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| Blast after blast, no lessons | | | | Remember when the twin towers of World Trade Center were attacked in America, the whole world was a new place the next day. Notwithstanding the usual American biases, there was a fully drawn up war against terror. India is being rocked by the terror attacks blast after blast but there are still no lessons. The Delhi blasts were a reminder that the terrorist groups in India not only remain active, but seem to have become even more brazen than before. The quick succession of recent outrages in Jaipur, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and now in the national capital, show that the jehadi organisations are acting with increasing impunity because they have been able to maintain their secret network. Despite the recent arrests of some of the suspected killers, no serious inroads seem to have been made to disrupt their clandestine links. One possible reason for the failure is that the explosions are no longer the handiwork of outside agencies. Instead, much of the men, money and material are probably of internal origin.The only way to break this criminal nexus is by strengthening the intelligence apparatus. But there are snags. One is the legal aspect. Even if POTA as a weapon in police hands became embroiled in controversies because of occasional misuse and political posturing, there is no gainsaying the need for a resolute application of harsh laws like, say, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. But law isn’t the only solution. What is also required is a federal agency to collect, analyse and act upon all the relevant information to eliminate the bureaucratic failures at the provincial level, partly due to the dearth of trained manpower, which is compounded by the petty politicking of state governments under different parties. But intelligence inputs also depend on the local police’s ability to recruit informants. Unfortunately, this process is hampered by the continuing mistrust between ordinary people and the police, which is a colonial legacy. As long as policemen are regarded with suspicion because of their highhandedness, especially at the lower levels, they will not find it easy to penetrate the organisations of the terrorists, who now include well-educated young people. As they are not normally suspected, sometimes not even by their family members, they are able to hide their real identity unlike the history-sheeters. For the police to nab them, they will have to depend on the long time residents of various localities, who may notice unusual behaviour. Fighting terrorism is an arduous process requiring painstaking work by professionals, untainted by political bias, at all levels of officialdom. Since terrorism is driven by a sense of perceived grievances, the political class will also have to shun words and deeds which exacerbate the feeling of injustice among sections of citizens. |
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