Book Review: Manish Tewari's '10 Flashpoints 20 Years' analyses India's counter-terrorism tactics

Congress leader and MP Manish Tewari has recently published his book titled book “10 Flashpoints 20 Years”.  This book has created an uproar in the political corridors. The Congress leader’s book critiques India’s conventional approach towards terrorism and related issues.

Mr. Tewari writes, “why have non-conventional means not been actively explored and actioned as a means of thwarting the terrorist threat? Does it have something to do with the moral dilemma of being a democracy and not adopting means and methods outside the pale of both constitutionalism and law? Can this be a sustainable format for the future also?”

The book starts with an epilogue by Mr. Tewari where he mentions that the book is an attempt to capture time and it is neither a practitioner’s nor an insider’s tale. He marks his words to be an observer’s reflection.

Sitting in an audience’s seat, Mr. Tewari appears to be making few strong remarks. Nonetheless, time and again he makes a point to clarify that the book is especially for wider audience consisting of people who are intellectually curious about issues pervading our defence and national security ecosystem.

In the book, Mr. Tewari pays close attention to nuclear tests done by India in 1998. This part of the book explores a chain of possibilities that could have transpired behind nuclear tests conducted by both India and Pakistan.

In the book, Mr. Tewari also emphasizes on functioning of intelligence system in the country and briefly talks about Private member’s bill that he presented in Lok Sabha in both 2011 as well as 2020.

The book also recollects a memoire from Mr. Tewari’s personal life involving the much-condemned hijacking of IC – 814 in 1999 and also unfurls some personal-political anecdotes about the same. And, it doesn’t stop here. It takes the last twenty years or more in account. The book sets its pace from Pokhran in 1998 and includes the Uri attack, the Surgical Strike, as well as revoking of article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. The final chapter refers to Kashmir as a dormant volcano. Why and how? Answers are well put out in the pages followed.