BAPU SATYANARAYANA and E.R. RAMACHANDRAN write: Now that terrorism seems to have taken firm root in our country, it is time to think of what should be done to halt its progress and what specific steps can be taken to ensure that more innocent lives are not lost.
This article tries to stay clear of political machinations over which we have no control. We also feel generalizations and homilies take us nowhere. Inputs have to be specific. We also feel this problem should be looked at objectively, as far as possible, so that focus is not lost.
It is becoming clear that terrorists operating from within and across our borders are targeting our cities by striking at important religious centres, crowded areas and commercial establishments, schools and lately even hospitals.
The objectives seem to be to cause mass casualties, of course, but also to derail the economy, polarize the nation on religious lines, and to create a general scare, all of which in the end will result in a state of uncertainty.
The ultimate objective is to destabilize India.
It is another matter that terrorists have not succeeded in their design so far, but as the threat looms large, we need serious policy initiatives, stricter laws, a tougher judicial process and generally an overall revamp of “the system” if the terrorists are not to triumph.
While the Army fights terrorists/ insurgents at the border, terrorism within our borders will have to be fought by the police which are primarily a State government force. Are our Police, who are mainly trained to keep law and order, and man the traffic, in cities, anywhere near fit to take on terrorists?
Obviously, fighting terrorists is a different ball game and it requires a different temperament, knowledge, attitude and training besides new infrastructure in terms of having a dedicated set-up for gathering information, state-of-the-art equipment etc.
The hard truth is that we have to put in place a new system and unfortunately we have at very little time available at our disposal. But the challenge has to be met. If we follow the Pareto Principle—the 80:20 rule—80% of the problem can be solved if we address the top 20 issues.
What are some of the major steps we could take to fight terror?
1. Identify the terror mongers: There are agencies, overt and covert, who are forever involved in planning, creating and unleashing terror. Their activities, linkups, communication, transactions of their real/front office facade, financial transactions should be monitored, scrutinized and checked. Wherever necessary they should be interrogated by specially trained police officers well versed in finance, communication and computers.
2. Prepare dossiers and documents: It is the people in these organizations who conspire, plan, and wreck havoc. The Police should have a dossier of the top suspects, their political and financial linkages etc. It is these people who generate funds, recruit trainees and are in touch with outside agencies for support in every possible way. These dossiers and documents should be nationally accessible so that various police outfits are in the loop.
3. Technology: Richard Nixon was finally caught not by FBI, not by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein but by Westinghouse engineers who deciphered the erased tape. When he was almost caught, the former president tried to erase the Watergate tapes. The deciphering of tapes with Nixon choice epithets was the final clincher of evidence against Nixon!
What are our computer and telecom whiz kids doing? Shouldn’t they be associated with our government / police in giving them the cutting edge in technology? It is fine if they are designing London metro, Canadian finance markets or Hamburg’s public transport? Can they not be part of their country’s efforts to root out this menace?
Now let’s not talk of common excuses such as red tape, corruption, political Interference. What would be our fate, if, for instance, soldiers who face death day in day out in Kashmir and the Northeast started asking these questions instead of taking on their enemies? Where will we be? Where would the country be?
Real patriotism is much more than just mouthing the National Anthem or hoisting the flag on August 15. Can there be a better Public-Private-Participation (PPP) than Indian industry stepping up to the plate and contributing? Can’t they provide their best brains to come up with a strategy? Can’t they help design a blueprint for fighting terror that would help our police stay ahead of the perpetrators of death? There cannot be a greater contribution to the nation. The industry should come out and help do that.
4. Local for Local: Unless you have locals with you, you cannot fight terror sitting in Delhi, Bangalore or Jaipur. The dry run for the Bangalore blasts was allegedly carried out in Chennapatna. They were planning where to hit Madras sitting in Tirunelveli. This makes it important for the local police in small towns to have informants, helpers to know what’s going on.
Eavesdropping and snooping at these levels is a key element in information-gathering. We may have the best of gadgets, but we may miss out on a simple word of mouth whispered or overheard in an adda or a local tarra shop.
In the case of Bangalore and Ahmedabad, where 25 sites were planted with bombs, there would be more than 500 people involved in planning the sites, procuring the raw material from the markets, assembling the bombs, transporting and planting the same.
It is here the police informants should have got in-depth data such as where they got nuts and bolts, the wires, timers etc the plan to hire local cycles, selection of transformer sites and hospitals sites etc. An efficient police and intelligence force would have got the information beforehand given the scale of the planned attack. There should be a good communication channel to convey info all the way up.
