Current Security Threats in India: Short Analysis

Recall what happened in past …. 

• Attack in courts in UP

• Attacks in railway stations

• Attack on hospitals?

• Markets as targets.

• Army camps have been targeted.

• Bus-stands attacked. 

• Mosques and temples were targeted.

• Past Maoists attacks…

National Security: 

Conventional Major Threats: India provably is the only country in the world with proven peace-loving credentials, having not attacked any country ever in its known history yet being victim of terrorism ever since its independence! It has very valiantly and successfully addressed following conventional threats since many decades -

• Terrorism and Insurgency 

• Threats from Pak ISI

• Pak Espionage efforts

• Infiltration

• Religious fundamentalism & Communalism

Religious Fundamentalism & Communalism: 

Legacy of the past: Even though “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai – Aapas main hai Sab Bhai Bhai” has not been very successful, the Indian Society has shown remarkable tolerance and maturity in last decade and communal tensions have been under check. The hot-spots of communal violence such as Agra, Meerut, Moradabad or Lucknow - all in UP have been peaceful. However it should not indicate that we have forgone and forgotten our religions, but, provable we have learnt to co-exist as long as others are not stepping over my religion!  Fewer communal flare-up also shows that with the advancement of reliable communication network, faster mode of transport and with ‘establishment’s will power’ the communal flare-ups are effectively addressed and professionally controlled. Credit can be given to better policing and prompt administrative actions!

• Large number of states affected.

• Fundamental organizations aiding to communal divide.

• Good News & Bad News – 

o there is a decline in communal violence.

o Castism on increase. Intolerance high!

Terrorism & Militancy Impacting Homeland Security: 

• Pan-Islamic terrorism

• J & K militants

• NE insurgent groups

• Left Wing Extremists

• Pan-Islamic & pro-Pak outfits spreading arc of violence to hinterland

Left Wing Extremism:

Past Maoists attacks…

Maoists’ killing average is 3 persons in every 2 days…

This average is higher than that of J&K…Should we not be concerned?

There are approx. 35 groups. CPI (Maoist) is the most prominent & belligerent group and collectively affect more than 223 districts in 20 states. In other words 92,000 KM is under their control with more than 2000 police stations. It also means that 35% population in 40 % area is under their effective control. Max affected states by Maoists are Chhattisgarhi, AP, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, WB, and Maharashtra. They have been traditionally targeting security forces, economic infrastructure and other symbols of Govt.’s might. Establishing urban bases since 2009, there have been more than 1783 incidents of damages to economic infrastructures costing hundreds of crore. Their mission statement used to be “Pashupati to Tirupati….create red corridor!” This objective has since reportedly been achieved.

   

Merger & Acquisition by Islamic Terrorist Groups:

Distinct inputs on Al Qaeda running a separate terror module in India. Ayman Al-Zawahari has been pushing his Indian Agenda more aggressively since emergence of IS fearing that he is losing out influence in its traditional stronghold. The home grown terror outfit IM is making efforts to go global and establish strong links with groups like Al Qaeda, Taliban and Hizbul Tahrir. There is also evidence of Al Qaeda keeping a close watch on activities in India.

Al-Qaeda plans final jihad for India: 

Intel report points to terror recruitment drive targeting Nation's Muslims. Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has been supporting this drive. Having largest concentration of Kafirs (Hindus), India becomes the logical target in which the second largest Muslim population in the world is considered to be potential and natural ally by all the outfits of the likes of TTP, Al-Qaeda and IS. Thus if the Last Crusade and the Final Battle for Islamic Supremacy will need to be fought it will be Ghazwa-e-Hind!  

