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08 OPINION THE TRIBUNE

CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | 3 MAY 2019

The ticket to Bihar

THE TRIBUNE established in 1881
More than Yadavs and Muslims, EBCs set to play a bigger role this time
ing EBC candidates in constituencies
dominated by Bhumihars — the most
aggressive opponents of reservation

Global terrorist among upper castes.

Tejashwi has used 10% reservation to
EWS to reignite the OBCs’ fear that the
Azhar’s listing a major breakthrough for India government would use EWS reserva-

T
tion and the economic criteria, not man-
HE decision of the United Nations Security Council to declare NEERJA CHOWDHURY
dated by the Constitution, as the first
Masood Azhar a global terrorist has vindicated India’s decade- SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR step to end quota. While the MGB is giv-
long diplomatic efforts, with timely help from the US, the UK and ing the BJP-JD(U)-LJP pact a ‘takkar’,

L
France. The development comes less than three months after the Jaish- AST year, when Lalu Yadav
e-Mohammed, the Pakistan-based outfit headed by Azhar, carried out was at a hospital in Mum-
the Pulwama terror attack. There is no mention of the Pulwama attack bai, on provisional bail for
or Kashmir in the UN resolution, but those who are raising a hue and medical reasons, and I had
cry over the omission are unable to see the wood for the trees. gone to see him, he had remarked,
China lifted its technical hold after it examined the ‘revised mate- ‘If I was outside (jail), I would have
rial’ submitted to the UN’s 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee and somehow brought the entire Oppo-
found no objection to the listing proposal. China was under enormous sition together.’ His son Tejashwi,
who has emerged as his father’s
pressure from the international community to relent on the Azhar
successor, says, ‘That is precisely
issue, but it could not afford to alienate its all-weather friend, Pakistan.
At the same time, it was imperative for India and its allies to find a mid-
why he has not been given bail.’
This is the first election in three
dle ground to break the deadlock. The removal of all ‘political’ refer- decades without Lalu as his party’s
ences from the listing did the trick. Circumscribing Azhar’s sphere of helmsman. The party does not even
operations and influence to parts of the subcontinent would not have have a video message from him,
justified designating him as an international terror mastermind. Most which it might have used in cam-
importantly, both India and China have tacitly recognised the primacy paigning. Lalu’s wife and former
of mutual interests while reiterating zero tolerance to terrorism. Bihar CM Rabri Devi alleged last
As expected, the BJP-led NDA government is taking credit for the week that her family was not being
breakthrough, even though the first proposal against Azhar was moved allowed to meet him in jail, and that
by India in 2009, when the UPA was at the helm. That had happened he may be poisoned. Her remarks
months after the Mumbai terror attacks, which were orchestrated by have generated sympathy among the
Jamaat-ud-Dawa head Hafiz Saeed. The latter had been promptly Yadavs for the RJD. Many Yadavs,
who had moved towards the BJP dur-
blacklisted by the UN in December 2008 as China had chosen to go
ing the 2014 Modi wave, are gravitat-
along with other permanent members of the Security Council. In
ing back to the RJD. This is also the
Azhar’s case, on the contrary, the Chinese wall had proved insurmount- case with the Samajwadi Party.
able until now. However, the job is still only half-done. No matter which In the absence of his father, Tejashwi
political party comes to power in a few weeks, India should not take its fashioned a mahagathbandhan
foot off the pedal. The onus is on Pakistan to tighten the noose around (MGB) in Bihar. The RJD went out of
Azhar. Here, too, China’s intervention can make a huge difference. its way to accommodate allies, and
kept to itself only half the total number
(20/40). Besides the RJD, the alliance
has Congress (9 seats), HAM, led by
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Tejashwi fashioned a mahagathbandhan in Bihar.
Neither Lalu nor Tejashwi may have wanted Kanhaiya,
another star, to emerge on the firmament when
Tejashwi is consolidating his hold on the RJD.
referred to as ‘Annexure I’ castes.
There are 95 of them, each small in
number, but add up to a whopping
32% of the state’s population. They do
not have one leader, though there was
a time when the late Karpoori Thakur
held sway over them.
Today, every party is wooing them.
For the first time in the history of
Bihar, 11 of them have been given
ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elec-
tions. Their growing importance
shows a deepening of the Mandal sto-
ry in the state as they demand their
share in the power structure.
They had swung to Lalu’s side in the
15 years of his rule and provided the
plus to his ‘MY’. They gravitated to
Nitish Kumar when he formed the gov-
Nitish has also managed to culti-
vate a new constituency — of women
— after putting into place a policy of
prohibition, though it is throwing up
a new problem of corruption among
policemen. In Hajipur, women work-
ing in an SHG-run canteen, fash-
ioned on the Amma canteens in
Tamil Nadu, gave, for instance, 5/10
marks to Modi and 8/10 to Nitish!
In the caste versus religion conun-
drum in Bihar, the BJP, which enjoys
the complete support of the forward
castes, has been focusing on Hindu
symbols, like the more-than-usual-cele-
bration around Ram Navmi. Interest-
ingly, it is the upper castes who talked
more about Pulwama and Balakot than
did the backward castes.
it is not doing as well as expected, par-
tially because of bad ticketing and
inherent contradictions. The MGB is
also not as organised as the BJP, nor has
it displayed the energy in taking on the
BJP full throttle, as is the case in UP.
Apart from Tejashwi, the most-
watched constituency is Begusarai,
where polls were held on April 29.
Kanhaiya Kumar has made waves
here, drawing youth with his ‘mud-
don ki rajniti’. He is a potent combi-
nation of Bihari genes, Bhumihar
DNA, a grounding in the Left’s focus
on issues, communication skill in an
idiom people connect with, and cre-
dentials of having done a PhD, being
the son of an anganwadi worker.
Many Biharis feel that had Kanhaiya
been the candidate of the gathband-
han, he would have given the BJP a
run for its money. And Begusarai
would have had a ripple effect, in the
visible coming together of Tejashwi-
Kanhaiya and Rahul Gandhi. But nei-
ther Lalu nor Tejashwi may have
wanted another star to emerge on the
firmament when Tejashwi, 28, is con-
solidating his hold in the party.
Postscript: The spiralling aspirations
of youth are evident, even as the state is
caught up in the vice-like grip of caste.
I had asked a security woman who
frisked me at Jaipur airport how the

