India’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy 2004-2008: Flawed Political Approaches

INDIA’S COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY 2004-2008: FLAWED POLITICAL APPROACHES

By Dr. Subhash Kapila

Introductory Observations

India's counter-terrorism strategy overly dominated by flawed political approaches during the period 2004-2008 have spawned in its wake an uninterrupted spate of terrorism strikes all over India. The Indian Republic seems to be under a concerted assault by terrorist organizations using religious labels and drawing succor from across India’s borders.

The Indian Republic is not short of having at its command a multiplicity of powerful and effective instruments of State to combat the terrorism menace. The Indian Republic is however woefully short of political will and determination to use these instruments of State including intelligence agencies. India’s counter-terrorism strategy under the present political leadership seems to be imprisoned in a straitjacket of political expediency arising from its captive vote-bank considerations.

The essence of any counter-terrorism strategy is “deterrence”. Deterrence implies that the State devises laws, creates mechanisms and puts in place systems which send clear and forceful signals to the terrorists that should they dare to challenge the sovereignty of the State, the retribution from the State would be swift, hard-hitting and if need be even be disproportionate. The Indian Republic under the present political dispensation has signally failed on this account. Whatever little “terrorism deterrence” that was available to the Indian State upto 2004 in the form of TADA and POTA was brought to naught by the present Indian Government with the repeal of POTA when the UPA Government came into power.

As a result of the above the Indian Republic seems to have been rendered impotent where Islamist terrorist groups merrily strike at will with increasing frequency and intensity. The “Indian Mujahideen” which is a front for the Islamist organization SIMI has claimed responsibility for all the terrorist bombings in the last couple of years. The major bombings in Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad and the now the capital of the Indian Republic, now Delhi bear the terror foot prints of the Indian Mujahideen.

Terrorist bombings in India are no longer the exclusive handiwork of Pakistani Islamic Jehadi organizations. An increasing number of radical elements within the Indian Muslim community seem now to have been harnessed and operationalized to act as their cats-paws to inflict ‘bleeding cuts’ on the Indian Republic.

The Congress Party and allied to it the “Secular apologists” of different hues seem to be in a ‘state of denial’ on this count and such fixations tend to distort India’s current counter-terrorism strategy of the present Government.

Consequently, the Indian Republic’s approaches to terrorism and its counter-terrorism strategy stand heavily politicized. It is not for nothing that the Indian public has become highly critical of flawed political approaches to counter terrorism of the present Government in New Delhi in terms of their counter-terrorism strategy and their inability to control terrorist strikes.

The exasperation of the Indian public at large stands captured by a posting on a web-site in February 2008 which read:

“If only the Congress focused on turning tables on the terrorists instead of the BJP, the 200 odd victims of the 7/11 in Mumbai, and the many terror attacks across the nation would today be resting easy with a sense of justice having been served.

By making this about a political contest on who has a worse terror record the Congress has insulted the memory of every one of those brave men and women in uniform who shed their blood defending our freedoms, and the memory of those deceased law-abiding citizens who defied their fear mongering to go on with their way of life despite terror threats.

The victims of terror must speak up and demand answer and justice of the Manmohan Singh – UPA Government. Tolerating this delinquency would be fatal to the nation”.

This is the agony of the Indian Republic accumulating as after every terrorist bombing incident one hears the ritualistic rhetoric of the President of the Congress Party, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister that terrorists would be brought to book.

Adding insult to injury, one has also witnessed the two leaders of major political coalition partners of the Congress Party from the Hindu heartland with self-proclaimed pretensions to be future Prime Ministers that SIMI (the parent organization of the Indian Mujahideen) should not be banned. Such advocacy again arises from their reliance on survival in political power on captive vote banks.

