Pics: Truce or treachery? How safe are we

Bangalore, Aug 7:The other day we carried out an article on the number of infiltrations by Pakistan in the last four months and how many of our jawans killed.

Trespassing has been a recurrent problem with the Indian borders, but the government fails to take any action. IT is high time that we decide whether we want a truce or actions against trespassing.

An interview on the views of Kirti Chakra winner Ajit Doval (way back in 2006), on the state of country borders and infiltration, highlights facts and figures that tsill hold true.

According to him, matters of external security depend on the strength of internal security. In a country, which is always at the edge of communal tension and warring political parties, there is no scope of internal security. Excerpts:

India walking on razor edge politics

Several studies have been conducted on the complicated administrative structure of the Indian sub-continent. And all of them point to one fact-India's internal vulnerabilities are much higher than its external vulnerabilities.

Per the National Security Advisory Board, and the US State Department's assessments, the internal security vulnerability is at 75 to 80 percent.

Line of Control

Army soldiers pay tributes to five of their slain colleagues at a wreath laying ceremony in Poonch on Tuesday. The soldiers were killed in an attack by the the Pakistani troops.

A tribute to the martyrs

Army soldiers pay tributes to five of their slain colleagues at a wreath laying ceremony in Poonch on Tuesday. The soldiers were killed in an attack by the the Pakistani troops.

The berieved

Family members of army jawan Vijay Kumar Rai mourn his death in Danapur in Patna on Tuesday. Rai was among the five soldiers killed on Pakistan.

Army soldiers paying tributes

Army soldiers paying tributes to five of their slain colleagues at a wreath laying ceremony in Poonch on Tuesday. The soldiers were killed in an attack by the Pakistani troops.

Anger

Activists of youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shout anti-Pakistan slogans against killing of five army jawans, near the residence of Defence Minister A K Antony, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Crying out loud

Activists of youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shout anti-Pakistan slogans against killing of five army jawans, near the residence of Defence Minister A K Antony in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Patroling the borders

Indian Army soldiers during a search operation in Poonch on Tuesday in the wake of killing of five jawans by the Pakistan army.

In Ramgarh

IG BSF, Jammu, Rajiv Krishna takes stock of the situation on Tuesday at Narainpur Border Out Post (BOP) area in Ramgarh sector where Pakistani army allegedly violated the ceasefire.

Ignited protests

Activists of Shiv Sena and Dogra Front shout slogans during a protest in Jammu on Tuesday against the killing of five Indian soldiers in an ambush by Pakistani troops in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

Cry of shame

People holding a protest in Jammu on Tuesday against the killing of five Indian soldiers in an ambush by Pakistani troops in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

Dousing the fire

Activists of youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being water cannoned during a protest against killing of five army jawans, near the residence of Defence Minister A K Antony, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Managing borders a risky affair

AS Doval rightly points out, the problem lies within the country. In a more global context, it is one of the very few countries that has lost its territory, their constitution, their economy because of external factors post WW II. From 'being' to 'becoming' a new nation state comes with many fluid fault lines and India has all of them- ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic and caste.

And managing borders basing on this is a risky affairs, especially in a country where politics is more about exploiting the fault lines. To get the votes of a particular community, they deal with the national security.

They play on the fear factor that the minority and the majority have for each other. Bluntly speaking, if the minority and the majority are not afraid of each other, there is no vote bank. Therefore, the politicians create an aura of imagination and fear, creating and re-creating new reasons of fear.

Micro issues threatening the border security

WE look at a bigger picture of the Pakistan's relating with India and the border equation that we share, but we miss out on the more vulnerable border on the East that has comparatively lesser security and no concrete walls to divide the two nations.

Per the 2001 census, approximately 3,084,826 (which include illegal immigrations too) people have immigrated to India. The government does not have any records whatsoever as most of the immigration is executed by illegal touts for just a few hundred rupees.

Getting hold of ration cards and citizenship is not a very difficult thing in India, thanks to the loopholes in the legal constitution here. These immigrants gradually turn into Indian citizens and form a major part of the vote bank. What is not possible in Pakistani border is possible here. One cannot send a batch of 2000 people through the LoC, but they can easily trespass on the Eastern border with just Rs 3,000 per head.

Let us remind you of the terror attacks that have happened in India on previous occasions. Almost all of them had a common link in the Eastern front where the passage is easier. In fact, most of them gained access to the Indian territory through the borders in Assam and West Bengal.

Be it Pakistan or Bangladesh, a looming threat prevails on the Indian subcontinent. The nation should decide whether it should focus on peace first, without strengthening the borderlines.