“Suraksha, roti, kapda aur makan”
By Gargi Raparia
In the earlier days things used to go in an orderly fashion, even the basic wants of the Indian middle class used take the shape of food, clothing and shelter or as we commonly say roti, kapda aur makan but with the changing times things have changed and have changed rather drastically, security has taken a form of basic, in fact the foremost and the most important basic want and now the saying goes “suraksha (security), roti, kapda aur makan.” In the wake of the recent terror attacks, all guns are pointed towards the Indian security system. The Indian security system has come under scrutiny and the big question arises, is Indian Security system proficient to counter terror attacks of such big proportions like the one witnessed in Mumbai?
The answer to this question is certainly intricate, but while I was speculating I came across certain rather disturbing facts. In a recent incident, a resident of Navi Mumbai, Balasaheb Borkar bared the Indian security gaps out in the open. He travelled by train to the station with his licensed .32 revolver. He went in and came out through the metal detectors place at different entry and exit point and not once did the police personnel question him. He then went upto the cops and asked why they were unable to detect the weapon and was shocked to know that the cops didn’t hear the beep of the metal detector. It is astonishing to see that there is still no lesson learnt from the recent terror attacks.
The above revealed situation pertains to post Mumbai attack, now let us throw some light on the terror attacks that took place in Mumbai, what actually went wrong and who is to be held liable. I would again be bickering upon certain facts which would help identify the real villains. Before the Mumbai attack, security experts confirmed that information extracted from a group of Indian and Pakistani men arrested in India earlier this year revealed that some men belonging to Pakistan based group had done a reconnaissance of major landmarks in Mumbai. The agencies had also been picking up militant chatters on attack in the city. Yet the local police and intelligence agencies failed to act on the information. About an hour before the shooting started, villagers on the shore in South Mumbai saw a group of 10 young strangers climbing out of an inflatable raft. The incident was reported to local police, who did nothing. Horrified police officers in Mumbai saw their vehicles hijacked by terrorists who showed intimate knowledge of the city's streets and the layouts of the huge hotels they captured. In contrast, the police displayed no familiarity with the layouts of those buildings. The commandos who flew in from New Delhi had to waste precious time getting hotel staff members to sketch out the layouts of their workplaces. The cops and intelligence agencies are not entirely to be blamed in this regard. The budgets kept aside for the purpose do not even extend to supplying food to police personnel. Bullet proof vests provided to the cops are of inferior quality and the phone interception equipment remains largely rudimentary. India’s commando forces are also not exactly in good shape. Many of the experts argue that many of the commandos are wasted in giving protection to politicians and other VIPs. The country’s best commando force does not have its own aircraft. To this Praveen Swamy, security analyst states that “Commandos have not been trained on multiple location operations of such scale”. Any deficiencies in their training may be explained by the fact that a Mumbai-type attack only happens very rarely. That is why security experts like Ajai Sahni say that the response to the attacks was so poor. After the Mumbai attacks, the local government announced it would set up a state commando force: to begin with, some 500 men would be ready in four months, when the basic training for the NSG commandos takes six months. And Maharashtra, along with other states, has no commando training centers. Painfully slow and lazy bureaucracy means that the modernization of the security forces often take ages. Police in Uttar Pradesh state took four years to buy imported surveillance equipment. By the time it arrived, it had become outdated. With their bureaucratic ways of working, the intelligence agencies are also struggling. There is a dearth of language specialists. There is a frightening lack of strong and decisive political leadership in dealing with this menace. We don't even have an efficient crisis infrastructure in place.
If the condition remains unchanged which probably will if some strict aren’t taken quickly Indian will remain one of the softest targets for terror attacks in the world. Mark Tully has suitably described the pit India has fallen into, he says “the morning after the second day of India 9/11 the Indian Express front page carried the headlines OUR NIGHTMARE, OUR WAKE UP CALL, but will India wake up. If the past is anything to go by the answer has to be no. On the very first evening of Mumbai attack police were at sixes and sevens. There appeared to be no order and discipline. Head of anti-terrorist squad who should have been in the control room went to the front line and was shot. Television crews were given freedom to show pictures of police officers which could have provided valuable information to terrorist. It was also clear that there was a serious lack of coordination between the intelligence services and security forces including the police and coast guards.” The Incompetency that surrounds the country and the corruption fused in every aspect of India has made it all the more difficult to feel safe and secure.
