Post 9/11, homeland security got fast tracked in the US and it is generally believed that the mainland has not suffered any terrorist incident since then aside from the Boston bombings of 2013 and periodic ‘lone wolf’ attacks. Most countries have come to realise that homeland security has a much wider canvas than protection from acts of violence. Within India, the fabric of homeland security apparently comprises a host of dots that are yet to be fully connected; integration of the security sector, intelligence, surveillance, national net-centricity et al. Homeland security involves pro-active policies and implementation in terms of analysis, reorganisation, diplomacy, intelligence gathering, building and synergising the security sector, or whatever it takes to proactively defend the homeland. It goes far beyond civil defence.
Failure to recognise that irregular and unconventional warfare has emerged with greater strategic value over the conventional…
To say that India has seen internal turmoil since just a decade after Independence would be an understatement. As insurgency brewed in the North East, the Indian Parliament was forced to debate and enact the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in 1958. Sowing of Communism in West Bengal (initially by the Soviets) and surrounding areas began another movement that took to arms – Naxalism or Left Wing Extremism (LWE) simultaneous to China engineering Maoists movements in Nepal and Myanmar along with similar movements such as the New People’s Army in Philippines, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the Japanese Red Army, and Shining Path in Peru.
Pakistan, which had tasted the power of irregular forces through the Taliban experience in Afghanistan, was waiting in the wings. By a quirk of fate, Pakistan got its chance in 1987, when the Jammu and Kashmir elections were fudged kick-starting the insurgency. It is also on record that Zhou-en-Lai had suggested to Ayub Khan in early 1960s that instead of short term wars, Pakistan should prepare for a prolonged conflict with India by raising a militia force to act behind enemy (Indian) lines.
According to a former Intelligence Bureau (IB) official in 1992-1993, “the process of ‘transplanting armed modules’ in the heartland of India had started taking cognizable shape. Some of these cells were identified in Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kota/Ajmer region of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. SIMI had already started deputing ‘volunteers’ to Pakistan for training along with the mujahedeen, Taliban and Al Qaeda cadres. They established firm linkages with Islamic Chhatra Shibir, Al Qaeda-affiliated HUJI, Al Badr, Al Jihad and other organisations in Bangladesh. They were trained in facilities located inside Bangladesh and under the very noses of DGFI and BDR.”
The buzzword is preemptive mitigation of threat by actually preventing an attack/incident in the first place…
Much water has flowed under the bridge since then. India has been subjected to cross-border terrorism for over two decades now. The episode of the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814, bombings of trains in many parts of India, attack on the Parliament and other religious places as well as a major terrorist strike, the infamous 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack have taken place. China and Pakistan are both exploiting the asymmetric battlefield that we have provided to them on a platter. Paresh Barua and other ULFA hierarchy have been traced to Ruli in China.
LWE has become the biggest challenge to internal security, striking at will and causing random mayhem. Government policies over the past decade were more of status quo, content with giving periodic intelligence and additional forces to the affected States. LWE continued to be viewed as a state-level ‘Law and Order’ problem despite deployment of an Army Division in 1967 to crush armed rebellion. With the new government in place, indications of a holistic cogent response appear bright with the NSA outlining a focused response against the LWE and the Home Minister directing the IB to infiltrate LWE organisations.
Decades of Apathy
Government apathy in dealing with insurgencies and terrorism, particularly the LWE is characterised by the following features: one, failure to recognise this insurgency through transnational dynamics has assumed strategic proportions; two, failure to recognise that irregular and unconventional warfare has emerged with greater strategic value over the conventional in the era of decreasing wars and this is what China and Pakistan are applying to us; three, despite the PM labeling the LWE as the biggest threat over successive years, dealing with it has been left to state level administration except for measures like dishing out Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) units, IAF helicopter and UAV support and routine intelligence inputs.
Militaries alone cannot cope with new threats to internal security because of their transnational nature…
Four, failure to recognise the politico-social-economic nature of the problem and drawing up immediate, mid-term and long-term strategies holistically to counter the insurgency; five, failure to establish efficient intelligence system with real time dissemination; six, failure to cut off external support to insurgents – money, arms, ammunition and warlike stores; seven, failure to energise the Security Sector beyond raising more and more CAPF units and eight, failure to improve governance and ensure benefits of poverty alleviation schemes reach intended beneficiaries, amongst many other factors. As far as terror attacks go, an extremely disturbing fact has been the politician nexus with terrorist organisations and insurgents. Former R&AW officials have also scripted the fact that politicians who had used havala for black money were under ISI blackmail, and people in authority were going slow on terror cases on that count.
