Rahul Roy-Chaudhury of International Institute for Strategic Studies in London spoke to DNA on the foiled terror attacks on London and Glasgow.
LONDON: Rahul Roy-Chaudhury is a Research Fellow for South Asia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He worked for the Prime Minister’s Office during the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led government. He spoke to DNA on the foiled terror attacks on London and Glasgow.
Do you think Australia messed up over the Haneef case?
Clearly, the Australians should have handled this case sensitively. But, I think they were reacting to an unfamiliar situation. There seems to be some disconnect between their own law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It is not surprising that it is difficult for any country to treat a terror suspect well. India should be prepared to cooperate fully both bilaterally and multilaterally in such situations in the future.
In the wake of recent attacks, do you feel the UK is overreacting?
No, I don’t think so. Britain’s reaction was considered and measured. Remember, these incidents took place on the eve of the second anniversary of the London bombings in July 2005.
Do you think Al-Qaeda has infiltrated India?
The popular perception in India has been that Al-Qaeda has not been able to infiltrate into India for two reasons — Al-Qaeda is an Arab organisation not an Asian one, and Indian Muslims are not susceptible to Al-Qaeda. But, there is today, a very small minority section of the Muslim community that has become radicalised over certain issues. While Al-Qaeda may not yet have infiltrated into India, it has attracted senior operatives like Dhiren Barot.
How to deal with global terror?
We need far greater global cooperation on intelligence and law enforcement and more contact between governments.
Do you think Britain has been successful at foiling terror plots?
A key success for Britain has been in getting convictions for a number of terrorists in the last few months, in a transparent and just manner. Britain has been seen meting out justice quickly.
India needs to learn from this. Those terrorists apprehended in the 1993 Mumbai blasts are being sentenced now, after a huge gap of 14 years. We need to learn to fast- track such terror trials. The Indian judicial system has to be more efficient, and equally important, seen to be just.
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