Islamic State of Iraq & Syria:

ISIS has designs on India (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) & has global ambitions and aims to create an Islamic World Dominion of which even India would be a part. World dominion map by the outfit had parts of north-west India, including Gujarat, shown as part of the Islamic state of Khorasan, a caliphate. Outfit is being touted as the most efficient, organized, dangerous and ambitious terror outfit in the world. http://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/isis-caliphate-map-reveal-india-as-one-of-their-upcoming-targets/

New trends in Terrorism:

Cyber Threats: 

India's critical infrastructure will always remain vulnerable to cyber-attacks, as is the case with all countries. A government official, privy to NTRO's analysis and speaking on condition of anonymity, told India Today that of the 10,000 infected Indian computers at the time, 15 were located at what are called 'critical infrastructure' facilities. These included the Gujarat and Haryana electricity boards and an ONGC offshore oil rig. As almost all the Infrastructure establishments use SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) Software, its vulnerability will be through ‘Stuxnet’ – a malware designed to sabotage the facilities / projects using SCADA and may suffer sabotage by disgruntled insiders, acting individually (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/stuxnet-cyber-war-critical-infrastructure-of-india-ntro/1/216107.html). The idea to use a cyber-weapon to cause the damage equivalent of a conventional air strike was the brain child of General James E. Cartwright who presented it to President Bush. 

Behind failure of INSAT 4B – July 2010 China is strongly suspected. (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/LJ09Ad01.html). http://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/2010/10/cyber-war-between-china-and-india-stuxnet-insat-4b-attacks-and-indias-own-operating-system/

Arial Threats: 

USA used UAVs in Pak against Taliban in tribal areas (Predators and Reapers of CIA killed more than 2000 militants and numbers of civilians is hotly debated). UAVs are aplenty for Pak to use against India. Imagine if these are used against India which results in mayhem and creates chaos? 

Can these be used by terrorists?  Proliferation may result in this weapon system being available to terrorists and insurgent groups. This will prove to be nightmare to security professionals’ world over. There have already been many incidents in European countries where UAVs have been reportedly used by miscreants. 

Given the types of disputes that exist internationally, the likely settings for use of armed drones are endless. In future we may face scenario in which rogue countries, non-state players and terrorists may use UAVs to settle scores or score their dominance. Following scenario emerge out of this UAV hypothesis – 

• China could dominate South Asia, South East Asia and Central Asia.

• Countries like India & Pakistan could carry out strikes across disputed borders.

• India could use it for “hot pursuit Strike” against terrorists in POK.

• Russia could use drones after militants in Caucasus.

• Based in Afghanistan Al-Qaida or based in Baluchistan the IS strikes strategic assets in India.

IT and Cyber Security in Transmission and Distribution of Oil & Natural Gas

Natural Gas is the foundation fuel for a clean and secure energy future, providing benefits for the economy, our environment and our energy security. Alongside the economic and environmental opportunity natural gas offers our country, there comes great responsibility to protect its distribution pipeline systems from cyber-attacks.

Technological advances over the last 20 years have made natural gas utilities more cost-effective, safer, and better able to serve our customers via web-based programs and tools. Unfortunately, the opportunity cost of a more connected, more efficient industry is that we have become an attractive target for increasingly sophisticated cyber terrorists.

We are meeting the threats daily through our skilled personnel, robust cyber-security system protections, an industry commitment to security, and a successful ongoing cyber-security partnership with government and with up-stream and down-stream stakeholders.

Our natural gas delivery system is the safest, most reliable energy delivery system in the world. This said, all industry operators recognize there are inherent cyber vulnerabilities with employing web-based applications for industrial control and business operating systems. Because of this, gas utilities adhere to myriad cyber-security standards and participate in an array of government and industry cyber-security initiatives. However, the most important cyber-security mechanism is the existing cyber-security partnership between the central government and industry operators. This partnership fosters the exchange of vital cyber-security information which helps stakeholders adapt quickly to dynamic cyber-security risks.

Risk Factors for Pipeline Operators

Designing, operating, and maintaining a pipeline facility to meet essential availability, reliability, safety, and security needs as well as process control requirements requires careful evaluation and analysis of all the risk factors. Attacks on a cyber- system may involve only the cyber components and their operation, but those impacts can extend into the physical, business, human, and environmental systems to which they are connected.