Security lapse Jitin Majhi, which has a following

among the Mahadalits (3), RLSP head-
ed by Upendra Kushwaha (5), and
Failure to follow SOP costs 15 cops’ lives ‘VIP’, headed by businessman
Mukesh Sahni, who refers to himself
ernment along with the BJP, and it was
the upper caste-EBC-Mahadalit-Pas-
manda Muslim coalition which
enabled Nitish to rule Bihar. Today, the
EBCs are divided and so are the
Lalu and the JD(U), when they were
together in the 2015 Assembly polls,
played the reservation card to the hilt,
exacerbating the fears of OBCs that
reservation would be done away with.
campaign was going in Rajasthan. She
replied she was from Bihar. How are
things in Bihar? ‘We want youngsters
like Kanhaiya to come into politics.’
I was taken aback. Here was a young

T
HE death of 15 policemen along with the civilian driver in an IED as the ‘son of a Mallah’ (3). Mallahs are Mahadalits, though a major chunk is Lalu moved in for the kill when RSS Bihari policewoman posted in faraway
explosion triggered by Naxals in Gadchiroli district of Maharash- considered EBCs, or extremely back- still looking at the Nitish-BJP combine, chief Mohan Bhagwat talked about Rajasthan, rooting for a new kind of
tra on Wednesday is a chilling reminder of our security men’s gross ward castes in Bihar. thanks to the reservation in panchayats ending reservation, to retract later. leadership in her state. Was it his
neglect in following the standard operating procedure (SOP) required to The key to Election 2019 in Bihar the CM gave the EBCs. This introduced Reservation has been a potent issue courage that attracted her? Or a willing-
mobilise forces against the Maoists in these dangerous areas. The lapse of lies not so much with ‘MY’ — Yadavs new dynamics in the village structure, to mobilise Yadavs and smaller back- ness to take on the mighty? Or a desire
lowering the guard can — and it, indeed, did — prove fatal as the C-60 com- and Muslims, who have formed the and to the ‘bulb’ that has reached their ward castes, and both RJD and Nitish to break new ground? I didn’t get the
mandos of the Gadchiroli police literally walked into the booby trap laid kernel of the RJD support over the homes because of the success of his are using it to the hilt again. Nitish is chance to ask her, as the next person
for them on the highway. It is sad that policemen who were combing for years, as with the EBCs who are ‘Har ghar bijli’ programme. engaged in a new experiment of field- claimed her attention.
Naxals who had a few hours earlier torched some vehicles of a contractor
in the area did not apprehend danger when they got down to remove the

