I am glad to be writing this piece today, instead of 27th November, when the Taj was
burning, CST was bleeding and Mumbai was still gripped by awe, fear, loathe and
anger.
I say so because like the millions of my countrymen (and
surprisingly a lot of other nationals too) I felt cheated and let down. How
could politicians with no threat perception whatsoever roam around with a posse
of Black Cat commandoes (the new symbol of power, rated even higher that the
red light atop the car !) while ordinary citizens fell to bullets and policemen
fought terrorists with bare hands and .303 rifles? I am almost tempted to
suggest that the .303 is worse that being empty handed as its weight would make
running away more difficult!
I was horrified to read that a sub-inspector with bare hands
held on to the captured terrorist’s gun barrel which allowed people around to
nab him …. It was another matter though that the gun was pumping bullets into
his stomach as he held firm….as a family lost its father, husband, breadwinner,
I just found myself a new hero, a role model worthy of emulation, but almost
impossible to emulate.
There is still so much pain and trauma that I wasn’t sure if
even THIS was the right time to write, but some pains only go away with sharing
and I just had to start writing.
I will follow the title of my blog later. There are things
that need to be addressed as first things first. Many of these have been
announced by the government, but I fear they are mere lip service.
1) A
unified central command for all internal security threats. This can be like the
Department of Homeland security. It should be headed by a committee of 5 taken
from the recently retired Chief of defence staff, RAW, Central forces
(CRPF/CISF) and a special secretary. It is important that only ONE IAS officer
is present here to minimize politicization of this command. This is a command
structure for uniformed forces, NOT bureaucrats.
2) Give
this command a force like CISF under it, so it can mobilize troops directly.
CISF is already doing security of sensitive installations and should undergo a
major capability upgrade immediately.
3) The
unified command should report directly to the PM
4) Integrate
an intelligence wing where RAW (Combine RAW and IB), Military intelligence and
state intelligence gives intel imputs. ANY input given is centrally logged,
evaluated and action taken using the right forces (army, Navy or Police)
5) Unified
command should also have at its DIRECT disposal NSG teams across the country.
6) The
NSG teams should be posted in atleast 12 centres across the country NEAR the
airport. The simple reason is that airports are needed for quick transport
needs. They are also prime targets anyways ! They should have a designated
aircraft, vehicles (NO MORE BEST BUSES PLEASE!), atleast 1 helicopter from the
nearest airbase designated for their use. One team should be ready for a 5
minute muster at all times.
7) PLEASE
upgrade their equipment. To see NSG commandos with helmets that support no head
mounted lights / nigh vision goggles or communication sets is plain pathetic.
Our commandoes looked like some Somali warlord’s force and I would think that
the cost of equipment would be lesser that Mayawati and Mulayam Singh’s
security costs (I chose 2 of the most undeserving politicians in India’s
notorious “Z+ protectee” list)
8) State
commando forces should have a strength of atleast 500 to support the NSG or in
times even handle ops themselves.
9) Have
disaster management teams in all states and give them direct access to the
central command to request for NSG assistance even as the state commandos are
swung into action.
10) Back to
basics. Please equip and train our police forces. The Police reforms have been
pending far too long now. See how the police is in utter disarray in Naxalite
infested states.
Now why do I say this is a call for peace even though my
blood boils at the mere memory of what happened in Mumbai and what is
continually happening in different parts of the country ? Well the answer is
simple.
My call for peace is actually a call for war, but against
the right enemy. Attacking the VISIBLE enemy makes for the worst possible move
today.
Pakista’s
government is a myriad collection of power centres. Each dependant and at the
same time, in conflict with each other. There is no doubt that the silent majority
in Pakistan
(just like India) is sane
in thought, though not so vocal with its opinion. The government of Zardari,
though not beyond reproach represents the friendliest one to India in a long
LONG time. Which other Pakistani premier can actually go on record calling
Kashmiri militants as “terrorists” and infact state that he sees no threats
from India, infact going as far as to proclaim nuclear no-first use? These two
are guaranteed death warrants in Pakistan, and yet he said it. This
begs to question whether we would want to bomb Pakistan
and bring the radicals to the fore, or covertly shore up Zardari’s regime, use
the Americans to put a squeeze on the Afghan side and help Pakistan get
rid of the powerful ISI-Jehadi nexus.
Easier said than done, but no denying that it NEEDS to be
done. So better put our efforts into it sooner rather than later.
The more fragmented and decentralized Pakistan’s polity
gets, the greater are the chances of a maverick radical general taking one
of the Pakistani nukes and pointing them
at us.
For those advocating “precision” military operations across
the border and “covert ops”, well I have good news and bad news.
The GOOD news is that “Mission Impossible” might be coming
up with a sequel starring Tom Cruise.
The BAD news is that India does not have the capability
to do it.
It hurts to know and is hard on the ego, but true it is !
We do not have armed drones capable of attack, we do not have the
risk appetite to confront a scenario where Pakistani air force decides to
defend against an aerial attack by Indian Jets and we DEFINITELY do not have
the special forces for covert ops behind enemy lines. That capability was
disbanded as a gift to Pakistan
by the paralysis affected government of India in 1997.
India does have great armed forces. Unhesitatingly I will bet my last rupee on India completely routing Pakistan in a conventional war, but the presence
of nuclear weapons with Pakistan and their oft stated “unacceptable loss of territory” clause for use of Nuclear
weapons makes war impossible. We CAN of course start a quick offensive, neutralize
enemy assets and declare ceasefire before any escalation of conflicts, but ….
You guessed it, our armed forces are not oriented for such wars of the 21st
century either.
So forget about operating “behind enemy lines”, our best
bets lie with the international
community. Squeeze Pakistan
and squeeze it hard. Shore up Zardari and help him get his wife’s killers.
Somewhere in that pursuit we will get the killers of our women and children
too.
We also need to introspect. How is Dawood's empire so openly spread out in India? We ask for his extradition while our politicians are hand in glove profiting from links with the underworld. It begs the question how Mr Narayan Rane confidently states that he knows of politicians who colluded with the terrorists. Surely he know something we don't. Whether it is true or not, politics in this country surely has reached its lowest point .... EVER.
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