Lessons from Boston, but is India ready to learn?

The plethora of analyses triggered by the Boston bombings contains several theories — some insightful and some bordering on the bizarre. What is missing from most is a candid admission that a determined terrorist cannot be stopped, and what confronts law enforcement agencies is an unequal battle. I am now more than convinced that there is no point in harping all the time on intelligence failures or the lack of police preparedness. 

Whatever we have heard from Boston enhances my admiration for the US’s ability at organizing lightning-speed relief to the victims and later ferreting out those involved in the crime. If India can at least partially match this amazing response to acts of terror, we would win half of the challenge posed by terrorism.

According to one report, some hospitals in the US had earlier received valuable Israeli training on how to cope with mass arrivals at the emergency register after a disaster, and this greatly helped in saving many precious lives in Boston. We in India need to exploit this resource since we have cordial relations with Israel. In any case, we should deny the terrorist the pleasure of gloating over the embarrassment caused to governments and pain to the average citizen. A clinical spurning of sensationalism and romanticizing of the terrorist by the media would also greatly help in demotivating those who peddle terror.

Dissecting each act of terror throws up certain stereotypes. The principal actors are mostly rudderless youths who have delinked themselves from their parents and are seeking instant gratification. Absence of parental ties and control and religious bigotry constitute a heady cocktail from which one can hardly wriggle out. The Tsarnaev Brothers, originally from Chechnya, were no exception.

The older brother Tamerlan, who was killed during the police chase in Boston after the twin explosions, had come to FBI’s notice about two years ago, through an advisory from the Russian authorities who said that he had become radicalized. The FBI follow-up did not however show anything significant, and, thereafter, Tamerlan went out of the police radar.

Would you still blame the FBI for not doing enough?

Corruption that has blunted law enforcement has empowered the average terrorist who can hide himself easily and carry out his work. We heard of some arrests in the recent Hyderabad Dilkush Nagar attack, but investigation seems to have reached a dead-end now. The Bangalore incident outside the BJP office is no different. Databases of the radicalized youth in the country are not going to be of great use.

What we need are tip-offs from the scene of each incident. More than eye-witness accounts, it is visual images of all those present in and around such scenes which are a valuable aid to the investigator. The attack on London Underground in 2005 and the recent Boston incident have been solved essentially from CCTV evidence.

There is no escape from enlarging  the anti-crime digital presence in all public places in our country. The cost of installing CCTVs at all public places is enormous, but this should not deter us. A terrorist will be deterred by the widespread network  of cameras. An assiduous search of images after an event is an invaluable investigation tool.

Mindless arrests in the aftermath of every act of terror alienate Muslims. The pressure to produce results drives many a policeman into rounding up innocent Muslim youths. Senior police officers will have to play a careful unbiased monitoring role now. It is their failure that draws more Muslim youth into the abyss that terrorism is.  Lastly, Muslim leaders will have to play a big part in forging a healthy relationship between the Muslim youths and the police. 

The writer is a former CBI director.