Long queue? Get a wheelchair!

felled trees blocking the path of their vehicle on the desolate road. The
Maoists waiting in ambush were quick to blow up the landmine planted
under the trees, claiming the lives of the intended targets.
They had avenged their near-decimation of April 22 last year when
40 Naxalites were downed by the security agencies in twin encounters in SandhyaVasudev even as I sat under silent protest, ent reason. Additionally, it struck me a line of their own with hardly any
the same area of the Gadchiroli jungle. It is a matter of concern that they disliking being pushed along, with that while it is a hassle to locate the contenders. When I finally entered
have managed to regain strength and strike back in such a short time,

I
HAD read that Indians, more than
even as the authorities seem to be caught off-guard. Tragically, our forces others, avail the facility of wheel-
slip into complacency too soon. The cops paid a heavy price for ignoring chair assistance at airports. I am a
the SOP of sending a patrol party in advance to sanitise the route. quinquagenarian and have had occa-
As Maharashtra DGP Subodh Jaiswal said, the incident was not a sions to frequent airports, but never
result of intelligence failure. For, the Maoists have been active: they felt the need to request for such a facil-
ity, although I needed to walk several
had been asking the people to ban the election process; and preced-
hundred metres from one terminal to
ing Wednesday’s dastardly act was the IED blast on poll eve (April
another during transit, or till the exit.
10) in Gadchiroli in which a CRPF jawan was injured. There were Once when I landed at the New
enough indications for the agencies to have remained on alert York airport, along with my daugh-
against attacks at least till the end of the General Election. Let this ters, I was taken aback when a
strike be a wake-up call to the state to re-evaluate tactics, training young Indian-origin airport employ-
and equipment of the forces fighting the formidable insurgents. The ee cajoled and led me to her wheel-
morale-dipping senseless killings must stop. chair and forced me into it. She
zoomed across pathways and eleva-
tors, busy chattering away in Hindi,
the daughters being thoroughly
amused at my situation.
This set me thinking why Indians
are infamous for misuse of this facili-
ty. What makes people avail it, apart
for genuine reasons of old age, or
being nursing mothers? I got my
answer several months later, when,
after a strenuous long flight from the
US and a hectic stopover in Hong
Kong, my leg refused to bend, and I
was forced to hire a wheelchair, much
to my embarrassment. I was whisked
through immigration channels on pri-
ority, and that was when I lauded the
ingenuity of my fellow country folks
who opt for such services for no appar-
next flight during transit, especially at
large and busy airports, this is obviat-
ed when one seeks assistance.
At another international airport I
observed a well-built tall woman sit-
ting with her husband in the row ear-
marked for those needing wheelchair
assistance. I wondered what could be
wrong with her, as I had seen her get
up and walk briskly to the restroom.
As she returned, the helper who had
been on the lookout for her, offered a
wheelchair and she gracefully sank
into it, asking her husband to follow
her with an impatient wave of her
hand. Even as I stood in the serpen-
tine queue, I saw them sailing past in
the cabin, jostling with others, I
noticed that they had settled down
comfortably by then. The real reason
for the assistance hit me then!
There was an announcement by
the flight chief attendant on landing
at the Paris airport, ‘Persons need-
ing wheelchair assistance need to
please remain in their seats until all
passengers have disembarked.’ Sur-
prisingly, the woman then was seen
standing in the queue, perhaps not
to be left behind till the last. Her pri-
ority was to get in and out of planes
as fast as possible for whatever rea-
son. The hapless husband was busy
placating his visibly irritated wife!