Against such a dismal political backdrop of India’s current counter-terrorism strategy it becomes pertinent to ponder over the following related issues:

Terrorism Onslaughts on India: Defining the Dimensions
Terrorism: An “Act of War” Against India, Not a Law and Order Problem
Terrorists Not Eligible for Human Rights Protection and Recourse to Constitutional Legal Remedies
Terrorism Deterrence: Imperatives for Draconian Laws and Special Fast-track Courts
Counter-Terrorism Strategy Should be Determined by National Security Considerations and Not Political Expediency
Terrorism Upsurge: Political Leaders to Blame and Not the Police
Terrorism Pre-emption: Intelligence Agencies Not to Blame
Islamist Terrorism Against India: The End Game?
India’s “National Honour” Under Assault By Islamist Terrorists

Terrorism Onslaughts on India: Defining the Dimensions

The current wave of terrorism onslaught on India needs to be defined in terms of its true dimensions and without political fudging. Political fudging leads to distortions in the enunciation of sound counter-terrorism initiatives to defeat terrorism. Further it leads to loss of focus and direction of the intelligence agencies and the security agencies in combating the terrorism menace.

The Indian Republic must stop pretending that the terrorism onslaughts against India have no religious labels. The terrorist onslaughts against India are being launched in a concerted manner by Islamist organizations and has two dimensions, namely (1) In an earlier time frame Islamic Jehadi organizations based in Pakistan acting as instruments of the Pakistan Army and ISI provided the terrorist soldiery, arms and material for terrorism against India (2) In the contemporary time frame, the Pakistan Army/ISI mentors continue, but the terrorists soldiery for execution of blasts/bombings are now found from within the ranks of growing radical elements within the Indian Muslim community.

The latter makes the task more difficult for Indian intelligence agencies and security forces as the “political expediency” factor of the political masters comes into play resulting in a loss of focus and direction. Surveillance and tracking of terrorists from across the border was easier and there was no political interference there for then votes were not involved.

In the current scenario where indigenous foot-soldiery from within the Indian Muslim community’s radical elements is the main motive force for external sponsors, combating them poses some questions which only the political leadership can answer, namely (1) Would the political leadership permit extensive surveillance and tracking the radical elements in Indian Muslim neighborhoods? (2) Does the political leadership have the stature to motivate the Indian Muslim community for self-policing? (3) Would the Indian Muslim community would be able to overcome the fear of the terrorists and deliver on the location of terrorists sleeper cells and modules to the intelligence agencies and the police?

Despite the above impediments, once the current terrorist threat is defined in its true dimensions, it will provide clarity in focus and direction to India’s intelligence agency and security forces in combating terrorism.

Terrorism: An “Act of War” Against India, Not a Law and Order Problem

Political leaders tend to dismiss terrorism as a law and order problem. This is grossly erroneous and self-defeating.

Terrorism in its current dimensions in India is an “act of war” against India and needs to be recognized as such. The terrorists are not committing murder based on personal enmity against a particular individual or group. They are bombing out hundreds of civilian lives like in any war.

The terrorists when they inflict sizeable losses on innocent Indian lives in scores and hundreds are taunting the Indian state that it is powerless to protect the lives of its citizens which is a constitutional duty of the Government.

The terrorists when they resort to their “acts of war” and mayhem challenge the sovereignty of the Indian Republic and are indulging in aggression against the State.

If India is to succeed in its counter-terrorism strategy, it needs to define terrorism as an “act of war” and devise deterrent strategies to deal with it as such.

Terrorists Not Eligible for Human Rights Protection and Recourse to Constitutional Legal Remedies

Terrorists even if they are Indian citizens forfeit their protection and cover for Human Rights provisions and constitutional remedies when they indulge in “acts of war” against the Indian State.

The Indian Constitution and its legal systems provide multiple avenues to its citizens for redress of their grievances in a peaceful and legal manner. Should a citizen take upon himself to indulge in “acts of war” against the Indian State, he in effect is challenging the very existence of the Indian State as founded by the Indian Constitution.

