IS INDIA TOOTH LESS AGAINST TERROR ATTACKS

http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/voices/India-Toothless-Against-Terror-Unless-We-Remedy-Policy-Law-and-Justice/2015/10/10/article3069765.ecePrakash Singh10th October 2015 10:00 PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent visit to the US, deplored that the United Nations had not been able to arrive at a definition of terrorism even after 70 years of its existence. “If defining it (terrorism) takes so much time, then how many years will it take to tackle terrorism,”he said. It is a fact that since 2000, the UN has been examining a draft paper on Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. Opinion continues to be sharply divided over the definition of terrorism. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. It is unlikely that the differences would be resolved in the near future. However, the democratic countries generally agree on the ingredients of terrorism—that it is a criminal act which may involve killings, random or selective; the proximate target may be an individual but the ultimate target are the people; responsibility for violence is generally acknowledged; and that it thrives on outside support, which may be in terms of money, armaments or sanctuaries. The absence of a definition cannot be an excuse for not taking effective measures to tackle it. According to a recent report, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has mobilised terrorists belonging to groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen as well as Sikh militants for joint strikes in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and other parts of India during the coming festival season. How are we going to deal with the threat? The government of India, on its part, would issue an alert to the state governments, which it has already done. State governments will pass on the information to the district police and intelligence agencies, and these would in turn pass them on to police stations. And, in the event of an actual incident, there would be the usual blame game between the Central and the state governments. We have been witnessing this brutal opera year after year. The police station is the basic unit that has to respond first and face the brunt of a terrorist attack. This unit continues to be very fragile. Manpower is inadequate, duties are round the clock, and the infrastructure in terms of buildings, transport, communications and forensic support is extremely poor. State governments unfortunately do not look upon expenditure for upgrade of capabilities of the police as an investment. The insensitivity of the bureaucracy to the simplest demands of the police is amazing. The Central government informed the Delhi High Court on September 30 that it was not in a position to sanction funds to augment the strength of Delhi Police by 16,000 personnel. The court expressed its unhappiness that the proposal in this regard was pending for the last three years. “You are worried about expenditure concerns but citizens of Delhi are worried about their security,” the court remarked. Expansion apart, there are huge vacancies. Across the country, more than five hundred thousand posts are lying vacant in different ranks. Tackling terrorism requires basically three things: clear policy, stringent laws and a good criminal justice system. We are deficient under all the three heads. We blame the UN for not defining terrorism, but we have not cared to define our own policy of dealing with terror. Merely saying ‘zero tolerance’ is not enough. Regarding a stringent law, there is terrible confusion in the country. Laws are passed and then allowed to lapse. We had TADA followed by POTA, and currently we have Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The UAPA may have served our purpose to an extent, but considering the horrifying dimensions of terrorism in its latest avatar, with monsters of the Islamic State having registered their presence within the country, law needs to be given more teeth. About criminal justice system, the less said the better. Ten years ago, Justice Malimath said that it was “virtually collapsing”. The situation is worse today. We signed a Joint Declaration with the US on Combating Terrorism on September 23. It reaffirmed “the commitment of India and the United States to combat terrorism in all its forms which constitute a profound threat to global peace and security and to uphold our common values of democracy, justice and the rule of law”. Noble sentiments! However, we must remember that it is our battle and ultimately we shall have to fight it with our own strength. Singh is a former DG BSF and DGP UP, and an expert on internal security