of the biggest cities of the country continue to look the other way when average citizens are not following an imperative security requirement, it is clear that the basic reason for the lax security system (which is making such detonations easier for those who are bent on striking against the nation) lies in the “system” itself and nowhere else.

A free hand

To say this is not to argue that had the nationwide security system been tighter there would have been less terrorist activity, but to suggest that the country is at the mercy of the terrorist-brigade and that it is really up to them to pick and choose their targets at a time of their own convenience.

The unacceptable point about this whole thing is that those who have been entrusted with the people’s security (like the constable looking the other way while metal-detecting doorways are not being used) are being paid a salary by the taxpayers for — as it now appears — not doing what they are supposed to. Frankly, it is no point blaming the constable in the picture for not doing his job. His seniors are to blame more for not having instilled in him the sense of mission, without which a security personnel’s job is quite meaningless.

It is astounding that, as reported in Tuesday’s papers, the finger-prints on the two cars loaded with explosives which were found in Gujarat after the blasts were not scanned immediately after their discovery; this could have helped the process of finding out whether, among other things, known terrorists were involved.

Instead, as reported, the cars were practically taken apart by security personnel themselves to get at other things which, though probably equally important in the detection exercise, could certainly have been scheduled after the fingerprints were taken.

It goes without saying that constables were not involved in this faux pas but senior officers who should have known better given the position they hold in the service.

Heightened awareness

After having pointed at the drawbacks of the country’s internal security apparatus, the point to consider is: what awaits the average citizen vis-À-vis the terrorists, whose numbers seem to be growing rather too rapidly for the comfort of responsible citizens all around the world and certainly in India?

Given the crowded cities of the sub-continent, one is tempted to suggest that bomb blasts cannot be avoided totally. But their planning and execution can be made much more difficult than now by improved security systems and a heightened awareness on the part of the general public.

This is easier said than done, but it seems there is no other way terrorists can be effectively confronted and be made to sweat it out for their criminal doings.

RANABIR RAY CHOUDHURY

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