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| Need for creating special force to tackle terrorism | | | Early Times Special Correspondent
Jammu | Dec 21
Addressing the conference of Chief Ministers of all states, on internal security, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has described the naxalite violence in various parts of the country as a virus, which needs be dealt with on war footing. He has laid emphasis on raising special force for the purpose by the concerned states. At the same time speaking in the same conference, the J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, in the specific context of secessionist terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir State, has projected the need for raising the strength of J&K police to 2 lakh cops, three times the present strength of the police force in the militancy infested state, for the state police to takeover from the army and other paramilitary forces the entire responsibility for tramping the militancy. Obviously the Prime Minister as well as the J&K Chief Minister perceive a long time threat from naxalite brand of terrorists in many states and the secessionist terrorists in J&K respectively.
As far internal security in J&K is concerned, the responsibility for the same has ultimately to be transferred to the police force, to spare country's armed forces as well as other paramilitary forces of the task, for various reasons. The prolonged deployment of armed forces on internal security in any part of the country has the potential to ultimately tell upon the morale of the forces on one hand and weaken their capacity to meet the external threat, for which primarily the armed forces are meant. It also makes the country's armed forces vunerable to attack from the local population of human rights violations and of the sympathizer of the militants of acting in vengeance, thus maligning and tarnishing their image, which is not in the interest of the dignity and respectability which country's armed forces should command.
In this context taking responsibility of internal security and tackling terrorism in J&K by the local police is a sound preposition. But the same cannot be considered in isolation and is related to many other conditions and situations. The Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's projection of the requirement of a police force of 2 lakh personnel, for the local police to takeover the total responsibility of tackling terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, on the face of it appears a far fetched preposition and a Herculean task. Recruitment of 2 lakh police personnel, including cops and officers at various ranks, amounts to 2% of the total population of the state, which is nearly 1 crore. This will no doubt tackle the problem of chronic unemployment in the state, which has hardly other avenues of jobs for the unemployed youth. But the salary bill of the personnel alone will come to Rs 2500 crore per annum, with other infrastructure cost involved coming to another 2500 crore, the total cost involved comes to Rs 50,000 crores. From where will this amount come is a million dollar question?
Besides the heavy cost involved, which has to be borne by the central government, with the resources of the state being to meager and unable even to share even a very small proportion of the same. Then the militancy lately going high tech, the terrorists having acquired sophisticated weapons and other aids of sabotage and subversion as well as surveillance, as the things stand today the state police is highly under equipped and lacks the required expertise and capacity to meet the threat. The army and to great extent the paramilitary forces of the country, like BSF, CRPF and ITBP etc are much better trained and equipped to deal with the enemy in the shape of terrorists, who are supported, assisted and equipped for the task by the hostile neighbouring countries. It will take the local police over a decade and even more to come up to the level of the enemy against which it has to fight as well as at the level of the armed forces and paramilitary forces, which are assigned this task presently, no doubt with the active help, assistance and cooperation of the local police. The local police does have the advantage of having better knowledge of the local terrain as well as the mindset and psyche of the local people, including the youth who join the rank of militants. But it are not all the local militants, with whom the forces of resistance have to face. There are a good number of foreign militants also. Then the local police personnel may sometime feel hesitant to apprehend and fight against the militants, who may be related to them in some way.
There is no denying the fact that by and large J&K police force has conducted itself very creditably as well as bravely in fighting terrorism and they are presently bearing the brunt of the menace to a great extent, but the cases of black sheep and sympathizers of the militants and secessionists among the local police force are no exception.
In view of all these and particularly when the secessionists and religious fundamentalists terrorism is no more confined to Jammu and Kashmir, but has spread its tentacles in almost all parts of the country, the preposition of creating a special force at the national level exclusively to deal with terrorism, both naxalite and secessionist—Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, will be more sound. This force should be entirely separate from the armed forces, paramilitary forces and the police in the states. Of course the major area of operation of this force at present will be in J&K. |
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