05-17-2008, 05:25 PM
<b>Security scenario grim, admits Govt</b>
NEW DELHI: When India's intelligence czar himself sounds the alarm, it is time to get worried. Lack of coordination between the Centre and states, poor unactionable intelligence, fuzzy and imprecise inputs, dearth of a dedicated pool of officers and patchy information on foreign sources of terror is crippling India's war on terror.
Briefing the Cabinet on Friday on the terror strikes on Jaipur, national security adviser M K Narayanan painted a grim, if accurate, scenario. There was no clear indication that a terror strike on the pink city was imminent. On the investigations, the NSA said the cycles used to plant bombs and a video clip released by email by an entity called Indian Mujahideen had provided leads that were being followed.
<b>The NSA's briefing to the Cabinet will cause some concern to the political leadership as it indicates a dulling of security reflexes due to bureaucratic lethargy and absence of both a culture of accountability and security consciousness.</b> These concerns were highlighted in a front-page series by TOI in August-September last year in the wake of the attack on Hyderabad.
<b>IB sleuths surprised by NSA remarks</b>
There is also a sense of surprise amongst security and intelligence professionals over Narayananâs "confession" as the NSA â as the intelligence czar â has pretty much had the run of way in top appointments in Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau. He also straddles the National Security Council.
His position in PMO and the equity he enjoys with 10, Janpath should give him the powers to set the house in order. Certainly, to tide over the problem of lack of coordination. <b>But if Indiaâs top spook canât fix things, it speaks of the enormity of the challenge as well as the the continued corrosion of the security apparatus.</b> The NSA went with the current RAW secretary Ashok Chaturvediâs appointment despite serious misgivings. His predecessor, P K Hormis Tharakan, was hand-picked by the NSA. IB, of course, has been home ground for the ex-IB chief.
On a wider canvas, the issues raised by a possibly distraught NSA are not terribly new. TOI had looked at all aspects of terrorism. "India loses more lives to terror than any other country in the world except Iraq" (August 27, 2007) looked at the toll of terror. "Itâs terror, no use denying it" (August 28, 2007) examined the cost of denial. In "Political meddling trips up terror probes" (September 3, 2007), TOI argued that agencies were made to bow to political masters and "What other nations are doing to curb terror: Lessons for us" (August 31, 2007), looked at how mature democracies reacted to 9/11.
The essential issue relates to the options the government is prepared to consider. Having taken the political position that it is against special laws like POTA â having rolled it back with much fanfare â the Manmohan Singh government has come under sustained pressure with 10 major blasts in three years. <b>Even after the Jaipur blasts, the PM reiterated the argument that POTA had not prevented the attacks on Akshardham temple and Parliament. But the argument seems to grow weaker with each successive terrorist strike. To counter the "weak-on-terrorism" charge, agencies need to be given enough room while ensuing an end to the turf battles they frequently have. </b>
Special laws have been enacted by countries like US to ensure coordination between banks and financial institutions to choke off terror funding, increase in border security and investigators, easier sharing of data banks, video surveillance, centres for tracking foreign terrorists and above all, fast trials and tough sentences.
<b>Security agencies as well as ordinary police forces tend to follow political signals closely. So stop-start policies with regard to naxals and ULFA, failure of the joint mechanism on terrorism with Pakistan have only added to the problem of corruption and political inteference which have slowed down police. Despite bearing the brunt of terrorism, Indiaâs security apparatus neither has the wherewithal nor has been been given the clear mandate that it requires to take on the forces of global terror. </b>
NEW DELHI: When India's intelligence czar himself sounds the alarm, it is time to get worried. Lack of coordination between the Centre and states, poor unactionable intelligence, fuzzy and imprecise inputs, dearth of a dedicated pool of officers and patchy information on foreign sources of terror is crippling India's war on terror.
Briefing the Cabinet on Friday on the terror strikes on Jaipur, national security adviser M K Narayanan painted a grim, if accurate, scenario. There was no clear indication that a terror strike on the pink city was imminent. On the investigations, the NSA said the cycles used to plant bombs and a video clip released by email by an entity called Indian Mujahideen had provided leads that were being followed.
<b>The NSA's briefing to the Cabinet will cause some concern to the political leadership as it indicates a dulling of security reflexes due to bureaucratic lethargy and absence of both a culture of accountability and security consciousness.</b> These concerns were highlighted in a front-page series by TOI in August-September last year in the wake of the attack on Hyderabad.
<b>IB sleuths surprised by NSA remarks</b>
There is also a sense of surprise amongst security and intelligence professionals over Narayananâs "confession" as the NSA â as the intelligence czar â has pretty much had the run of way in top appointments in Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau. He also straddles the National Security Council.
His position in PMO and the equity he enjoys with 10, Janpath should give him the powers to set the house in order. Certainly, to tide over the problem of lack of coordination. <b>But if Indiaâs top spook canât fix things, it speaks of the enormity of the challenge as well as the the continued corrosion of the security apparatus.</b> The NSA went with the current RAW secretary Ashok Chaturvediâs appointment despite serious misgivings. His predecessor, P K Hormis Tharakan, was hand-picked by the NSA. IB, of course, has been home ground for the ex-IB chief.
On a wider canvas, the issues raised by a possibly distraught NSA are not terribly new. TOI had looked at all aspects of terrorism. "India loses more lives to terror than any other country in the world except Iraq" (August 27, 2007) looked at the toll of terror. "Itâs terror, no use denying it" (August 28, 2007) examined the cost of denial. In "Political meddling trips up terror probes" (September 3, 2007), TOI argued that agencies were made to bow to political masters and "What other nations are doing to curb terror: Lessons for us" (August 31, 2007), looked at how mature democracies reacted to 9/11.
The essential issue relates to the options the government is prepared to consider. Having taken the political position that it is against special laws like POTA â having rolled it back with much fanfare â the Manmohan Singh government has come under sustained pressure with 10 major blasts in three years. <b>Even after the Jaipur blasts, the PM reiterated the argument that POTA had not prevented the attacks on Akshardham temple and Parliament. But the argument seems to grow weaker with each successive terrorist strike. To counter the "weak-on-terrorism" charge, agencies need to be given enough room while ensuing an end to the turf battles they frequently have. </b>
Special laws have been enacted by countries like US to ensure coordination between banks and financial institutions to choke off terror funding, increase in border security and investigators, easier sharing of data banks, video surveillance, centres for tracking foreign terrorists and above all, fast trials and tough sentences.
<b>Security agencies as well as ordinary police forces tend to follow political signals closely. So stop-start policies with regard to naxals and ULFA, failure of the joint mechanism on terrorism with Pakistan have only added to the problem of corruption and political inteference which have slowed down police. Despite bearing the brunt of terrorism, Indiaâs security apparatus neither has the wherewithal nor has been been given the clear mandate that it requires to take on the forces of global terror. </b>