Seven years after: Lessons not learnt from Parliament attack

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
13th dec 2008
Despite successive governments promising to deal with terrorism firmly, India continues to be an easy target for terror outfits. Seven years after Indian Parliament was attacked on December 13, 2001, the counter-terror measures have not improved much. ‘ Removal of ministers was the easiest part of the post-mortem... There seems to be an attempt to avoid a detailed study ‘ of the deficien- cies in our intelligence
Seven years ago, on this day, the Indian Parliament was attacked by a group of terrorists.
On December 17, 2001, after a heated discussion in the Lok Sabha, the then home minister, Mr L.K. Advani, had dramatically declared that the fight against terrorism had entered a decisive phase.
But seven years down the line, India is still being bled by terrorists. Homegrown terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) as well as operatives from Pakistan and Bangladesh are carrying out strikes again and again.
And, as the Mumbai incidents proved, terrorists are also creeping into the country’s shores from the sea to carry out brazen attacks.
The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and the Jaish-eMohammed (JeM) involved in the Parliament attack and Mumbai attacks are still thriving.
And creating a sense of déjà vu, Parliament has once more debated the menace of terrorism and has vowed to end it. In an unprecedented manner, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, apologised to the nation for failing to protect it.
But experts say that if the leaders want to move beyond rhetoric and keep their promise, they have to start doing the essential spadework.
For one, they have to totally revamp the intelligence system in the country. Terrorists continue to strike at the great symbols of India. After Parliament was attacked, they targeted the Indian Institute of Science and then they hit the 400year-old Macca Masjid in Hyderabad.
In several of these cases, “actionable” intelligence was not available. In Mumbai, the sleuths had intelligence, but did not act on it. There are severe lacunae in the whole intelligence network.
“Every day intelligence officials send alarming reports and they are taken as routine affair,” said Dr S. Subramanian, former director-general of the National Security Guards (NSG) and founder of the Special Protection Group (SPG). “There is no accountability.” The Border Security Force, Director General, Mr M.L. Kumawat, who also served as Union home secretary, said there was urgent need to upgrade and augment the intelligence network.
“We have busted at least 182 terror modules this year,” he said. “But we should have busted more. For this, the intelligence network should become more modern.” Experts feel that even after the Mumbai blasts, there is no concerted attempt to enquire into the deficiencies of intelligence gathering.
“Removal of ministers was the easiest part of the postmortem,” said Mr B. Raman, former additional secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). “But there seems to be an attempt to avoid a detailed study of the deficiencies in our intelligence and counterterrorism apparatus. Public pressure should be kept up on the government to hold such an inquiry.” One major flaw has been the lack of coordination among the various intelligence agencies and the absence of mechanisms to share information.
“After 9/11, we have been holding joint counter-terrorism exercises with agencies of many countries,” said Mr Raman. “But there is no coordination between various agencies within the country.” “The responsibility of an intelligence officer does not stop with his sending a memo or a note; there should be follow-up action,” said the South Asian Analysis group director, Dr S. Chandrashekaran.
The next most important aspect is real-time physical security.
“Terrorists can strike anywhere. They should be denied opportunities to cause damage,” said Dr Subramanian.
It is commonplace to say that suicide attacks cannot be prevented since the perpetrator is not afraid to die. But experts disagree. They say that strong preventive measures as adopted by Israel can deter suicide attacks too. “Israel is surrounded by 13 enemy countries but it is still surviving,” said a senior police officer. “The modus operandi of suicide attacks in the sub-continent is also similar. They can be nipped in the preparatory stage.” The role of “non-state players” is also important. For instance, fishermen in Mumbai informed the police about the landing of a suspicious group, but the cops did not act on it. Similarly, hotels and lodges can inform the police about suspicious characters.
“The preparedness of police and security agencies must be on a war scale as the terrorists are waging a war against the country,” said Mr Kamal Kumar, former director of the SVP National Police Academy.
Further, there is urgent need to improve security along the border as well as the coast.
The Indo-Nepal border is also porous and the ISI is sending in operators via Kathmandu.
After securing the fortress, India should launch a major diplomatic initiative to prevent Pakistan and Bangladesh from allowing terror groups to flourish.
“We have to stop the flow of funds and weapons to terror groups,” said an officer of the counter intelligence cell of the AP Police.
Many states including AP have decided to set up special units to fight terrorists after the Mumbai attacks. “There is also an urgent need for a new Central agency,” said retired director-general (security), Mr R. Swaminathan.
And experts say in one voice that the terrorists who are arrested should be given exemplary punishment. “The law should be a deterrent and we should make it certain that the perpetrators are punished,” said Dr Subramanian. “In many cases, they are acquitted. In others, the trial goes on for years. This cannot be allowed.”