Operating and maintaining a gas pipeline involves numerous safety concerns. Cyber security assessment is one of the solutions that helps to maintain safety parameters - especially when handling such explosive and flammable goods such as natural gas.

Securing Supervisory Control Systems

Today’s oil and natural gas transmission and distribution systems depend on computer technology and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems to operate safely and efficiently. In India, there are nearly 17000 KMs of oil and natural gas transmission pipelines and by 2017 this will increase to 30,000 KMs.

The need to provide effective cyber security is similar to challenges faced by bulk electric system and local power distribution providers, except that natural gas systems transport molecules, not electrons, and are equipped with safety devices, which are, in most cases, manually operable as regulator’s requirement and global practice. But all of these groups depend on communications infrastructures, computer technologies, and people to safely and efficiently transport the energy product to the end user.

Many utilities have employed a series of measures to protect the critical computer systems and networks that control the flow of energy over geographically dispersed facilities. These measures include the use of technical and administrative controls.

Technical controls often used include, but are not limited to:

·    Firewalls to separate control systems from general corporate networks and the internet

·    Network intrusion-detection systems to alert operators of potential security events

·  Event-logging systems to capture and maintain information regarding the operational status of control networks

Administrative controls often used include, but are not limited to:

·    Overall cyber-security policy and procedures

·    Change-management and change-control practices

·    Disaster-recovery and business-continuity planning and exercises

One of the major challenges associated with providing cyber-security protection for energy system SCADA and process-control components is addressing legacy equipment.

Corporate computer equipment, such as desktop computers, is generally replaced every three to five years. In contrast, natural gas SCADA components are often designed and priced to operate for a decade or more. Legacy systems may not be able to be patched or be able to effectively communicate with systems that use current encryption techniques.

Addressing the Vulnerabilities:

The Operations, Safety, Security, and IT decision-makers of Key Infrastructures, especially oil & gas, power generation and transmission and nuclear energy are well advised to pay attention to following aspects -

Ø       More and more reliability on Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN) and Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) brings increased threats to operations of organizations using them.

Ø        The networks are susceptible to attacks aimed to disrupt and destroy them. Such an attack by viruses, worms or other forms of cyber-terrorism on oil and gas industry process control networks and related systems could destabilize energy industry supply capabilities and negatively impact the national economy.

Ø         Need to keep control systems safe and secure, and to help minimize the chance that a cyber-attack could severely damage or cripple infrastructures. We need to identify ways to reduce cyber vulnerabilities in process control and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) Systems: to identify new types of security sensors for process control networks.

Ø     Another challenge with protecting energy systems is that, to enhance operational efficiencies, many of the energy SCADA and process-control systems have become connected to corporate business systems.

Ø          Some of these connections have created a pathway for malicious computer programs or unauthorized users to potentially disrupt the transmission or distribution of natural gas, electricity or water.

Ø        There is real threat to SCADA from mischief mongers prowling in the web-world and the tech-savvy terrorist and Stuxnet is the most lethal combination! It is a Windows-specific computer worm first discovered in June 2010 by VirusBlokAda, a security firm based in Belarus. 

Ø         It is the first discovered worm that spies on and reprograms industrial systems, the first to include a PLC Rootkit, and the first to target critical industrial infrastructure. It was specifically written to attack SCADA systems used to control and monitor industrial processes.

Ø    Stuxnet includes the capability to reprogram the Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and hide its changes.

Robust, Secure, Global Communication Solutions

This capability calls for seamlessly connecting all oil & gas installations of an organization and on more higher level, of the Nation by providing highly available, robust, secure, integrated communication networks for critical operational systems. 

A number of communication solutions are available which provide robust connectivity and communication helpful for protection of assets and personnel in environments where a high standard of inherent safety is a mandatory requirement. There are resilient telecommunications networks such as Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN), which allow for simultaneous voice & communication data communications and secure access to applications from almost anywhere in the world.

