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Is the Indian state incapable of protecting its people?

The multiple terror attacks that struck the national capital on Saturday is the fifth such lethal attack since May this year.

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The multiple terror attacks that struck the national capital on Saturday is the fifth such lethal attack since May this year. In the last four months, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad within the country and the Indian embassy in Kabul have been targeted. This begs the obvious question: is the Indian state unable or unwilling to prevent such attacks and protect its citizens? The related issue is: what is the way ahead in a robust democracy that otherwise sees itself as an emerging major power in the Asian and global grid.

India is no stranger to determined terrorist attacks. This scourge crossed the median in the mid 1980's with considerable support from across the border, namely, Pakistan. In the intervening years, some parts of India were more terror-prone - as for instance Punjab and later Jammu and Kashmir. The perception was that some 'misguided' local groups with specific political and sub-national agendas were stoking separatism.

It was evident that this internal security challenge was being actively supported from across the border - hence the acronym SST - or state-sponsored terrorism. Over the years it was assumed that India's major internal security challenge was SST and that if Pakistan could be prevailed upon, or compelled to desist from stoking such anti-Indian fervour, the challenge could be managed.

The Kargil war of 1999 highlighted the inflexible mindset in Islamabad. A detailed report after the war - the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) - provided the Indian leadership a reasonably comprehensive blueprint about various security challenges confronting India. The linkages between internal security, the external factor and the need to radically re-vamp existing intelligence procedures were all illuminated. On the basis of this effort, the NDA government set up a Group of Ministers (GOM) who made wide-ranging recommendations among which internal security was also listed. However, there has been little by way of actual implementation in this domain.

Consequently many of the major structural changes that are warranted to enable the Indian security system to address a complex internal security challenge spectrum remain still-born or effete. The post 9/11 regional ambience that has witnessed the birth of a scattered but potent radical  group that has distorted the tenets of Islam to embark upon a 'jihad' has compounded the problem for India.

Within the country, the fallout of the Babri Masjid episode and the 2002  Godhra carnage has served to stoke a sense of injustice and persecution among sections of Indian Muslims. There were sporadic incidents of terrorism and many pre-emptive arrests that pointed to an emerging pattern of domestic radicalism with attendant political linkages. But it was perceived that this was not a major problem and that India's primary internal security challenge was SST, with Pakistan as the locus.

Hence there was little concerted action to address the domestic context. The manner in which the anti-terror legislation had become a political football among the major parties is a case in point. Pandering to  majoritarian sub-nationalism and appeasement of the minority community over the years has allowed a subterranean extremist malignancy to take root. The entire internal security edifice that includes policing, intelligence gathering and assessment, investigation and judicial prosecution remains half-hearted. In short, professional ineptitude and political turpitude across the board have contributed in no small measure to the current sense of vulnerability and helplessness in the face of determined 'jihadi' terrorism.

The Delhi  attack and those that preceded it should serve as a wake up call. There exists today a tiny but ruthless minority within the country that has decided to distort religion and engage in a 'jihad' by targeting innocent citizens and soft targets. It merits repetition that in India, patriotism and anti-national ideologies are not religion-specific.

Exemplars at either end of the spectrum - patriotic martyr and murderous terrorist - can be found in all faiths. The challenge is to identify the individuals and groups that have embarked upon this path of blood and gore and apply the law without fear or favour - such that it acts as a deterrent and restores the credibility of Indian democracy.

Here the elite of the Indian state, including its political representatives and the senior bureaucracy tasked with internal security, must engage in rigorous and objective soul-searching to arrive at the appropriate redressal of the many inadequacies in the prevailing scenario. Arid political debates and shrill finger-pointing will be counter-productive and only heighten the sense of despondency among the people of India.

Setting up a blue ribbon commission of eminent persons who can conduct a holistic review of the internal security situation in the country and a detailed stock-taking of the many reports and police commissions that have been set up will be a useful starting point. India's teeming millions have never been found wanting in their ability to rise to a challenge - and often pay with their lives. But the political leadership has been found wanting. This must change.

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