The Hindu Business Line : Combating terrorism should be an obsession

Intelligence and security agencies have once again proved themselves unequal to the terrorist challenge. It is time to create an agency that would be accountable to tackling violence and building enough élan that could prove equal to the growing terrorist menace, says R. K. RAGHAVAN.

Solid actionable intelligence seems a rare commodity.

How does one react to yesterday’s attack on Mumbai with restraint and without succumbing to human emotions? This is the principal problem that confronts the most discerning of our observers. Staying free from cynicism and blame game is the need of the hour. Nevertheless, it is more than obvious that intelligence and security agencies have once again proved themselves unequal to the terrorist challenge. They will be dishonest if they do not admit this. They will be eq ually unprofessional if they maintain that they had nothing to learn from either the US or the UK, where there has been no major incident since 9/11 and 7/7 respectively. I am not for a moment suggesting that these agencies are either inefficient or are arrogant. They have simply run out of ideas. That is the crux of the matter.

Failure is collective

Which organisation — the Indian Mujahideen or the Deccan Mujahideen — is responsible is an issue of utmost irrelevance to all of us, and especially the victims of yesterday’s mindless violence. No citizen is impressed with a government that says the perpetrators were from across the border.

The failure is collective, both of government and the citizen. No government can strike at terrorism without an alert community. We are yet to understand the import of this need for unqualified support to what should be a common exercise. How do we make combating terrorism an obsession with all of us? Anything short of an obsession will give more than a leeway to the terrorist for inflicting violence on us.

The focus should no doubt be on how to prevent such carnage in the future. This, more easily said than done. Prevention is intimately linked to availability of solid actionable intelligence. This seems a rare commodity. This is why we need to join hands with key Western intelligence agencies.

I am absolutely sure that IB and RAW keep talking to their counterparts — MI 5 and MI6 in the UK and CIA and FBI in the US. What I do not know is the extent of this exchange. We have always had a measure of distrust of foreign intelligence outfits, and for justified reasons.

Yesterday’s events confirm that such reservations about how far we should go along this road are meaningless in a world where terrorism is no longer just a national concern but an international issue that cries for unstinted pooling of resources.

There is no evidence that this has actually been understood by all concerned in India. Old prejudices should yield place to gracious and meaningful realism.

Anti-terror agency

Time and again, the Centre has talked of a nationwide anti-terror agency, call it by whatever name. This has not cut much ice with States.

This is unfortunate, considering the gravity of yesterday’s massacre. Such an agency — which would collect intelligence and investigate incidents having terrorist connotation — may not put an end to future terrorism. But it would at least ensure undivided attention to a serious policing problem, greater professionalism and freedom from narrow political constraints that weigh down State outfits. We have a few small-minded Chief Ministers who will not in any way agree to a national terror agency.

It is time we neutralise them by bringing an Ordinance to create an organisation that would be accountable to tackling terrorist violence and building enough élan that could prove equal to the growing terrorist menace.

Let States later on challenge the Constitutionality of such an organisation on the ground that ‘Police’ is a State subject. I am sure Courts will display enough sagacity and realism while handling the legal challenge.

As long as the personnel belonging to the new outfit are not called ‘police officers’ and are vested with powers of search and arrest independent of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C) — analogous to the powers enjoyed by Customs officers — I do not see Courts striking down the Constitutionality of an anti-terror force reporting to the Union Home Ministry.

This is not something unknown to the National Security Adviser or the Ministry of Home Affairs. The reluctance on their part to move forward along these lines is baffling.

Security measures

Finally, how do we enhance security for our soft targets? Airports, railway stations, hotels, shopping malls, schools and temples need particular attention. Mandatory posting of security guards at each of these categories of public places needs to be protected. The magnitude of coverage can be mind-boggling. We may have to start working on these lines to attain at least a modest target in the next few months. This is no panic reaction. It is an intelligent response to a desperate situation, if we are to protect our women, children and the elderly. We are no longer a poor country which cannot afford this bandwidth of security.

Simultaneous with this should be a national campaign of awareness that should address itself to all sections of society. It is only satellite TV that can ensure effective dissemination of the message that every citizen should look for the stranger in his or her locality and report him to the police.

One final thought about armed protection for non-governmental buildings. The Arms Act is now too stringent to permit private institutions equipping their security personnel with arms. There is extreme circumspection in the matter. This is unexceptionable as too many firearms in private hands can be disastrous. But is this logic enough to deny licences to responsible establishments such as the Taj Hotel which have the resources and skilled managers who can be held accountable for lawful use of weapons? What I am suggesting is a major departure from current licensing policy.

The possible misuse of arms in too many private hands is no excuse for the current restrictive practice. It is just possible that yesterday’s carnage could have been avoided if the two hotels had armed guards who could have effectively intervened against the intruders who caused all the damage.

Trying new experiments is the need of the hour. Governments which will not experiment, solely because of vote politics, have no reason to continue in office.

(The author, a former CBI Director, is currently Advisor (Security) to TCS Ltd. blfeedback@thehindu.co.in)