Taking The Risk out of Gas Operations – What to Consider

IT threats are mainly addressed by IT solutions. There are IT Solutions provide very effective predictions, diagnosis and prognosis. In many instances, they help assessing and remediating the cyber security vulnerabilities of their gas distribution pipelines and equipment. Their solutions for oil and gas pipelines promote safety, environmental responsibility, and efficient operations.

The cyber security vulnerability assessment is designed to examine the three core facets of an organization’s cyber security:

• ·   People: What is the cyber security awareness level in the organization? Are staff members following security policies and procedures? Have they been adequately trained to implement the security program?
• ·  Process: What are the cyber security policies and procedures in place in the organization? Do these policies and procedures meet key requirements?
• ·      Technology: What cyber security technologies are in use in the organization? How are these technologies configured and deployed?

Prognosis:

While above are the main strategies for securing the transmission and distribution of natural gas, constant improvement and improvisation is needed to be carried out to make security measures reliable as well as  cost effective, as in present phase of economic melt-down no organization will take decision without working out the ROI (Return on investment).

EU has set up a task force to explore what its 25 member states are doing to combat cyber-threats against critical infrastructure. As part of the EU’s Critical Information Infrastructure Research Coordination, CI2RCO project, task force aims to identify research groups and programs focused on IT security in critical infrastructures, such as telecommunications networks and power grids.

The scope of the cooperation goes beyond the EU; the task force also wants to include USA, Canada, Australia and Russia. India with its strong IT workforce, known world-over for its prowess must join such cooperative and collaborative efforts!

Off-shore Security Co-ordination Committee (OSCC) needs to be institutionalized. With the initiative of ONGC, it exists in many states where essentially ONGC operates. All other ONG PSUs having presence in the state are invited to be members. This forum discusses and seeks to address the security threat faced by the sector with the help and co-ordination of state administration and police. Haryana, where there is no presence of ONGC, similar initiative by other ONG PSUs made similar OSCC operational. Now is the time that its umbrella is spread to cover private sector operators and make it a true PPP model!

Similarly on the lines of Homeland Security Department in USA, the lead needs to be taken by the IB and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT In) to address cyber-vulnerabilities, the solutions and update preparedness so that security and integrity of the natural gas transmission and distribution is effectively addressed.

Dedicated manpower ready to face the disaster would always be central consideration for any security and disaster response plan. To keep them constantly motivated and updated is also another prime responsibility of the Management as otherwise even the best plans are doomed to fail. Only those will succeed in this sector who foresee and fore-plan and rehearse thereafter their security and emergency response plans!

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Hired Guns: Who Will Run A Check On Private Guards Employed By The Rich?

The rich have problems the rest of us don't adequately appreciate. Signifiers of wealth and status outlive their utility all too frequently. The material allure of expensive vehicles, clothes, accessories, elite education and club membership all fade considerably when others at a dinner party also possess them.

It is at the cusp of this problem and a unique VIP culture exacerbated by the ubiquitous movement of political figures with their armed commandos, that the trend of personal security officer was born. By all accounts, the number of businessmen opting to keep a posse of armed private security personnel wherever they go has risen dramatically in recent years.

Many choose to mimic the movement of political heavyweights, driving in a convoy with two white Maruti Gypsy jeeps, and outfitting private guards in safari suits to resemble the commandos of the elite Special Protection Group.

Several exclusive urban enclaves, where the protected gather for work or pleasure, are now overwhelmed with armed PSOs. This gives rise to problems that range from the banal to the potentially fatal. The entire business appears to operate in a legal grey area, and the Supreme Court this week took suo moto cognisance of the deadly Chhattarpur shootout that killed businessman Ponty Chadha and his brother, asking the Union home ministry to clarify the guidelines under which such guards were operating. 

"People look at it as a status symbol. It's all about how many blonde women are on your arm and how many PSOs are around you. This has become a nuisance for everyone," said AD Singh, the restaurateur who runs Olive, and together with actor Arjun Rampal, the popular Delhi nightclub Lap. His establishments do not allow PSOs. When the Capital's nightclubs barred entry of PSOs after fights broke out between such guards, hotel lobbies used to resemble a convention of bodybuilders with dated sartorial taste. Now, many five-star hotels prohibit PSOs from entering and waiting in the lobby.

