One year of Modi sarkar: Internal security review
New Delhi, May 22: When Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister of India a year back, a major concern on his mind was security. The country had become a virtual playground for several terrorist groups.
How Narendra Modi govt has done in 1 year
While home grown jihad had become one of the biggest concerns for the police and the security agencies, another threat looming large was the one from the ISIS which was threatening to take away at least 300 Indian youth into its fold.
How has Modi and his team handled the issue of internal security? One of the best possible decisions was to appoint a National Security Advisor who was part of the Intelligence Bureau instead of choosing a bureaucrat like the previous government had done to don this post.
Let us list out some key aspects that went into the handling of internal security in the past one year. Let us also look at what the challenges ahead are for the coming year too.
The
appointment
of
the
NSA:
It
is
a
known
fact
that
there
has
been
a
lot
of
trouble
brewing
within
the
IB
and
the
R&AW.
Lack
of
coordination
led
to
major
attacks
in
the
country
which
included
the
26/11
strikes
as
well.
There
were
ego
clashes
and
the
information
that
the
IB
had
never
would
reach
the
R&AW
and
vice
versa.
In
Shiv
Shankar
Menon,
the
former
NSA,
one
saw
an
extremely
diplomatic
approach.
After
all
he
was
a
diplomat
of
an
IAS
cadre.
However
Modi
decided
to
go
ahead
an
appoint
Ajit
Doval
who
spent
all
his
life
in
the
Intelligence
Bureau
and
he
understood
the
nitty
grittys
of
the
security
set
up.
Today there is a great amount of sanity in the spy agencies of India. All important decisions and inputs go through the NSA and due to this coordination the intelligence agencies are able to ascertain which intelligence is actionable and which is not.
Over the past couple of months the sharing of intelligence went down to each and every department. State level intelligence officials, the officials in the army, navy and coast guard all came on board and the sharing of inputs became mandatory. This has led to coordinated action which has helped thwart attempts being made by enemy nations in quick time.
The Burdwan blasts:
Although this was initially reported as a minor blast in a house in a remote corner of West Bengal, the investigations that followed showed how grave the threat was. It was not a run of the mill module of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh which was being run at Burdwan. The plan was to attack Bangladesh.
Had this module not been busted it would have been an embarrassing scenario for India. The country would have been blamed for facilitating terrorists in a bid to attack a foreign land. The same allegation that Pakistan gets to hear every now and then. Although there was a lot of opposition from West Bengal about the centre dealing with the probe, the government was adamant and handed it over to the NIA.
To convey that the blast had major repercussions, the NSA himself visited Burdwan. This was a loud message to the state of West Bengal. It also augured well with Bangladesh which had expressed concern about this module. The NIA too realized the seriousness of this attack and has probed this case in record time. Remember the NIA did not get to the best of starts as a lot of evidence was destroyed and the local police never cooperated at first.
Beating the Indian Mujahideen:
The Indian Mujahideen was one of the deadliest home grown outfits that India has seen till date. They struck at will and brought a nation to a stand still. Today it could be said that they have by and large been neutralized.
While one must remember that the leader of the outfit, Yasin Bhatkal was arrested during the previous regime in Delhi, the new government ensured that most of their modules were busted and this in turn made it very difficult for them to re-group. However the government is well aware that this is an ongoing operation and at no point in time can the security forces take it easy.
In addition to this the government has also ensured that groups such as the SIMI which have been making come back attempts have not been entirely successful. The key to this was not to go on a witch hunt for the sake of closing cases. Previous governments have targeted innocents and this has done more harm than good to the cause of fighting terror.
The
boat
from
Pakistan:
In
the
month
of
December
2014,
the
coast
guard
intercepted
an
explosive
laden
boat
from
Pakistan.
Before
they
could
arrest
the
inmates
of
the
boat,
they
decided
to
blow
themselves
up.
This
was
questioned
by
many,
but
in
reality
it
was
a
bonafide
operation
and
a
threat
was
thwarted.
What is important in this operation is that the various agencies worked in tandem with each other and the information was passed on in quick time.
This led to a quick interception of the boat. Similar coordination was not visible during the run up to the 26/11 attack and this cost the nation dear. The coast guard also recently intercepted another boat from Pakistan. This time around the boat was laden with drugs. While this is a one off incident it sends a message to the drug lords of Pakistan that the coast guard is awake.
The ISIS threat:
The manner in which the government has handled the ISIS threat has been appreciated and also criticized. There are a mindless few who feel that anyone trying to join the ISIS must be brought back from the airport and shot dead. There are many others who also feel that they should be allowed to leave the country.
The government instead took a very different approach to the problem. When the ISIS tracking by the Intelligence Bureau began last year, it was found that there were a large number of people who were trying to join the ISIS. By September 2014 the number was 300 and each one of them was placed under surveillance.
The IB also launched Operation Chakravyuh through which ISIS sympathizers were tracked. When they tried leaving the country, they were caught at the airport and brought back. Once back the elders of the family were also brought in and these youth counseled about the ill-effects of joining the ISIS. The results were clear and from a huge number of 300 in September 2014 it has come down to a meager 10 to 20 in March 2015.
In this context the NIA too has done a commendable job while preparing the chargesheet against Areeb Majeed, the recruit of the ISIS who came back to India. The NIA chargesheet does not attempt to sensationalise the issue. Instead it tells the story through Majeed about how bad the situation is in Iraq and Syria. The NIA hopes that this chargesheet would act as a deterrent.
The
misses:
While
over
all
the
approach
towards
the
issue
of
internal
security
has
been
good,
there
could
be
certain
questions
raised
about
the
Dawood
Ibrahim
issue.
The
recent
statement
in
Parliament
that
the
government
does
not
know
about
the
whereabouts
of
Dawood
was
nothing
short
of
embarrassing.
Rajnath
Singh
had
to
come
out
and
do
some
fire-fighting
on
the
issue.
First and foremost the government knows that it is not that easy bringing Dawood back to India. He is a strategic asset in Pakistan and the ISI would do its best to protect him. On a lighter note since terrorists in Pakistan are for sale, India could strike a deal with Pakistan just as the Americans did with Osama.
However on a serious note, the Dawood issue is being handled differently today. The Enforcement Directorate in coordination with other agencies is trying to track down Dawood's finances in a bid to make him financially irrelevant.
Handle
NIA
better:
The
Centre
would
also
need
to
revisit
the
role
of
the
NIA.
Till
date
there
is
a
tussle
each
time
an
incident
of
terror
occurs
in
a
state.
The
state
governments
refuse
an
NIA
probe
and
the
centre
continues
to
insist.
Finally
the
NIA
comes
into
the
picture
three
months
later
when
there
is
not
a
trace
of
evidence
left.
The NIA charter clearly states that it does not need to wait for an approval from the state before starting a probe. However the centre would argue that while that is the law it is not the spirit. However the centre would do well to implement the law instead of the spirit as terrorists normally thrive on such delays.
Read in Kannada: ಮೋದಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಉಗ್ರವಾದ ಮೆಟ್ಟಿ ನಿಂತಿದ್ದು ಹೇಗೆ?