❝ ❞
thought for the day
Voting is not only our right, it is our power.
Kashmiriyat not dead
— Loung Ung Apropos ‘After 29 years KP reopens
shop in Srinagar’ (May 2), it clearly
indicates that some vested interests
can’t break the strong bonds of broth-
on this day...100 years ago erhood, which is an inseparable part
of Kashmiriyat. This positive
approach of people would pave the
way for an era of overall development
in J&K. Now, the government should
play a more encouraging and proac-
lahore, saturday, may 3, 1919
tive role which would also benefit the
entire country.
SUPPRESSING DISORDER. RS KISHTWARIA, PALAMPUR
THE following Press communique is issued:—An article has appeared in the
issue of the “Amrita Bazar Patrika,” a Calcutta newspaper, dated the 23rd April,
insinuating that the authorities in this province have, without due justification, A lot of time was lost
fired upon unarmed crowds of the civil population and bombed them from Refer to ‘1984 riot accused walk free’
aeroplanes. The Punjab Government takes this opportunity of stating that in (May 2), bringing out convincing evi-
no case have firearms been used against a mob except when that mob was dence after 35 years is an uphill, if not
resorting to actual violence. In one place only has the use of machine guns and impossible, task. The blame lies with
bombs by aeroplanes been necessary, namely at Gujranwala on the afternoon the government and the police setup.
of the 14th April. The circumstances attending their use on this occasion have For all these years, Sajjan Kumar had
already been published in the Press. The small force of police which has been enjoying VIP status when he
gallantly defended the railway station against the rioters since early morning should have been behind bars. Simi-
was in danger of being overwhelmed; the church and several public buildings lar has been the situation for the 2002
had been set on fire; and the few Europeans women and children in the station riot accused. It’s a shame that irre-
had been compelled to take refuge in the Treasury. spective of the long arm of the law,
perpetrators of mass murder go scot-
Higher Education for Women. free. Time is the most crucial factor.
SPEAKING at the prize distribution of the Grosthwale Girls School, TEJINDER SINGH KALRA, MOHALI
Allahabad, on Sunday, Mr. Justice Walsh, who presided, said that he had
always been an advocate and sympathiser of what was called the higher
education of women. He did not believe, for one moment, what many people In the name of caste
who disliked higher education for women often said, that education destroyed The world community is moving
womanhood. He said that though he believed in the highest education of toward the era of digitalised technolo-
women, yet he did not advocate, except in special circumstances, that women
should forsake their natural duties in their own domestic life. Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribunemail.com
letters to the editor
gy and advancement. But seeing the
presence of crowds in road shows and
rallies of most candidates aspiring to
be elected in the ongoing General
Election, one wonders and appre-
hends whether the population of vot-
ers in our country is still swayed in the
name of caste, creed, religion, region,
gender, etc. If yes, it is unfortunate.
Unity in diversity has been our cultur-
al heritage and we all have the respon-
sibility to uphold it.
KK SOOD, NANGAL
Thackeray’s lone voice
‘The crowd-puller who pulls no
punches’ (May 30) is an interesting
piece of political assessment in
these rather difficult times for the
media, independent political
thinkers and keen observers of the
political scene. The writer’s praise
for Raj Thackeray is relevant and
brings to light the political realities.
There is no gainsaying that a major
portion of the national media has
sold itself for vested interests.
Thackeray is a bold and lone voice
against political shenanigans of the
saffron clan. Modi had made a large
number of unimplementable prom-
ises in the run-up to the 2014 elec-
tions, but strangely enough, the
gullible masses chose to put their
trust in him. Thackeray’s vocal out-
bursts and factual exposures might
have a negative effect on the ruling
party’s image and popularity in this
crucial moment in the nation’s his-
tory. And that augurs well for the
survival of democratic values and
practices in India.
MK BAJAJ, ZIRAKPUR
Dignity first
Refer to the editorial ‘ A go at their
dignity’ (April 30); the university
authorities should make proper
arrangements for disposing of san-
itary pads. Girls are usually meticu-
lous and may resort to such things
only in the absence of a proper dis-
posal facility. While all govern-
ments boast of empowering
women, and also making available
to them sanitary bags, why do they
not make appropriate disposal
arrangement in all hostels of
schools, colleges and universities?
RM RAMAUL, PAONTA SAHIB
Clean air for good health
In Chamba the election department
has so far identified 72 voters above
100 years of age. Farjana, 114-years-
old, shall be casting her vote in the
forthcoming polls. This proves that
even poor people living in a pollu-
tion-free environment live longer
and have a healthy life. Let us fol-
low them and make our so-called
modern cities pollution free.
NARESH JOHAR, AMRITSAR
Iran imbroglio
Apropos the US’ insistence on ceas-
ing the purchase of crude from Iran
by India, the US is stubborn in its
attempt to cripple Iran’s economy
and has threatened nations with
severe sanctions if they do not end
the import of crude from Iran. How-
ever, zeroing out oil import can have
serious ramifications for India. This
may contribute to inflation. Iran is
India’s third-largest supplier of oil.
Iran’s national oil company subsi-
dies the freight costs for delivering
petroleum and provides the benefit
of extended payment terms to buy-
ers. There may be adverse effects on
India-Iran ties and may jeopardise
the strategically important Chaba-
har Port project. India can have
access to Afghanistan and Central
Asia via this port — without being
dependent on Pakistan. It can
enhance India’s trade with Iran,
Afghanistan and Central Asia owing
to easy access and the huge reduc-
tion in shipment costs and time.
India must be exceedingly cautious
in dealing with Iran.
ANEESH M MAKKER, MALOUT