In Mumbai, this problem is unheard of. India's richest industrialists are rarely seen with a security guard with a concealed firearm. "That's true, but some of the younger members from the big families have started moving around with entourages," Singh, who also runs establishments in that city, said. 

In Delhi, the trend has become so widespread that even those who don't need to employ guards on a monthly basis sometimes hire them on a daily basis. Nivedita Kaul, who describes herself as a young entrepreneur, takes an armed guard along when she goes out.

"Delhi is not a safe city and people don't give women the respect they deserve. I have had people stalk me and harass me, and ever since I started having a guard, my life has become really peaceful. In this city, if you are a young woman trying to do something on your own, you need protection," she said. Kaul takes her guard along when she goes to the market or to social dos in the evenings. An armed guard can be hired for upwards of Rs 1,000 per day.

Security Agencies

There are legitimate businessmen who feel the need for armed guards when they must travel by road to distant factories. JCT Mills MD Sameer Thapar, who is a former shooter himself, carries a .357 magnum revolver and is accompanied by PSOs when he travels. "I take a spare vehicle and guards when I have to spend time on the highway, travelling to my factory in Punjab. In Delhi, I never use them," he says.

Thapar says he sees young men from business families carrying armed guards with them as a status symbol in Delhi all the time. "It shows them in a poor light, but they don't realise it," he said. The growth in the PSO business is an offshoot of the growth of the security agency business. For large companies with industrial operations, private security is a critical operation.

Airport operator GMR, for instance, needs so many guards that it runs its own security company “Raxa Security Services Ltd.”. Reliance Industries employ a large number of highly trained armed guards at its refineries and exploration sites and have their own security  wing. The Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act of 2005 made the industry an organised one, but data on the size and employees are hard to come by. The Act itself is silent on the use of firearms by security guards. The arms used by PSOs and other armed security guards are licensed to them personally.

States are expected to lay down specific guidelines. Such guidelines are silent about the use of arms by security guards. "The law doesn't say anything about the use of arms by guards. There is no provision for it, but it is not prohibited," said GP Singh, additional secretary at Delhi government's home department, who is authorised to grant licences to security agencies operating in the city. There are 335 agencies with such licences, while nearly double that number are awaiting licences.

New Counter-terrorism Strategies:

Overview of America’s National Strategy for Combating Terrorism pre-phrases that, “War on Terror is a different kind of war. From the beginning, it has been both a battle of arms and a battle of ideas. Not only do we fight our terrorist enemies on the battlefield, we promote freedom and human dignity as alternatives to the terrorists’ perverse vision of oppression and totalitarian rule.” 

The paradigm for combating terrorism now involves the application of all elements of national power and influence. Not only it is to employ military power, use diplomatic, financial, intelligence, and law enforcement activities to protect the Homeland and extend defences, disrupt terrorist operations, and deprive enemies of what they need to operate and survive. There is a need to break old orthodoxies that once confined our counterterrorism efforts primarily to the criminal justice domain.

Walter Laqueur argues that the only effective weapon against terrorism in the modern era has been the infiltration of their ranks and the use of informers. Counter terrorism's success in democratic societies is mainly due to advanced computer technology and the cooperation of a population that provides important leads.

Vandana Asthana of Department of Government and International Affairs in Eastern Washington University has observed in her work titled as “Cross-Border Terrorism in India: Counterterrorism Strategies and Challenges” that, “In a global context, however, India is in fact considered a laboratory where major acts of terrorism are experimented before being exported to other parts of the world. 

There is no doubt that the future of international counterterrorism hinges on success in the region of South Asia, through rooting out terrorist networks and deterring regimes there from encouraging or harbouring terrorists. South Asia today has become the hub of terrorism and insurgency operations. While it is time to realize that asking a country to bring terrorists to book is not pointing an accusatory finger towards the country of their refuge, but rather soliciting cooperation for security on both sides of the border” 

She further suggests that four important changes stand out as necessary for successfully revamping the institutional structure to deal with terrorism: 

• The need for a Federal Intelligence Agency, 

• The creation of a National Investigation Agency, 

• The creation of a National Counterterrorism Terrorism Centres, and 

• Modernization of police forces.

