Puneites Speak Up on what the government and the people should do to prevent the recurring terrorist attacks..
Instead of blaming each other, all the agencies should sit together and take stock of the situation
As far as IB is concerned, we are getting conflicting reports about the recent terrorist attack on Delhi HC. The Union home minister stated that they had alerted the Delhi government about the attack, while the Delhi government is saying that it was not an actionable intelligence alert.
The term, ‘actionable intelligence alert’, that was also mentioned during the Mumbai blasts, seems to be the basic probe done by these agencies. The term must be defined clearly. All it says is that there are leads to show there is a probability of an attack at a certain place. So one has to work on that probability and take necessary action. Ultimately, after the attack it comes down to blame game among these agencies.
The question is how to get to the bottom of this issue. We don’t have any arrangement to make all these intelligence agencies to sit together and take stock of the situation. Ultimately, all these agencies come under the Centre so where is the question of blaming each other.
Madhav Godbole, former Union home secretary
Political will, adequate resources required to tackle terrorist activities in the country
Despite repeated terrorist attacks our government has not changed its approach towards dealing with such cases. Firstly, the IB must stop serving political purposes that consume 70% of their time. They are hardly left with any time to keep an eye on terrorist activities.
The new model of the police act has already mentioned these necessary changes. Political control over intelligence agencies has incapacitated them. It is not just about intelligence failure, but it is also about what power projection capabilities the nation has.
The question is what are we doing about these attacks when we have enough proof to know who is behind these attacks? There is no political will to take any action in these matters. We have very few resources to tackle such attacks and unless this sponsorship is stopped, it is likely to continue.
Jayant Umranikar, senior IPS officer (retd) & former DGP (anti-Naxal operations)
Agencies have become mere political tools; they must be freed from govt interference
The failure of intelligence agencies and the need for efficiency to thwart such terrorist attacks is a very serious matter. In our country, the intelligence agencies are used by the government to keep tabs on the opposition or the coalition parties. Our intelligence is used more for political gain, rather than preventing terrorist attacks.
It is very unfortunate that our intelligence agencies are being used for wrong purposes. There is a total breakdown of our police force, triggered by lack of professionalism and no political will to strengthen the system.
Our intelligence agencies like the IB, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and also our police force are not free to do what they are supposed to do. They have just become political means to gain power and votes. Many police commissioners in the past have suggested that these bodies must be freed from executive control.
Air Marshal (retd) Sadanand Kulkarni, director, Centre for Advanced Strategic Studies
The security agencies are responsible for the failure of intelligence mechanism
These terrorist attacks and bomb blasts will continue to happen and the recent attack outside the Delhi high court (HC) is not the first or the last. We have seen this happening over and over again. It is a serious matter.I have laid bare the truth behind all these attacks and the preventive measures that need to be taken, in my book, Who killed Karkare?
Obviously the Intelligence Bureau (IB) is responsible for the successive failure of the intelligence mechanism and strategies. In such cases, one of the most important things that are overlooked is that it’s not a failure on their part, but an intentional act. In my book, I have highlighted the IB’s intelligence failure and negligence. In fact, they are allowing such attacks to happen. They are a party to it.
They have some other agenda that is unknown to the public. In chapters one, two and 10 of my book, I have clearly spoken about the issue of failure of the intelligence agency in India.
SM Mushrif, retired IAS officer & former IGP Maharashtra
Intelligence agencies should keep a close watch on smaller Jehadi groups also
We have learnt nothing from the past attacks. In fact, Terrorism is now an effective strategic weapon, and terrorists have become capable of conducting more lethal operations. They continue to attack soft targets of great iconic, political, or economic value. The recent attack outside the Delhi HC is a shame.
These Jehadi groups are not only targeting major cities like Delhi and Mumbai, but they are also targeting district level cities like Pune.
The Intelligence Bureau (IB) must understand that the big groups like Taliban and al-Qaeda are not the only terrorist groups; we also have smaller groups to tackle. The IB does not seem to keep a watch on these small groups; they only keep a track of the big groups. We need intelligence agencies working not only at the Centre or state levels, but also at the district level.
I recently checked with the district collector’s office in Pune, and it is surprising that we still don’t have a disaster management plan for terrorist attacks even after the German Bakery blast. We have to strengthen our police force with state-of-the-art weapons and equipment. Surprisingly, the terrorists seem to have more sophisticated weapons than our police force.
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