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THE TRIBUNE
CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | 3 MAY 2019 OPED 09

AFSPA needs another hard look

forces discharging duties under the cell in each district where armed should be subjected to a thorough
Act from prosecution, or other legal forces are deployed. This can be an inquiry if they have committed any
proceedings, except with the permis- independent body that will be serious offence.
sion of the Central government. empowered to enquire into violation Numerous allegations of brazen
Many human rights activists and civ- of rights by the citizens. The pro- misuse of AFSPA, and serious viola-
il society groups have denounced the posed Chapter 6(a) in AFSPA should tions of human rights by the security
Act as regressive, and very often it has contain dos and don’ts for the armed forces, in many instances, have come
been abused and misused by the forces during operations, as embod- before the NHRC. The NHRC cannot
SANKAR SEN
armed forces. And, it has shielded ied in the apex court judgment. directly probe into the complaints
FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL POLICE ACADEMY extra-judicial killings, rape and torture The second Administrative Commis- because of the restrictions imposed
by the personnel of the armed forces sion (5th Report, June 2007) endorsed by Section 19 of the Protection of

I
N its election manifesto, the Con-
gress has promised review of the
controversy-surcharged Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFS-
PA). The BJP has said that any such
move will take away the shield from
the Army and weaken the architec-
ture of national security. It bears
recall that during the UPA rule, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh promised
to consider amendments to the Act
with a view to making it more
humane. But this could not be effec-
tuated because of reservations from
the Army. The Act was passed in 1958
to counter the growing insurgency in
the North-East, and later, extended to
Jammu and Kashmir.
Indeed, some of the provisions of the
Act are draconian. Section 4 authoris-
es the arrest of any person who has
committed a cognisable offence, or
against whom there is a reasonable
suspicion that he is about to commit
such an offence. It also grants special
powers to the armed forces to destroy
structures used as hideouts, or train-
ing camps, or a place from where
attacks are likely to be launched. It
provides power to the armed forces to
open fire, even to the extent of causing
death, if prohibitory orders banning
the assemblage of five or more per-
sons, or carrying of arms and weapons
are in force in the prohibited area. Sec-
tion 6 gives immunity to the armed
and fuelled public anger and disaffec-
tion towards the Indian state. In
March 2012, the UN pronounced AFS-
PA as violative of international law.
Some other UN treaty bodies have
expressed the same view.
The armed forces, on the other hand,
are of the clear view that diluting the
provisions of the Act will be counter-
productive and adversely affect oper-
ations of the security forces in hostile
areas. Without the protection of the
Act, the security forces will not able to
function effectively and proactively in
the insurgency-prone areas.
The constitutionality of the Act had
earlier been questioned before the
insurgency in the North-East
apex court on the ground that it is
repugnant to the rights to equality and
federal structure of the Constitution. A
five-member Constitution Bench of
the Supreme Court in Naga Peoples’
Movement for Human Rights vs Union
of India (1998) held that the legislation
was constitutionally valid. “It was
harsh in the face of it, but it was a
necessity.” The court concluded that
declaration under Section 3 of the Act
has to be of a limited duration and sub-
ject to periodic reviews before expiry
of six months, and a person arrested