The transnational terrorism has to be countered by – 

• Effective international means and mainly by international cooperation which may include declaring terrorism as an international crime, 

• Extradition of the offenders to another state, 

• Denying to the offences of terrorism the status of political offences, 

• Better measures of assistance including sharing of evidence at their disposal, following international convention to abstain from any negotiations with terrorists, 

• Refusal to succumb to extortionist demands, and 

• Effective sanctions against those actively supporting terrorists giving them asylum and other types of assistance and stressing for their strict implementation.

Bolstering institutional capacity to counter terror is going to be a long and demanding task, but it is an essential aspect of an effective and comprehensive counterterrorism policy. All this requires political will and leadership. The Indian government has come under severe criticism for a lack of a coherent and well-conceived strategy by the political leadership to counter terror. Political consensus has remained hard to reach in countering terror in India and that is a challenge the government needs to address with honesty and sincerity. 

Indian Response to Counter Terrorism

Terrorism has resulted from irrationality, miscalculation, xenophobia, fanaticism, and religious extremism. Historically mankind has remained in a state of conflict and resorted to violence to bring in changes in the society and in political systems. Acts of terrorism have caused very considerable losses to life and property without warning. At its worst, terrorism has even severely affected the political and economic systems of countries. Terrorism usually involves a pre-planned campaign of violence with little or no moral restraints, practiced by various types of groups in pursuit of their usually political objectives. Although terrorism is different from other forms of conflict-waging, such as wars or riots, terrorists may exploit these forms of conflict-waging to promote their own agenda. Terrorist groups are often categorised based on their motivation or political cause.

The scourge of terrorism has haunted Indian policy-makers since independence. Some of the states, particularly the bordering states, having different cultural and ethnic composition from the heartland, suffered from a real or perceived sense of neglect and misgovernance. Inimical powers exploited this aspect and sowed seeds of sedition and secession amongst some sections of society of these states-particularly the states of the North-East, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir-by providing them with arms training and financial support and instigated them to take up arms against the state machinery.

Comdt. N. S. Jamwal says that, “India's experience in combating insurgency / terrorism in these states has mostly been of finding a military solution to a political problem. Central and state governments have responded with various actions, mostly military, within own borders but lacked a coherent counter terrorism policy.”

“Terrorism continues to inflict pain and suffering on people all over the world. Hardly a week goes by without an act of terrorism taking place somewhere in the world, indiscriminately affecting innocent people, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Countering this scourge is in the interest of all Nations” says a press release of ‘United Nations’.

India has witnessed one of the world's highest levels of terrorist violence in the last three decades, with a unique hybrid of both domestic and international terrorism. Two audacious attacks, one on the Indian parliament in 2001 and the other in Mumbai in 2008, along with scores of smaller ones that have left thousands dead over the past ten years alone, have unsurprisingly brought into question the effectiveness of India's security and intelligence agencies in counterterrorism. (GP CPT Srinivas Ganapathiraju, IAF).

Failures of Counter Terrorism

The Indian take of countering the terrorism is analysed in great details in the book titled, “The Politics of Counterterrorism In India” by Dr. Prem Mahadevan who is a senior researcher at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Zurich. He specializes in the study of intelligence agencies, sub-state conflict, and organized crimes. He manages to delve through many layers surrounding the complex problem of Counter Terrorism (CT) in India to identify the core problems. He points out counter-hypothesis to following two:

CT failures are caused by intelligence failures. He disproves the first hypothesis by applying a "four constraints" paradigm as it applies to India: lack of political consistency, lack of political consensus, lack of operational capacity, and lack of operational coordination. He argues that Indian CT policy vacillates between coercive and conciliatory stances on a purely ad hoc and reactive basis. Any attempt by the central government to mount an offensive strategy has invariably been scuttled due to lack of domestic political consensus and international support.