By acting beyond the pale of the Indian Constitution, the “terrorists” cease to be citizens of India. They cannot claim Human Rights protection and recourse to legal remedies granted to only those who act and live within the framework of the Indian Constitution. The Indian political leadership, the media and other apologists need to get this clear in their heads.

Terrorism Deterrence: Imperatives for Draconian Laws and Special Fast-track Courts

Following from the above it naturally follows that those indulging in “acts of war” against the Indian State cannot be deterred by laws of civilized societies.

Terrorists can only be deterred and especially the potential recruits to terrorism, when they are conscious that draconian laws exist, shorn of constitutional remedies applicable to law abiding citizens only, and that their trials would be conducted by specially designated counter-terrorism fast-track courts and followed by swift exemplary punishment.

Terrorists are “merchants of death” who mercilessly and wantonly inflict merciless death, maiming and de-capitation on defenseless and innocent civilians of the Indian State, No civilized society, and certainly not India, can afford to allow a handiful of radical elements of one community to singe the fabric and challenge the majesty and sovereignty of the Indian Republic.

Neither TADA nor POTA were passed as laws targeting the Indian Muslim community. They were targeted generally against any individual or group aiming to disrupt the peace and harmony of the Indian Republic. If with the passage of time more Indian Muslims were drawn into its dragnet, the laws do not become Indian Muslim-centric in their targeting as secularism – apologists claim.

Ordinary Indian Muslims in the country are content to lead their lives peacefully and securely. If their sense of insecurity is aroused and that provokes some of them to Islamic radicalism, then the political parties that parley “political secularism” as opposed to “existential secularism” are to be blamed, because by doing so they hope to secure their captive vote banks.

Terrorism is encouraged when governments like in the case of the Afzal Guru case inordinately delay carrying out the death punishment confirmed by India’s Supreme Court on the false excuse of technicalities but with the underlying impulses of political expediency arising from vote-bank considerations.

The need of the hour in view of the rising frequency and intensity of terrorism onslaughts against India are severe draconian laws and fast-track courts to impose deterrence on those who indulge in “acts of war” against the Indian State. The United States and Britain as advanced and liberal democracies have such stringent laws.

Counter-Terrorism Strategy Should be Determined by National Security Considerations and Not Political Expediency

It does not need further emphasis that terrorism is an “act of war” and India’s defense preparedness against “threats of war” from any quarter are based on national security considerations. Counter-terrorism strategy therefore too needs to be based on national security considerations and not political expediency.

Would it not be ridiculous and suicidal if India were to decide not to battle Pakistani aggression on the grounds that by doing so the captive vote-banks of concerned political parties banking on narrow communal considerations would be affected?

The Constitution of India in Article 355 enjoins that the Government of India is duty-bound to protect Indian citizens both from external and internal threats. Protection against terrorism is the fundamental right of every Indian citizen.

The current terrorism threat against India has a mix of both external and internal dimensions. While the Government of the day may be ready to meet the external dimension, can the same Government shirk away from combating the internal dimension and manifestation of terrorism simply on the grounds of political expediency arising from its captive vote bank considerations?

Terrorism Upsurge: Political Leaders to Blame and Not the Police

It has become fashionable to blame the police ineffectiveness for the terrorism upsurge in India. Everybody seems to be oblivious that in actual fact the blame for terrorism lies squarely on the shoulders of the political leaders who constitute the Government of the day, their allies and their political supporters who dare to go to the extent of advocating that there should be no ban on SIMI.

The police set-up in India is doing a commendable job with their limited numbers and with meddle some political leaders and politicians making their task of combating terrorism that much more difficult.

Also demoralizing the police are the media who want instant sound bytes from police official on the identity of terrorists after each incident. They should pose that question to the political leaders.