under Section 4(c) of the Act should
immediately be handed over to the
officer in charge of the nearest police
station, so that he can be produced
within 24 hours before the Magistrate,
DRACONIAN: There has been widespread opposition to the Act.
It’s not possible to combat
or Kashmir without the
armed forces. However,
over-exposure and
over-deployment of the
Army in aid of civil power
has to be avoided. It tends
to brutalise the Army,
making it vulnerable
to temptations
and allurements.
after such an arrest.
There was widespread agitation
against the Act following the custodi-
al death of a woman in Manipur.
Against its backdrop, the Govern-
ment of India set up a committee
under Justice Jeevan Reddy, a retired
SC judge, to review the Act. It was a
recognition by the government that
the provisions of the impugned legis-
lation needed a hard and careful look.
The Justice Reddy Committee, after
examining various stakeholders,
came to the conclusion that the Act
should be withdrawn. It recommend-
ed that it will be necessary to insert
appropriate provisions in the Unlaw-
ful Activities (Prevention) Act (1957)
to provide the mechanism through
which the security forces can be
deployed in areas, as and when nec-
essary. The committee also recom-
mended the creation of a grievance
the recommendations of the commit-
tee that AFSPA should be repealed and
provisions of law needed for the effec-
tive operation of the security forces can
be incorporated in the Unlawful Activ-
ities (Prevention) Act (1957).
Time has now come to take a clear
decision on the continuance of the
Act, without further dithering. The
hard fact has to be acknowledged that
it is not possible to combat insur-
gency in the North-East or Kashmir
without the presence of the armed
forces. The truth of the matter is that
the state police forces with inade-
quate strength and insufficient
weaponry will be unable to overcome
the challenges posed by of the trained
insurgents aided and abetted by for-
eign powers. At the same time, over-
exposure and over-deployment of the
Army in aid of civil power has to be
avoided. It tends to brutalise the
Army, making it vulnerable to temp-
tations and allurements. The person-
nel of the armed forces require clear
and specific provisions for their effec-
tive functioning and operations, even
as aberrant officers, responsible for
violation of human rights, have to be
made accountable and brought to
book with a view to keeping the
Army’s morale and discipline up.
The Supreme Court has now ended
the immunity of the armed forces from
prosecution by laying down that they
Human Rights Act (PHRA). It calls
for reports from the authorities of the
armed forces, and makes recommen-
dations for punishment of aberrant
officers, and payment of compensa-
tion to the victims. This vicarious sys-
tem of enforcing accountability does
not function satisfactorily. Amend-
ment to the PHRA to allow the NHRC
to directly probe allegations against
the armed forces is necessary.
Tripura, bounded on three sides by
Bangladesh, withdrew AFSPA in
2015. The state police, without the
umbrella of the Act, have been able to
successfully combat insurgency. Pro-
tection accorded to the public ser-
vants under the provisions of Crimi-
nal Procedure Code (CrPC) has been
found to be sufficient. Indeed, it has
been found that wherever AFSPA is
operational, the Army’s role becomes
pivotal, and the police are relegated
to the backstage.
A clear decision on the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act brooks no
delay. Experience bears out that
replacement of AFSPA by Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act will not
pose problems for dealing with insur-
gency except in a very problematic
area like Jammu and Kashmir. In
such states, it should be implement-
ed only in problematic and insur-
gency-torn areas, instead of being
extended to the whole state.