Homeland Security
Post 9/11, homeland security got fast tracked in the US and it is generally believed that the mainland has not suffered any terrorist incident since then aside from the Boston bombings of 2013 and periodic ‘lone wolf’ attacks. Most countries have come to realise that homeland security has a much wider canvas than protection from acts of violence. Within India, the fabric of homeland security apparently comprises a host of dots that are yet to be fully connected; integration of the security sector, intelligence, surveillance, national net-centricity et al. Homeland security involves pro-active policies and implementation in terms of analysis, reorganisation, diplomacy, intelligence gathering, building and synergising the security sector, or whatever it takes to proactively defend the homeland. It goes far beyond civil defence.
The buzzword is preemptive mitigation of threat by actually preventing an attack/incident in the first place. It is important to distinguish homeland security from related terms such as national security, anti-terrorism, disaster preparedness, hazard management, emergency services, crime prevention, strategic coordination, threat mitigation and risk assessment. Homeland security consists of all these things and more. It is a broad concept relevant to safety and security to be sure but at its heart, the concept must include the idea of balancing security and citizen liberty.
Modernisation efforts of the Security Service have been disjointed and erratic, even in context of force development…
Security Sector
The role of the Security Sector should be to provide an atmosphere for the total citizenry to enjoy full benefits of a safe, secure and resilient nation state, ensuring national security, rule of law and social, political and economic prosperity in the process. Militaries alone cannot cope with new threats to internal security because of their transnational nature. Therefore, the ability to conduct integrated operations with other components of Security Sector is necessary. The Security Sector should comprise the armed forces, Para Military Forces (PMF), Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), police, Coast Guard, intelligence agencies, private security services, government ministries of Defence, Home, Law and Justice, Human Resources, immigration services and even the citizenry, if the latter are being used as HUMINT under the ‘billion eyes on the ground’ concept, plus if their possible contribution in de-radicalisation programs is to be optimised.
Former Army Chief, General VP Malik says, “My long involvement with counter-terrorism in the North East, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir makes me believe that civil society usually contributes more to the cause of preventing and countering terrorism than encouraging terrorism. Wherever active, it generates awareness and provides a constructive outlet for the redress of grievances. It gives voice to the marginalised and vulnerable people, including victims of terrorism, and plays a critical role in ensuring that counter-terrorism measures respect human rights and the rule of law”. In addition, non-traditional actors such as NGOs, foundations, charities, Public-Private Partnerships and private businesses are capable and credible partners in local communities for de-radicalisation.
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The author is right about the asymmetry of the new warfare. India’s security system needs a redoing without delay. The terrorism threat from Pakistan is a well thought out offensive to fight India without forcing a military showdown where they are bound to lose. India’s armed forces have their work cut out. The threat of violence and insurgency must be understood in its proper context. The enemy at the door is fighting a religious war to gain political advantages. First, we need to stop aiding the enemy in India, by tolerating Pakistani cells in Kashmir called separatists and Islamic Students, etc. in other parts of India. A determined effort using the best brains and brawns to track them and eliminate them should be priority number one. Next, India must be prepared to deliver crushing blows to the enemy once it is established that they are from the Pakistani side of the border. For India this is a warning shot across the bow from the vestiges of those who invaded India in the 12th and ruled ruthlessly, with a single mindset, to destroy the Hindu civilization. They failed simply because they were pushing a tribal doctrine from dark ages to replace what they saw was merely an idolatry practice not worthy of any tolerance. Today while the world is recognizing the Vedic wisdom of India and adopting it in many ways, the ignorant fools across the border are hell bent on trying to push a theology and beliefs that are now detested by most of the civilized world.
The real question (“the elephant in the room”, if you will) is, “Why has India been in incessant turmoil since 1949”? (not1957). Will undoing all the ugly policies and laws throw oil on troubled waters? Even if such a move as ripping out and shredding the “Social Engineering”, exceptions to the rule of law and inequality under law enshrined in the Constitution will it be possible to reconstruct a prosperous democratic nation out of the shreds that remain after the dismantling of universal primary education, health services, rule of law and equality under law all those many decades ago? Can India, now, remain a nation without resorting to blood and cordite to enforce the Constitution and laws by putting down equity and justice?