CT failures might arise from the poor quality of such intelligence instead of poor follow-up on strategic intelligence. Mahadevan concludes on the basis of India's CT experience that the action the security services take on strategic intelligence is more important than the quality of the intelligence itself. Without discounting organizational deficiencies, Mahadevan connects them as contributors to the lack of operational capacity among the intelligence agencies. He attributes the cascade of CT failures to the decision makers' inability to develop strategic intelligence into tactical intelligence through timely follow-up action, a symptom of low operational capacity combined with poor coordination.

Ingredients of Counter Terrorism Policy

According to KPS Gill, former DGP, Punjab Police, the terrorism in Punjab was controlled through a politico-military and social process that inter alia included various factors like the following:-

• Clear political resolve and strong police leadership

• Fencing and floodlighting along the Indo-Pakistan border in Punjab

• Effective utilization of police and central para-military forces

• Rejection of public support by the Sikh community to the militants

• Effective intelligence network, which could penetrate the militant organisations

• Lack of international support to the militants

• Signing of the Rajiv-Longowal peace accord  

No antiterrorism legislation similar to the U.S. Patriot Act?

In the US war against terrorism, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order on Terrorist Financing on September 24, 2001 and the US Congress passed the USA-Patriot Act 2001 which deals with terrorist funding among other issues. Further, on September 28, 2001, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1373 under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.30 Its provisions require, among other things, that all member states prevent the financing of terrorism and deny safe havens to terrorists. States also need to review and strengthen their border security operations, banking practices, customs and immigration procedures, law enforcement and intelligence cooperation as well as arms transfer control regulations.

In 2002 India passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), expanding the government's powers in combating terrorism. Some measures, such as the ability to keep terror suspects in custody without bringing them to trial, met with objections, and the law was repealed in 2004 after allegations that officials were abusing their powers. However, after the recent spate of bombings, some Indian politicians are calling for the law to be restored.

Some Indian states such as Karnataka and Maharashtra have other laws, Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) and the Karnataka Control of Organized Crime Act, that are used to try suspected terrorists. The MCOCA was also extended to Delhi in 2002. Some lawyers have alleged that MCOCA is even more draconian than POTA and has often been misused by the investigative agencies. Other states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are also seeking similar anti-terror laws.

Indian Counter-terrorism Policy

The fundamental question today is that since in India we are the worst affected by jihadi terrorist attacks, how to formulate a strategy to deal with Islamic terrorism. The strategy we choose for terrorist attacks should not be worse in the long run than the consequences of these attacks as in the Rubaiya Sayeed kidnap case of 1989 and the Kandahar IC-814 plane hijack case. Terrorism in India worsened as a consequence of the deal made by the NF and NDA governments to free the notorious terrorists in custody.

More innocent people, for example, have been killed in terrorist attacks since the release of Maulana Azhar, Umar Qureshi and Zargar in exchange for the passengers and crew in the Kandahar case. These three upon reaching Pakistan, continued as heroes in their terrorists acts against India including 26/11 in Mumbai.

Thus we need a clear-cut policy, which means a clear-cut statement of objectives, defining the priorities of these objectives, the strategy to achieve the objective, and the committing of necessary human, financial and infrastructural resources.

In 1996, India presented a draft of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism (CCIT) to the Ad Hoc Committee of the UN General Assembly on International Terrorism. It is intended that the CCIT, when concluded, would provide the international community with a legal framework that can supplement the existing Conventions to comprehensively deal with terrorism.

India acknowledges the concerns of the member states in regard to outstanding issues, namely the importance of the need not to affect the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination; the need to capture concerns relating to “State terrorism”; resolution of matters concerning potential impunity of military forces; and the need to delineate activities to be covered by the scope of the convention and those covered by humanitarian instruments..

India welcomed the adoption in 2006 of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy that recognizes the need to express solidarity with innocent victims of this scourge and specifically addresses victims of terrorism.