Dealing with fundamentalist terrorism

T
HE terror strikes in New
Zealand and Sri Lanka are
only the most recent manifes-
tations of what is rapidly
becoming the new normal in this age of
fundamentalist terrorism. It has clearly
emerged from the ongoing investiga-
tions into the attacks in Colombo that
GURMEET KANWAL the terrorists involved had linkages in
FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR LAND India and Indian cities are probably on
WARFARE STUDIES, NEW DELHI the radar on the Islamic State.
Ten years after the Mumbai terror
attacks, there is broad consensus that
India’s experiments with the response in November 2008 was
POTA, TADA and UAPA have slow, laborious and poorly coordinated
among the Central and state govern-
failed to deliver the desired ments and their various agencies.
Coastal security was virtually non-exis-
results. Laws must be just tent; the Marine Police were too few in
and humane and not number to effectively patrol the vast
area entrusted to them; they were ill
designed to be vindictive equipped and inadequately trained;
and, there was poor coordination
towards or shield any between the Coast Guard and the
particular community or Marine Police. It took far too long to
begin flushing-out operations and then
religious denomination. to eliminate the nine terrorists who were
holed up at three separate locations.
We are living in the age of The government needs to review its
‘new terrorism’ that is far largely reactive policies and adopt pro-
active measures to fight terrorism, par-
more violent and diabolical ticularly the variety that emanates from
the soil of inimical neighbouring coun-
and our policies must keep tries. The government must formulate a
pace with the emerging comprehensive approach to fight terror-
ism, and all organs of the state must
developments. come together to implement a national-
level counter-terrorism strategy. The
government must draw up a strategy
that is inter-ministerial, inter-agency
NEW NORMAL? Terror has hit Sri Lanka and New Zealand in recent months.
and inter-departmental in character.
It must be ensured that the counter-
terrorism policy is based on strong but
egalitarian laws. India’s experiments
with POTA, TADA and UAPA have
failed to deliver the desired results.
Laws must be just and humane and
must not be designed to either be vin-
dictive towards or shield any particular
community or religious denomination.
The experience of many other coun-
tries has proved that it is possible to for-
mulate strong counter-terrorism laws.
The US established a powerful Depart-
ment of Homeland Security following
the 9/11 strikes and there has not been
a major terrorist attack since then.
One major lacuna in India’s
approach to counter-terrorism is the
gross disconnect between how the Cen-
tral and the state governments view
counter-terrorism. The Constitution
must be amended to move ‘law and
order’ from the State List to the Con-
current List so that the Central govern-
ment can act on its own initiative when
necessary, particularly in the case of
externally-sponsored terrorism. And, it
is time the government bifurcated the
internal security function of the Min-
istry of Home Affairs into a separate
ministry headed by a cabinet minister.
Besides prevention through accurate
‘humint’and ‘techint’ intelligence
gathering, successful counter-terrorism
requires the effective intelligence pen-
etration of terrorist groups so that their
leadership can be systematically neu-
tralised by an empowered anti-terror-
ism agency. Comprehensive planning
and better stage management are nec-
essary for the real-time elimination of a
group of terrorists during a strike while
the terrorists are still on a killing spree.
Though the Cabinet Committee on
Security (CCS) gave its approval for the
establishment of a National Counter-ter-
rorism Centre (NCTC) following the
Mumbai terror strikes, seven chief min-
isters virtually vetoed the NCTC on the
grounds that its functioning will under-
mine the federal structure of India’s
Constitution and that it must not be
placed under the Intelligence Bureau
(IB). The opposition came despite then
PM Manmohan Singh’s assurance that,
“It is not our government’s intention to
alter distribution of power between
states and the Centre. The NCTC is to
coordinate counter-terror measures, not
to infringe on state powers.”
The NCTC was opposed despite the
fact that its structure approved by the
CCS was a watered-down version of the
form in which the NCTC had been con-
ceived by then Home Minister P Chi-
dambaram as an organisation capable of
“preventing a terrorist attack, containing
a terrorist attack should one take place,
and responding to a terrorist attack by
inflicting pain upon the perpetrators.”
The NCTC had been envisaged as an
umbrella organisation, which would
exercise control over the other agen-
cies. It was proposed to be placed under
the IB and the existing Multi-Agency
Centre (MAC) was to be subsumed in it.
The NCTC was to be tasked to draw
up and coordinate counter-terrorism
plans, integrate intelligence-gathering
and coordinate with all investigating
and intelligence agencies.
Though it was never established, the
concept had some major lacunae.
Unless the NCTC is empowered to con-
duct counter-terrorism operations like
its US counterpart, on which the Indian
version was expected to be based,
urban terrorism will continue to remain
a cause for concern. Without an effec-
tive NCTC or a similar organisation, the
planning and execution of India’s
counter-terrorism policies will remain
mired in systemic weaknesses.
Post-incident investigation is aimed at
unravelling the identities of the plan-
ners and the plotters and bringing to jus-
tice the perpetrators of the incident of
terrorism. The National Investigation
Agency (NIA) must be reconstituted as it
lacks teeth in its present form. It should
be re-modelled on the US FBI to give it
both preventive and investigative pow-
ers. While there is no need to blindly ape
any country, there is no harm in learning
from the best practices abroad and
incorporating them into Indian policies.
India’s intelligence coordination
and assessment apparatus at the
national level and counter-terrorism
policies remain mired in the days of
innocence. We are now living in the
age of ‘new terrorism’ that is far more
violent and diabolical than before and
policies must keep pace with the
emerging developments. For example,
with the Islamic State striving to
extend its reach to India, counter-radi-
calisation and de-radicalisation poli-
cies must be formulated early.

