Today, I write with a very heavy heart. The attacks on Bombay have left me horrified. I have been to the many places where the attacks took place in Southern Bombay several times and to see iconic landmarks in the city splattered with chaos, destruction and blood make me want to point to one entity who in the last five years has failed the people of India - the Government of India. The Government needs to act along the same lines as the American and the British Government after attacks on their soil. The attack has been dubbed India’s 9/11; it is not. India has had several 9/11’s and this is just one more. The questions is whether or not the Government of India will take this seriously and make necessary changes to thwart such brutal attacks on its soil and people? So far, it has been spineless.
There has been a long list of attacks on India in the last 8 years. This has not been restricted to Military establishments in Kashmir; the attack on the Indian Parliament should have been the final straw that broke the camels back. The attacks in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Malegaon, Guwahati, and Mumbai, which has suffered a few times not just from “encounters” between gangsters and policemen but also from militants originating from Pakistan are just a few more instances of the failure of the Government of India whose primary responsibility is to safeguard the safety of its citizens and visitors to the country.
The recent attack in Mumbai showcases the gaps in the security apparatus. For starters, the response from Mumbai Police had been feeble; Police personnel carrying only batons can do very little when confronted by attackers with sophisticated automatic weapons. There are also unconfirmed reports of intelligence being transferred by the United States to India prior to the attacks stating that high profile establishments may be under target by terrorists. This was obviously ignored by the Indian Intelligence Department. Further holes have been uncovered between the lack of cooperation between the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy which in turn left portions of the high seas within Indian waters on the Arabian Sea unpoliced. Israeli and American offers for Snipers and Sharpshooters were denied by the Government of India; could this have prevented the mass scale of carnage? The Black Cat Commandos and the elite National Security Guards (NSG) have also come under scrutiny; again their initial response to the scene of the crime had been tardy; further they are ill equipped. The Commandos and the NSG did not have sophisticated equipment like their Western counterparts; most commandos were operating without Night Vision Glasses, under par bullet proof vests and other matériel necessary to fight the current Global War on Terror. It just goes to show of how India has lost her way in terms of priority - while our Bollywood Superstars and fancied Cricketers drive fast cars and fly private jets, the country’s security establishment is fighting fire with wood.
India also lacks a unilateral anti-terrorism act. The Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) has been appealed and ammended several times by both major parties (the current Government under Congress I and the Bharatiya Janata Party) and its minions. While the Congress plays a populist card by being lenient on suspected members of the Muslim minority, while the BJP flips the tables and takes a raucous stance. The unjustified attacks on Muslims in Gujarat may serve as an example; so essentially the POTA turns into a voluminous document of changes made by both sides. Again, a leaf needs to be pulled out of Israeli and American anti-terrorist manuals to create a comprehensive anti-terrorism plan for the entire country. Of course, policies that work in the United States and Israel maybe much harder to employ in India considering the country’s vast population, lack of infrastructure and accountability. But putting in place an overall strategy must be on top of the list of any new Government to prevent such horrendous attacks. This is one place where the Government of the United States can be lauded; although I do not agree with much of Presidet Bush’s stance on geo-politics, his government has definitely prevented another terrorist attack on American soil. Their tactics maybe crude, but they definitely seem to work to keep the country safe.
Professor and Blogger Juan Cole believes that the crux of the matter lies in the United States’ continued presence in Iraq and a withdrawal from Iraq would spark a decrease in terrorist acts in India. He parallels this to the attacks in Madrid and London with the terrorists citing the War in Iraq as a reason for violence. I don’t the the United States’ war in Iraq has anything to do with terrorism in India; India’s issue with terrorism lies within Pakistan, who for the past three decades has been a been hosting training centers for militant groups not just creating havoc in the Kashmir valley and the Indian subcontinent but further west in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States. So, as much as the withdrawl of forces from Iraq would be well advocated for the American Economy and the reconstruction of the US’s soft power under President-elect Obama, it will have no major impact on activities within India.
The new President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari came under scrutiny of his own government after calling for an end of violence by Kashmiri Militants in Indian Controlled Kashmir. I thought it was step in the right direction by the new Pakistani administration. Former President General Musharaff’s administration was soft on militants within the country and outside. The Militants are dubbed “Freedom Fighters” in much of Pakistan. Given his comments, there was great hope that Mr. Zardari would be a leader that the Indian Government could work in hand with in terms of bringing to closure the crisis in Kashmir. Pakistan, recently had come under intense pressure from the United States and other members of the Security Council to declare the outfit, Lashkar-e-Toiba, as a terrorist unit. There are several other groups that operate within Pakistan Controlled Kashmir that fuel violence within the valley and the rest of India. Until recently, again, Pakistan recognized the Taliban as a valid government within Afghanistan, only to change after influence from the United States. This is the same Pakistan that once recognized the Taliban and now is fighting them in the North West of that country. So can India afford to attack Pakistan? One of the terrorists captured from the incidents in Mumbai is bound to reveal plenty of how the attacks were orchestrated. India, along with the United States may have to strongly consider eradicating terrorist camps within Pakistan. The United States is already involved in a war with militant outfits linked with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This would be another step in the right direction. Pakistan, after several years of pressure (since 1998) has agreed to sign the Nuclear No First Use treaty, something that India has been waiting for. This will be very hard for Pakistan to pass through consdering Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is under military control unlike India that has complete civilian control of its nuclear assets. There is considerable support for Islamic Terrorism within India from splinter outfits such as Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), so the answer may lie in India’s own backyard. The Government of India lifted a ban on SIMI in 2008, this has been reinstated. Of course, this is another populist method by the Congress I to garner Muslim votes. An attack on Pakistani soil at this juncture may not be strategically the right way to approach the situation. Strong diplomacy, trade and economic sanctions along with an increase homeland security guard on the homefront may be valid steps to take. Another reason for a detrimental effect of an attack on Pakistan may be fragile state of world economics; with the markets tumbling in the global economic crisis, India would definitely not want to be policing another country.
The attacks in Mumbai is just another chapter of the weakness of the Government of India and its security apparatus. The resignation of Home Minister Shivraj Patil is too little too late. Dr. Manmohan Singh owes his Prime Ministership to the Indian people and he must resign because the last five years have shown of how inept he is for the position. The establishment of a Department of Homeland Security within India must be primary to thwart attacks of this nature in the future; and this department should not be another paper and document stockpiling unit. The people of India need answers to how an episode of this magnitude ensued and what will be done to prevent anything like this in the future.
Sameer Politics India, Mumbai, Terrorism