After every major terrorism incident the Congress President and the Home Minister make a bee-line for cosmetic appearances and photo-op opportunities at hospitals to express their political sympathies. Has anyone told them that the hundreds of policemen detailed for their security and sanitizing the routes are diverted at a crucial stage when they should be fully involved and absorbed in the follow-up investigations and pursuit of terrorists and devising further protective measures.

It is intriguing that every time the police set-up only is blamed for being found wanting in preventing terrorism acts. Why are the civil bureaucrats of the IAS at district level, state level and the national level not faulted and pulled up? After all they too are a part of the overall administrative set-up of India which includes law and order.

On TV shows following the Delhi blasts the reactions from the majority of the Indian public severely indicted India’s political leaders and politicians for the upsurge of terrorism in India and hence this is not the individual view of this Author. India’s political leaders are to blame for making India’s police set-up to combat terrorism with one hand tied as a result of their selfish political expediency to safeguard their captive vote-banks.

Terrorism Pre-emption: Intelligence Agencies Not to Blame

After every terrorists blast, the next blame after the police falls on the intelligence agencies. It is conceded that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) is primarily responsible for pre-empting internal security threats with pre-emption of terrorist incidents topping the list of priorities today.

In actual fact, going by media reports most of the time the government of the day is tasking the IB for political intelligence on its opponents. If true then this gross deviation from the IB’s intended duties takes a heavy toll on terrorism pre-emption.

The Home Ministry politicians and bureaucrats let it be known after every terrorist incident that ‘terrorism advisories’ were issued that major towns would be targeted. These advisories are more like “meteorological advisories” general in nature with not even the slightest lead on location, time, place or intended targets.

Having made these points, the most crucial challenge that would be facing the intelligence agencies in the current scenario is as to what degree of penetration, surveillance and tracking would the present Government allow to pursue terrorism leads against the radical elements of the Indian Muslim community who provide the terrorism soldiery for groups like the Indian Mujahideen. The questions for the Indian political leadership stand asked earlier in this paper on this account and they need to address it.

The political record on this count is sordid whether in Northern India, Western India or Southern India and more so at the Centre.

If intelligence agencies are truly and effectively be expected to preempt terrorism they need to be given adequate resources, armed with deterrent legal powers and backed fully politically and not allow political expediency to overtake the functioning of intelligence agencies.

Islamist Terrorism Against India: The End Game

Initially in this Paper, it was stressed that India’s counter-terrorism strategy cannot acquire focus and direction if the dimensions of the current terrorism threat are not clearly defined. It stands brought out that India today is being subjected to terrorism onslaughts by Islamist terrorist groups.

The reflex-action statements from the highest levels of the present political dispensation after each terrorism incident are that the aim of these terrorists is to disrupt the communal harmony within India and that peace should be maintained.

Perfectly noble sentiments, but they only from a miniscule part of the end-game of Islamist terror groups within India with pan-Islamic leanings. It is important once again to attempt to read the end-game of such terrorist groups so that more focus and direction can be added to India’s counter-terrorism strategy.

To get a clue as to the end-game of the Islamic Mujahideen, who have claimed responsibility for the perpetration of all bomb blasts in the last couple of years some relevant excerpts from the SMS message they sent to the media recently are reproduced below:

“We the Indian Mujahideen, ask Allah the Almighty to accept from us these nine explosion which were planned to be executed in the holy month of Ramadan.”
It was claimed that the aim of the spate of the current bombings was to “stop the heart of India from breathing”.
The bombings were meant to send a message to “prove to you the ability and potential of the Indian Mujahideen to assault any city of India at any time”.
Indians are charged with harboring “never ending hostile hatred in your hearts against Islam and its people”.

There are a host of other such statements in the SMS, Suffice it to say that the underlying implied theme in these statements is (1) There is a religious label and motivation underlying in these statements. (2) The over-all aim is to hit at the core of the Indian State and if possible lead to its extinction. (3) Communal overtones are given to whip up frenzy on religious grounds.

