The serial blasts in Delhi four days back (September 13) and in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Surat earlier are grim reminders of the internal security challenges that we face. Terrorism today is a ubiquitous global phenomenon and we are among its major victims.
The thrust today is on causing ‘mass casualties’ and most attacks take place where there are large congregations of people as in bazaars, malls, shopping places and mass transportation systems like commuter trains. Terrorist targets also include critical infrastructure and high-profile economic installations.
There are many commonalities among the five or six recent blasts — the nature of the explosives used, the triggering mechanisms employed, the placement of explosives, etc. This suggests that the modules responsible are closely linked to one another.
The role of Pakistan-based terrorist groups cannot be minimised but the involvement of local elements in recent blasts adds a new dimension to the terrorist threat. We have reports that certain Pakistan-based terrorist outfits are constantly seeking to set up new terrorist modules within our country.
This is a matter of utmost concern. We have increased vigilance on our borders. Coastal security is being tightened. But in view of the growing involvement of local elements, this is not enough. Our security and intelligence agencies have, no doubt, been successful in thwarting and pre-empting several terrorist attacks, but as the recent blasts in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat and Delhi indicate, there are still vast gaps in intelligence. These need to be overcome.
Let me take this opportunity to say, with the fullest emphasis, that there is no question of the government being soft on terrorism. The public debate on the issue of terrorism has, unfortunately, tended to get driven by politics, and has centred on certain laws enacted or repealed by governments of different political persuasions.
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Our government has no fixed, inflexible or ideological view in this regard. We have, in fact, taken the initiative to strengthen various laws like the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. We are actively considering legislation to further strengthen the substantive anti-terrorism law in line with the global consensus on the fight against terrorism.
The issues in contention in the ongoing debate basically relate to the procedural aspects of investigation and prosecution of terrorism-related offences. Even this aspect is under consideration with the aim of identifying provisions which could be made to further strengthen the hands of law enforcement agencies, and also, simultaneously, address the apprehensions which led, first to the repeal of TADA, and later of POTA, and about which there are cross-party views that cannot be ignored.
A number of practical suggestions are on the table for tightening the machinery to deal with terrorism. One suggestion is to set up a central agency to investigate and prosecute all terrorist incidents. This need not necessarily be a Federal Investigative Agency, but could be a central agency that can assist the states in investigation whenever a major terrorist event takes place.
Another suggestion that has been made is about establishing a central agency to co-ordinate counter-terrorism strategy. There are already a number of central agencies that are involved in determining counter-terrorism strategy, based on extant situations.
Perhaps, there is no need to set up a new agency, and instead we ought to ensure better coordination and integration among the existing agencies for devising an effective counter-terrorism strategy. Most important of all, to my mind, is closer cooperation between the centre and the states and among the states themselves.
Finally, I would like to point to the growing concerns and perception among the people at large about the dilution of the writ of the state. It is a matter of serious concern that dissent and agitations, over any kind of issues, have been increasingly finding expression in mindless destruction of public property, attacks on police posts, and other government establishments.
I am constrained, and feel sad, to observe that all this is not in the national interest and will hurt our progress. In colonial times public property was a symbol of colonial power. Today it belongs to the taxpayer, to the same people who in a state of motivated frenzy, egged on by partisan interests, seek to destroy it.
This is a matter of the utmost concern, and calls for the most serious introspection at the national level. Increasingly, these types of outbursts are found to be centred on identity-based issues. At a time when the world looks upon India as a rising power, the Indian state can not be allowed to become so diminished that it cannot even protect public property.
(Excerpts from the speech of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the conference of Governors on 16 September, 2008 in New Delhi)