5.Training,Training,Training: The police personnel need continuous training be it in intelligence gathering, monitoring the movements of suspects, and in preventing the impending attacks. Training is an integral part of any industry to update and upgrade the knowledge of their staff. Are we doing enough for our police to update their knowledge?
We want iPods, iPhones, Notebooks, Land Cruisers and Jaguars for ourselves but our police should move around with a lathi in one hand and a whistle in another, and an old heavy GH 201 BEL walkie-talkie to pass on urgent communication! How are they supposed to protect you and me from terrorists if they are so ill-equipped!
Unlike the Army, do the police have a Khadakvasla for recruiting and training the cadets or a PRDO like DRDO (Defense Research Development Organization) to turnout betetr personnel and design better equipment?
Finally, we write off loans of our farmers, give hefty raise to our babus and our MPs vote themselves increase in salary with eye-popping perks. What about our Police who in addition to Law and Order now have to take on Terrorists? Pittance is what we give!
We talk of corruption in police force, when some of our babus own palatial buildings by the dozens and cars by the hundred and politicians despite all the perks are bought for crores of rupees for a few votes.
It is possible to fight the terror in real terms and not on paper, provided the country gears itself in ways that will strengthen our existing institutions, our industry joins hands with the government, and Police are given their due and given equipment and training, and a vigilant people play their vital part. We should get wise from the example of America which has had no incident after 9/11.
If America can do it, with a pool of vaster talent we too can.
What do you think we should do to battle terror? Do you have any suggestions and inputs?
Pray tell me…when you do the activities as suggested ” Identify terror mongers” …”Prepare dossiers”..what should one do if 99% of the names which crop up are Muslim? Wouldnt you be targeting a “innocent” minority at that point? CNN-LieBN..NDTV..will scream with headlines…”Techies target minorities”. ??? Idu Vishya !
Excellent article, though the details of each of these measures is the hard part :|
We shouldn’t neglect policy responses either – putting pressure on Pakistan, Bangladesh etc? Even our politicians (Narendra Modi, Mulayam Singh etc) divide peoplie on religious lines with significant long term damage.
Regarding the people who helped plan these attacks, I find it amazing that 500 people would be so angry at fellow Indians that they go along with a plan to blow them up. Are they all psychopaths? Did they try the usual means of addressing grievances before resorting to terrorism?
I totally agree on more funding to the police force. That’s more important than passing any more new laws. As it is, we are perilously close to allowing government to eavesdrop on our emails, phone calls etc. That trend should be stopped.
The “best and the brightest” will continue to work for the export markets as long as there is a free flow of dollars and their equivalent in rupees. Maybe once the dollar collapses or India switches to a commodity backed currency this could change.
The “exit tax” proposal on IIT and IIM grads leaving the country comes to mind. The State subsidises an IIT and IIM student to an extent of Rs 4 to 10 lakh each year and only a small portion of this is recovered as fees. Those leaving within 5 years after graduation should be charged 20-30 lakhs (there is also the opportunity cost of denying the seat to someone else).
Let’s keep this confined to IITs and IIMs to begin with.
@Truth from facts
Instead of charging the students going abroad (mostly US) we should cultivate chinese model. The govt takes care of the students’ expense of overseas studies but they are required to come back to India after their studies and join a university here… Of course, we should also pump in money and improve the infrastructure in IITs and IIMs (This I say being an IITian). That way, we get students to undergo training in higher education and also make them contribute to India.
@TN
Couldn’t have put it any better :)
All this eyewash is just that…..somehow try to shift the blame to imaginary and non-existent problems or majority community. Until the media, police and politicians wake up and take a firm stand against the terrorists there will be more bombs and death….
Great article. Unless we open up the security to private participation, it’s a tough ask. Our police force has it’s share of woes and inefficiencies, but there’s no denying the fact that they are fighting blindfold with their arms tied behind their backs. They have been defanged and reduced to puppets who show up at politicians’s beck and call for most parts. The honor of being the city’s finest and the adulation that you see for them in other parts of the world is sorely missing — for starters, it needs to be restored.
In the US, 8/10 cons cannot outrun the police cruisers ; stops for traffic tickets gets scrubbed against a centralized database (dossiers are old, if we are talking technology, it’s important to ensure the information is available at fingertips..). It’s a huge undertaking and costs money..
