Lessons we need to learn, questions we need to ask

[mekin]

 I hope now on government/military disallow all live coverage of any *live* mission conducted by security forces AND LET THE SECURITY FORCES RUN THE SHOW. They are putting their lives in danger - and everyone else needs to do whatever is best for their operation.
Definitely not pressurize them with constant questioning about plans, strategy &

Comments

Righto!

[jagadish]

There's bound to be a reactionary approach. Is it a long-term one? Will summoning the ISI's boss achieve anything other than him bleating about lack of evidence? What next, take along Pakistani army folks when we're trying to flush out terrorists, and make sure they're with the Indian army folks all through lest there be accusations of planting of passports, currency, dry fruits, hate literature, etc.?

The despicable part is that this one is called Mumbai's 9/11. The attacks of 11/9 [:)] resulted in ~ 3000 people dying that day. From around the mid-80s (Operation Bluestar) & the riots following Indira's assassination to after the 1993 Bombay blasts, there were major terrorist incidents just about every year, whether it was a bomb on an aircraft (Kanishka) or a kidnapping (Rubaiya Saeed) or political assassinations (Longowal, Beant Singh, Rajiv Gandhi). After 1993, there was a lull for a few years with a few sporadic attacks. Then a massacre in Chattisinhpura, blasts in Coimbatore, an attack on J&K's assembly, Parliament, Godhra & the resultant riots, attack on Akshardham, 5 bombings in Mumbai in a period of 5 months, Diwali blasts in Delhi ... I'm running out of breath. We've had far too many "9/11s".

There is a need to inculcate an understanding of being watchful without being hyper-sensitive. CNN-IBN reported yesterday that a grocer around Nariman House said that some folks he'd not seen in the area earlier had bought 50,000 worth provisions from him in the last few days. Things like that should make you perk up and go to the police. Do what you have to do. If the police doesn't respond, then you could choose to go to a higher authority or drop the ball altogether. But individuals must do their bit.

The political establishment needs to do something about intelligence agencies. If they're not doing a good enough job, disband it. Shivraj Patil said yesterday when asked about prior-intelligence reports "Maalomaat to hote hain, lekin aise nahin maaloom hota hai ki kahan aur kab attack hoga". Next thing he'll want an invitation sent to his home 2 weeks before an attack!

We also need to have a rethink about a government's primary responsibility. To me, it is securing the borders and ensuring the protection of the country's citizens. The secondary responsibilities are bijli, sadak, pani, roti, kapda, makan, etc. Right now the political establishment has a vested interest in making the secondary responsibilities appear as the primary responsibility.

If security needs to be stepped up at airports, railway stations, bus terminuses etc. and one of the deterrents is a higher charge for visitors, then we must be ready to pay the cost associated with security, in terms of time spent being frisked or the price of platform tickets. Over-crowded stations and bus terminuses are great places for terrorists to merge in with the populace. How many times has an airport been blasted? In contrast, how many times has a bus terminus or a railway station been a target?

There're just far too many easy ways for a terrorist to attack any place in India. How many times have airline or airport authorities insisted on seeing your photo id when you're taking a flight? How many times has the railway travel ticket examiner asked you to show your photo id when you've booked an e-ticket?

People in authority get away without the normal security procedures, because they're the privileged ones. What's the penalty for violating the Indian Passport Act and taking along a woman and boy claiming them to be family? Being expelled from the Lok Sabha, when the Act prescribes a fine of Rs. 5k (!) and 2 years in jail.

Stop exceptions in security checks. Enforce them properly. Increase close-circuit cameras at public places. There will be a cost to the residents, builders, tenants, owners, etc. But the cost is miniscule compared with the loss of human capital caused due to terrorist attacks occuring every 6 weeks.

Re: Righto!

[ex_kalyan]

Some of the measures will not work. These are what they call movie plot threats.

Now that there has been an incident in the hotel and the railways, securing them is not the solution. Infact the terrorists must be really stupid to strike at the same place again. They like to strike at an unexpected places and in an unexpected time. We need to put our money on Rapid action forces, Intelligence etc.. not securing locations one-by-one.

Re: Righto!

[jagadish]

Of course they're not going to target the same spots again. But does that mean we don't bother preventing recurrence? Note that I never said we need to focus on hotels or railways. I mentioned public places in general.

RAF or NSG commandos are a reactionary mechanism. They are as much needed as preventive measures are, which includes intelligence & more importantly making sense of the inputs.

PS: Railway stations & trains are a favourite haunt of terrorists. Far too often these have been targets.