quick crossword su do ku calendar forecast

ACROSS MAY 3, 2019, FRIDAY SUNSET: FRIDAY 19:02 HRS
1 Ghost (7)
5 Able to resist (5) 3 1 ■ Vikrami Samvat 2076
SUNRISE: SATURDAY 05:36 HRS

8 Accepting bribes (2,3,4) ■ Shaka Samvat 1941

9 Belonging to us (3)
10 Natural aptitude (4) 4 2 7 5 ■ Vaisakh Shaka

■ Vaisakh Parvishte
13
20
Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy
CITY MAX
Rainy
MIN
Foggy

12 Explore for minerals (8)

14 Compulsion by threat (6) Chandigarh 38 24
5 9 3
■ Hijari 1440
15 Intelligent (6) New Delhi 38 26
■ Krishan Paksh Tithi 14, up to 4:04 am
17 Outdoor (8) PUNJAB
18 Notion (4) ■ Priti Yoga up to 4:57 am
Amritsar 38 22
21 Bond (3)
22 Not at all (2,2,5)
5 1 3 ■ Revti Nakshatra up to 2:40 pm Bathinda
Jalandhar
39
37
22
22
■ Moon enters Aries sign 2:40 pm
24 Spiteful (5)
Ludhiana 38 22
6 9 5 4
25 To dispute (7) ■ Panchak ended 2:40 pm
HARYANA
DOWN YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION Bhiwani 41 25
1 Tine of a fork (5) Hisar 40 24
2 Behave (3)
3 In that case (4)
2 6 7 4 8 9 3 1 5 6 2 7 Sirsa 39 24
HIMACHAL PRADESH
4 Scanty (6) 3 7 6 2 9 4 8 5 1
Dharamsala 28 16
5 Enjoyment (8)
6 In accord (2,3,4)
4 1 2 2 1 5 8 7 6 9 3 4 Manali 15 06
7 For a start (7) 5 3 4 7 2 8 1 6 9 Shimla 24 13
JAMMU & KASHMIR
11 So as to impress
others (3,6) 7 8 4 9 9 2 7 6 3 1 4 8 5 Jammu 39 22
13 Legislative body (8) 1 6 8 4 5 9 3 7 2 Leh 11 04
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 14 Extreme (7) Srinagar 20 10
Across: 1 Derelict, 5 Able, 9 Venus, 10 Fanfare, 11 All of a sudden, 13 Rotten, 14 Accept, 17
In succession, 20 Fervour, 21 Feign, 22 Lawn, 23 Opulence.
16 Having beautiful views (6)
19 Valuable attribute (5)
9 7 8
7
4
9
2
1
9
5
6
8
7
3
5
2
1
4
3
6
UTTARAKHAND
Dehradun 32 18
Down: 1 Dove, 2 Ringlet, 3 Lose one’s cool, 4 Caftan, 6 Brand, 7 Eternity, 8 20 Augury (4) Mussoorie 23 09
6 5 3 1 4 2 7 9 8
Unsuccessful, 12 Fruitful, 15 Erosion, 16 Bear up, 18 Straw, 19 Once. 23 To mimic (3) MEDIUM TEMPERATURE IN OC

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