It’s not that people in IT-Telecom do not want to help ; but this is no Ganesha celebrations at the street corner. It needs set framework, blueprint(like you mention), funds and good leadership- management — and Govt Of India in any of it’s political flavors will not do justice to these needs.
A thought, maybe a stupid one at that, but then again it did seem impossible when done for IT : OPENSOURCE ? In IT, opensource and frustrations stemming out of Gate’s monopoly and arm twisting did wonders. If our Murthys-Premjis kickoff the IT-Telecom parts and incubate it under their umbrella with greater participation by the entire industry, maybe we can have some start on the Database-Communications parts of the fight..?
@Truth from facts,
Thanks for leaving IISc from ‘exit tax’. For those of you, not in the know, this is the institute which started the Indian brain drain, that too since 1910. Before the IT-boom this institute used to fill the gaps in US establishments in the field of bio-tech, genetics, aerospace etc. In fact in those days (1950-1980), there was no need (read jobs) for these scientists and engineers in our beloved country.
It has been time for a long time. But nothing will ever happen till the vice-like grip of babus on literally every breath that is taken in the government is decisively loosened. They are obsessed with maintaining their craftily acquired supremacy and will not let the best minds and expertise come in. That will not only expose the great inefficiencies and mediocrity that they have nurtured but also their own hugely dysfunctional role in India’s fight against terror, and more.
a very thought-provoking article on the whole — the part about “what are our it/telecom whizkids doing” bit a little too close for comfort — considering that i earn my salary as an information security consultant.
Over the past 3 months i have been trying to elicit a response from the cyber crime cell of karnataka police and even volunteered my services — to no avail. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has had any luck in working with or volunteering for a government initiative.
Madhu Rao,
Privatisation with the right checks and balances seem to be the only way to go.
The terrorists and other anti-socials are well organized. They are motivated and dont have much to lose.
Cant expect our pot-bellied police force burdened by all the pressure from politicians, low salaries and motivation etc. to really counter these new threats. Some high ranking officials could however be used to oversee some aspects of private agencies (if they are even sanctioned or ever happen).
Garth Vader,
Never mind the lack of response from the police. I suggest you directly contact Mr M.N. Nagaraja, Inspector General of Police, this person is a Phd in cyber crime and law very unassuming, friendly and very easily approachable person. He will be more then willing to respond to your services.
contact details:
mknagaraja@rediffmail.com
off: 22942484
typo, it is M.K. Nagaraja
If terrorists do not have any religion..why all terrorists are muslims ???? This is the basic problem with these people.They are back byters. No where they can fight at front and win. They are known for back attack and thats what they are doing worldwide. You cannot expect petriotism from this comminiity and any respect for other religions.
Anywhere have u seen , majority need protecion for their people ?? Protection for their monuments ?? Protection for their temples ??Think and u will have answer.
Take my word , this is beginning of end for this religion. Where ever they are , creates problems for others. This is the time to kick these insects out of India. Let us not repeat mistakes made by Gandhi or Nehru. If not today , it will be never. Muslimfree India is the only solution and dream. These local bastards only support these terrorists. Answer to terror is by terror only.Bullet for bullet and nothing less.
I lost my whole family in terrorist attack. Finishing these bastards one by one is only aim of my life. Though our organisation is small , my urge to all Hindustanis is be prepared , somebody will come to your door step very soon.Give us atleast one kid from your family. We will train them to fight these muslim terrorists. This is the only solution. We will start from Jammu and it will spread all over india. My challenge to all muslim terorists is , its our turn…Har Har Mahadev….just watch now.
This posting is full of platitudes linking use of technology from Nixon’s secret tape length to current terrorism problems facing India. Any one who has studies terrorism knows that technology has its limits and cannot form an overall solution. In the case of 9/11, the terrorist cell was a bunch of Islamic terrorists who came to US, and the loop hole in
issuing student/visitor/training visas are effectively plugged now through strict entry requirements. This is supplemented by technological and more importantly infiltration and surveillance of suspected cells by human agents. In the case of Britain, lessons learnt from 7/7 bombings showed the weak human surveillance and infiltration of Islamic communities by human agents despite the strong MI5 surveillance of wireless and computer message traffic through GCHQ, the centre responsible for monitoring all kinds of wireless, wireline and radio traffic within and without the country. This loophole is being plugged. I suspect that given the small percentage of muslims, this is being achieved rapidly. The French and German intelligence agencies, particularly the latter thwarted the effort of Islamic terrorist cells in Hamburg through effective infiltration of the Islamic communities in Hamburg. Important to note that Britain and America have no Islamic neighbourhood countries sharing the borders. The Islamic population of France and Britain though larger than that of America are clustered around certain geographic areas which makes it easier to focus the human surveillance effort.