Readers may recall that some time back some pan-Islamic terror groups had clubbed India with the United States and Israel as enemies of Islam. If that be so are then Indians being viewed presumably in that political context because in the last four or five years there are no atrocities reported to have taken place against Muslim in India. Then why this hatred and vengeance.

Obviously the underlying strategy in the current Islamist terrorist campaign against India is what the Pakistan Army/ISI desire and that is to (1) Keep India strategically destabilized by low-intensity conflict (2) Arrest Indian economic resurgence by driving away foreign investors (3) Engulf India in political turmoil.

Surprisingly and more intriguingly, the current spate of bombings have occurred after the “fatwa” (religious edict) issued by the famous Deoband Islamic Seminary terming terrorism as “un-Islamic”.

Obviously, the Deoband “fatwa” stands ignored by such Islamist terrorist groups and which further suggests that the current terrorist campaign has nothing to do with any misperceived wrongs of the Indian Muslim community but it has more to do with the politico-strategic agenda of the external mentors, patrons and financiers of such Islamist terrorist groups.

Hopefully, the Indian Muslim community at large too would recognize the above reality and purge the radical elements from within their ranks who have fallen prey to external stimuli.

India’s “National Honour” Under Assault By Islamist Terrorists.

The need for all Indians, including political leaders to develop sensitivity to nurture and protect India’s “National Honour” was touched in the Concluding Chapter entitled “Proscriptions for India’s National Security and Defence” in this Author’s book “India’s Defence Politics and Strategic Thought: A Comparative Analysis”.

The main stress was that India’s “National Honour” is indivisible and cannot be divided by different concepts for the majority and the minority communities by Indian political leaders or by political affiliations.

Amongst a number of instances listed as to how India's “National Honour” is singed by politicians the followings quotes from this Book in the current context are pertinent:

“India's National Honour is impinged when India's parliamentarians and political parties politicize national security issues.”
“India's National Honour is impinged when Indian leaders are projected on Pakistan TV mouthing pronouncements detrimental to India's national interests prompted by narrow electoral gains to please narrow religious based constituencies.
“India's honour is at stake when India expects others to restrain or pressurize its enemies from onslaughts against India by external and internal aggression”.
“India's National Honour” is violated when India displays lack of will to take pre-emptive actions against its enemies who inflict proxy war, terrorism and suicide bombings on the Indian State”.

India's present political dispensation has signally failed to protect India's “National Honour” in the face of onslaughts by Islamist terror organizations.

It is no use blaming the Home Minister for ineffectiveness to meet the terror threat. After all the accountability for the same rests with the Prime Minister and the Congress President as the ultimate decision making lies with her.

It is high time that the Indian Republic’s citizens demand accountability on terrorism upsurge and increased bomb blasts from the present political dispensation and as to why “political expediency” still persists and over-rides India's national security interests. They need to ask their political masters as to how many more Indian lives need to be sacrificed to arouse them from the stupor of political expediency.

Concluding Observations

The Indian Republic is at the crossroads not only in terms of its strategic directions but more importantly in terms of its political direction and future. India's political system and its political leaders have failed in the last sixty years to protect India from external and internal aggression.

The cumulative effect of the last 60 years of India’s political leaders not having the “will to use power” to protect India from external and internal aggression has led to the present state of the Indian political system being paralysed by Islamist terror groups.

Even the United Nations in its 2007 review on counter-terrorism has faulted India on being soft in its counter-terrorism policies.

The Indian Republic expects its political leaders to have the fundamental sensitivity to protect India's “National Honour”.

The latest series of frequent bomb blasts by Islamist terror groups is a “WAKE-UP CALL” for the Indian political system. What is at stake today is the terrorists end game of intending “to stop the heart of India from beating” and that needs to be defeated.

(The author is an International Relations and Strategic Affairs analyst. He is the Consultant, Strategic Affairs with South Asia Analysis Group. Email:drsubhashkapila@yahoo.com)