India has a very large muslim population the size of which I assume second only to predominantly muslim Indonesia. This very large muslim population is spread over every village, town and cities of India, making it logistically difficult to provide effective human agent surveillance and infiltration. Sophisticated bombs can be assembled in small remote huts in villages or in homes right in the middle of Mandimohalla. communication need not be wireless or IP-based packets. Bombs assembled in muslim cells in Ramanagara can be carried by train, primed in a shanty shed in a muslim house in a muslim community in Bangalore and detonated in any one of hundreds of places in overpopulated Bangalore.
About telecommunication -absed surveillance. The IRA terrorism in Britain and ETA terrorism in Spain was effective because terrorists did not use technology to communicate with each other.
India is handicapped by its very large muslim population and with two neighbouring Islamic countries who are to mildly put it unfriendly share the borders. Islam muslims say transcend national boundaries, and when Bin Laden rants in a hole in afghanistan demanding the blood of the infidels, his message resonates in Ramanagara and Mandimohalla muslim communities.
Even in 1960s when Foreign exchange situation was dire, import requests of essential products and machinery from large companies in Bangalore were turned down, the central government was able to find foreign exchange for Haj visitors. That is India for you
Need for Minister of Internal Security in Karnataka
M K Vidyaranya
With increasing vulnerability of Bangalore and other important cities to attacks by terrorists,there is a need for strengthening the Intelligence and security services.
Bangalore, the IT capital of India is a soft target for terrorist
attacks, and terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba and the SIMI had already infiltrated the area. It is a soft target and intelligence inputs indicate it is high on the hit list of terrorists.
The IT firms based here, which include Microsoft, Intel, Dell, IBM, SAP, accenture, motorola, Honeywell , Philips and many others, have been urged to tighten up their security both for visitor access and for their boundaries.
The new patterns of terrorist activities and violence in the state
underlines the strong requirement for creating a post of Minister of Internal Security and strengthening up the intelligence apparatus to deal with the scourge.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had recently said, the ”prime
responsibility of the state was to ensure security of its citizens”.
In view of the magnitude of terror attacks, there is a need to
induct a a person, preferably a retired top police official who is
well versed with the handling of terrorism goondaism and other
anti-social and anti-national activities, as Minister of Internal
Security by nominating him to the Karnataka Legislative Council. He should be entrusted with the responsibility of keeping a track on terrorist activities, intelligence (except political intelligence which is handled by the Home Minister) and other related issues.
As Home Minister, being a politician, will be busy with appointments,transfers and other regular adminitration in the Home Ministry,there is a need for bolstering the intelligence and security apparatus in the state. The common people should also strive to conquer the menace.
In the Karnataka annual Budget, allocations for the police departments account a mere 0.6 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). The allocation is insufficient, especially where the police departments are expected to expend large amounts for strengthening Human Intelligence and Technology Intelligence resources.
As President of India and the Prime Minister have been
insisting upon the states to strenghten the intelligence wing , the Yadiyurappa govrnment in Karnataka should take up measures on a war footing to see that the Police department is strenghtned to tackle any terrorist attack by posting people who weigh National Interst more then their Personal Intrest.
Department for ‘Homeland Security’ in every State might coordinate activities of police, but the problem is more profoundand exits in lower layer. It is known that terrorist cells are established where there is sympathy for their cause. For example, in the case of IRA, in London’s Kilburn’s large Irish Community, in the case of ETA, the spanish terrorists, cells tended to be in large Catalonian community in Madrid. I guess the inability to infiltrate the muslim communities where the terrorists cells that perpetrate atrocities would be a major problem. The Glasgow airport incident where a terrorist tried to ram the airport with a blazing four wheeler is often quoted as an example where the technology and human intelligence failed because the human agents penetration was not sufficiently deep into the Glasgow’s muslim community which exists as single core in a region of Glasgow where the terrorists had their cell. Without the cooperation of muslim communities in India in every hamlet, town and city, gathering of intelligence is at best ineffectual even with the Home Land Security Czar in each State.
very nice article! First ban these biased chaneels and so called intellecutals.who always use double standardsa and cowards.Ban these chanells like ndtv and cnn-ibn.Because it is difficult to fight with internal enemies than etxternal ones.And eally do not watch any bollywood movies as most of the movies are sponsered by underworld and most of the cinestars are in touch with underworld .